Politicians, celebrities, and even the Pentagon took to social media to share their well-intentioned Pesach greetings, and the confusion between Pesach, Chanukah, Tu B’Shvat – and possibly Thanksgiving – was on full display. Leading the parade was Jewish actor William Shatner who wished his followers a “Happy Passover” with a picture of what seemed to be either two slices of sponge cake or inch-thick matzos sitting in front of a 10-branched menorah. Not seven. Not eight. Ten. Shatner may have explored strange new worlds in his sci-fi acting role, but clearly not the one where Pesach and Chanukah aren’t interchangeable. Rep. Andrew Garbarino followed up with his own Pesach confusion: a seven-branched menorah, a handful of matzahs so limp they started off gebrokts that are peeking out from under some mysterious herbs, half a dozen walnuts, and a cup of wine. Down in Florida, Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.), who is Jewish, kept the trend alive with yet another menorah-centric “Passover” display. Apparently, for many of our elected officials, menorahs are now the universal Jewish holiday symbol – sadly, even for Jews. Meanwhile, Jewish actor Adam Sandler offered his own version of the ke’arah, which included matzah, flowers, and walnuts. The growing walnut obsession was also seen in Passover posts from Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both of whom shared photos of seder plates that looked more like a nut tasting tray at Whole Foods. Now, to be fair, many versions of charoses do contain walnuts—but when the entire seder plate is filled with nothing but walnuts, you have to wonder if anyone cracked open a Kitzur Shulchan Aruch before setting the table. U.S. Central Command also shared a headscratching Pesach post, though it had a ke’arah that appeared to be tzum zach – if you didn’t look too closely. On it were: shelled walnuts, a whole walnut shell, chickpeas, an egg, a drumstick, and a suspicious leafy green that may or may not be collard greens. It’s unclear which haggadah they were using, but it wasn’t Artscroll. Geert Wilders, the Dutch pro-Israel politician, chimed in with a seder plate featuring some rather peculiar items. It’s worth noting that according to Pew Research, Pesach is the most widely observed Jewish holiday in America, with 62% of Jews saying they attend a seder. One would hope that with such numbers, it wouldn’t be too hard to Google what goes on a seder plate. But alas, in the hands of pop culture and political PR teams, Pesach becomes an annual showcase of misplaced menorahs, matzah mishaps – and, for some reason, lots of walnuts. In the end, we’ll give them credit for trying. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)