I heard from an old Lithuanian/Polish Jew (frum from Lithuania/Poland). He says that he had a custom to eat colored eggs in his shtetl, and everyone did it.
Is this custom documented anywhere, and does anyone mention it?
asked May 7, 2012 at 4:14
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1@HahuGavra ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/241/Q3– ertert3terteMay 7, 2012 at 4:22
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@AmHaaretzGamurMideoraysa theres an article about it here, although they fail to trace it to any written source, which seems to be what youre looking for.– Hahu GavraMay 7, 2012 at 4:27
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Similar: judaism.stackexchange.com/q/22977– msh210 ♦Dec 27, 2012 at 13:59
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sounds christian to me. i'm close with chabad and i never heard of it.– user7286Oct 24, 2014 at 21:21
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I only know this from family friends so take this with a grain of salt - In ex-soviet countries a lot of Jews had a lot of different costumes. For example they would eat Kosher and celebrate Hanukkah but also celebrate Novigod which is a non-religious but very close to Christmas holiday.– Benjamin GruenbaumOct 25, 2014 at 14:42
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1 Answer
Despite it's apparent similarity to pagan practices dating back thousands of years, this custom exists in some communities (particularly among Lubavitchers and some other Chassidic groups) and dates back at least several decades. Similar customs (such as eating colored eggs on Purim) existed in Jewish communities in Afghanistan and Yemen, and women in Tunisia would write messages on eggs for Lag Ba'omer. These customs date back at least several decades, too.
The customs of these various kehillos may share a common origin, but how much farther back these various customs extend may be a matter of speculation. Interestingly, the earliest known pagan custom originated in Persia around the time of Purim, and may therefore have been adapted from a Jewish custom for Purim.
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1+1. Re "women in Tunisia would write messages on eggs for Lag Ba'omer": note that that's a chasidic custom for upshern also. I wonder whether the two bear a common origin (especially inasmuch as many upshernishen (is that the plural?) are on lag baomer).– msh210 ♦May 7, 2012 at 5:55
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2Minhag Chabad is to color eggs brown during the cooking process: hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=30483&st=&pgnum=290 May 7, 2012 at 6:57
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@Curiouser: In the fine print he says that this is Minhag Karlin as well. He doesn't bring it there, but the eggs are browned by cooking them with onion peels.– MenachemMay 7, 2012 at 9:37
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1@Curiouser: I don't know that I'd call that official Minhag Chabad, though. It may just have been the Rebbe's personal custom.– AlexMay 7, 2012 at 13:52