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Chametz (חמץ Hebrew) (also Chometz or Chumetz) refers to bread, grains and leavened products that are not consumed on the Jewish holiday of Passover, as well as all food items that are not specifically marked "kosher for Passover. For the Gregorian dates of Jewish Holidays see Jewish holidays 2000-2050. Passover ( Hebrew, Yiddish: פֶּסַח Pesach, Tiberian: pɛsaħ Israeli: Pesah, Pesakh, Yiddish " According to Jewish law, Jews may not own, eat or benefit from chametz during Passover. Halakha ( הלכה; alternative transliterations include Halocho and Halacha) is the collective body of Jewish Religious law This law appears several times in the Bible. The punishment for eating chametz on Passover is karet ("spiritual excision").

Chametz is a product that is (a) made from one of five types of grains; (b) has undergone fermentation as the result of contact with liquid.

Contents

The prohibition

The Torah has several commandments regarding chametz:

The prohibitions take effect around late morning on the eve of Passover, or the 14th of Nisan. Chametz is permitted again at nightfall after the final day of Passover. Traditional Jewish homes are generally in a state of chaos in the days and weeks leading up to Passover, as the house must be cleaned of crumbs in every nook and cranny.

Stringency

The Torah specifies the punishment of karet (spiritual excision) for eating chametz, the highest level of punishment in Jewish tradition.

In addition, the prohibition applies even to the smallest particle of chametz, while most other Torah prohibitions on food only apply to larger quantities (though small amounts may be prohibited rabbinically). Moreover, usual non-kosher foods can be diluted by kosher food to one part in sixty and then be permitted; during Passover, however, eating chametz is prohibited no matter how insignificant it is in a mixture. Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus, he כַּשְׁרוּת refers to Jewish dietary laws. [4] Sephardi Jews do not follow this stringency if the dilution happened before Passover. Sephardi Jews ( Hebrew: ספרדי, Standard Səfardi Tiberian Səp̄arədî; plural

Also, hana'ah (any benefit, such as selling) from some forms of non-kosher food is permitted, but no form of benefit may be derived from chametz during Passover. Mixtures containing less than 50% chametz, and which are not eaten by normal people, may be owned and used on Passover.

Removal of chametz

Bi'ur Chametz - April 2, 2007
Bi'ur Chametz - April 2, 2007

In addition to the Biblical prohibition of owning chametz, there is also a positive commandment to remove it from one's possession (Exodus 12:15). There are three traditional methods of removing chametz:

It is best to use both bi'ur and bittul to remove one's chametz, even though either of these two methods is enough to fulfill one's biblical requirement to destroy one's chametz. [6] Mechirah does not fulfill the positive commandment of destruction; it only averts the prohibition of ownership.

Chametz found during or after Pesach

According to Halakhah, if chametz is found during Yom Tov, it must be covered over until Chol HaMoed when it can be burned. Halakha ( הלכה; alternative transliterations include Halocho and Halacha) is the collective body of Jewish Religious law For the Gregorian dates of Jewish Holidays see Jewish holidays 2000-2050. Chol HaMoed, (חול המועד a Hebrew phrase which means "weekdays the festival" refers to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot Chametz found during Chol HaMoed should be burned immediately. Chol HaMoed, (חול המועד a Hebrew phrase which means "weekdays the festival" refers to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot

After the holiday, there is a special law known as "chametz she'avar alav haPesach," chametz that was owned by any Jew during Pesach. Such chametz can only be burned; no benefit may be derived from it at all, not even by selling it to a non-Jew.

Chametz that was owned by a Jew during Pesach may not be eaten by Jews after Pesach. If a store owned by a Jew is known not to have sold its chametz, no Jew may buy chametz from that store until enough time has passed that it can be assumed the inventory has changed over since Pesach.

What is chametz?

The Five Grains

The concept of the five grains has applications to other areas of Jewish Law, including that they take a special blessing before and after their consumption. Halakha ( הלכה; alternative transliterations include Halocho and Halacha) is the collective body of Jewish Religious law These are also the only grains suitable for the production of Matzo. Matza (also Matzah, Matzoh, or Matsah) מַצָּה in Ashkenazi matzo or matzoh, and in Yiddish, matze The Talmudic enumeration (which has become the traditional list of those grains) is:

  1. Wheat
  2. Barley
  3. Spelt (More correctly, emmer)
  4. Rye
  5. Oats

While oats are still generally accepted as the fifth grain, there is some linguistic and botanical evidence that what has been traditionally translated from the Talmud as "oats" is in fact a wild species of spelt. The Talmud ( Hebrew: he תַּלְמוּד is a record of Rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history Wheat ( Triticum spp is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Levant area of the Middle East. Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) is an annual Cereal Grain, which serves as a major animal Feed crop, with smaller amounts used for Spelt ( Triticum spelta) is a Hexaploid species of Wheat. Spelt was an important staple in parts of Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times Emmer wheat ( Triticum dicoccon) also known as farro especially in Italy is a low yielding awned Wheat. Rye ( Secale cereale) is a grass grown extensively as a grain and forage crop Oats redirects here It may mean either the common cereal oat discussed here or any cultivated or wild species of the Genus Avena. The Talmud ( Hebrew: he תַּלְמוּד is a record of Rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history Although there have been no changes to normative Jewish law (in any denomination) to reflect this, some rabbis are stringent when the issue is biblical and discourage the use of oat matzo on seder nights, when there is a biblical obligation to eat matzo. Church (disambiguation A religious denomination is a subgroup within a Religion that operates under a common name tradition and identity Rabbi (pronunciation, although in English usually) in Judaism, means a religious ‘teacher’ or more literally ‘my great one’ when addressing any master Seder (plural sedarim) is a Hebrew word meaning "order" and can have any of the following meanings For Jewish holidays

Fermentation (Hebrew: Chimutz)

Even products of the five grains are not considered chametz until fermentation or baking has begun. Some factors, like the addition of fruit juice or application of heat, are thought to speed up this process while others, like constant kneading, are thought to delay it.

In Jewish Law, only water is considered a fermenting agent. Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. Technically, flour combined with pure fruit juice (that is, juice squeezed directly from the fruit, not reconstituted fruit juice), and no water, cannot become chametz, even if the bread is allowed to sit for hours and swells up to many times its size. JUICE is a widely used non-commercial Software package for editing and analysing phytosociological data The addition of even one drop of water, though, would instantly make the mixture chametz. Baked goods that contain only non-water liquids are called matzah ashirah ("rich matzah") or "egg matzah", and are eaten on Passover by Sefardim; Ashkenazi practise, for fear that a bit of water may accidentally have found its way into the mixture, only allows them for old or sick people who are unable to eat ordinary matzah.

Although any food of the five grains that has not undergone chimutz is Biblically permissible, by Rabbinic prohibition these grains may be consumed only in the form of matzo. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin

Once baked, it is universally accepted that dough can no longer become chametz; nevertheless, because of the stringency of the transgressions involved, some Jews do not eat matzo which has become wet for fear that it might contain a lump, so to speak, of flour that did not mix well with the dough, and which can subsequently become chametz should it come in contact with fluids. Such incompletely baked matzo is referred to as gebruchts (see below). Gebrochts (געבראָכטס lit 'broken' also gebrokts) refers to Matzo that has absorbed liquid Chametz (חָמֵץ (also Chometz or Chumetz) refers to bread grains and leavened products that are not consumed on the Jewish holiday of Passover

Additional customs

Because of the Torah's seriousness regarding the prohibition of chametz, many communities have adopted stringencies not biblically required as safeguards from inadvertent transgression.

Kitniyot

Main article: Kitniyot

Among Ashkenazi Jews, the custom during Passover is to refrain from not only products of the five grains but also kitniyot. Kitniyot, qit'niyyoth (קִטְנִיּוֹת,קטניות, קיטניות (literally little things) are a category of foods defined by Jewish law and tradition Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim ( Hebrew: אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים, ˌaʃkəˈnazim sing Kitniyot, qit'niyyoth (קִטְנִיּוֹת,קטניות, קיטניות (literally little things) are a category of foods defined by Jewish law and tradition Literally "small things," kitniyot refers to other grains or legumes. Traditions of what is considered kitniyot vary from community to community but generally include rice, corn, lentils, and beans. Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica The lentil or daal or pulse ( Lens culinaris) is a bushy Annual plant of the legume family grown for its lens-shaped Seeds Bean is a common name for large plant Seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae (formerly Leguminosae used for human food or animal Many include peanuts in this category as well. Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday Comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M Sephardi Jews do not observe this prohibition. Sephardi Jews ( Hebrew: ספרדי, Standard Səfardi Tiberian Səp̄arədî; plural

The origins of this practice are not clear. Two common theories are that these items are often made into products resembling chametz (e. g. cornbread), or that these items were normally stored in the same sacks as the five grains and people worried that they might become contaminated with chametz. Cornbread is a generic name for any number of Quick breads (a bread leavened chemically rather than by Yeast) containing Cornmeal.

While it would seem ideal to eat foods that cannot conceivably become chametz, there are authorities who are concerned that Kitniyos might in some way become confused with true chametz. First, cooked porridge and other cooked dishes made from grain and Kitniyos appear similar. Second, Kitniyos are often grown in fields adjacent to those in which chametz is grown, and these grains tend to mix together. And third, Kitniyos are often ground into a type of flour that can easily be confused with chametz. For these three reasons, these authorities suggested that by avoiding eating Kitniyos people would be better able to avoid chametz. The Vilna Gaon (Hagaos HaGra, ibid. Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman, known as the Vilna Gaon or Elijah of Vilna and simply by his Hebrew Acronym Gra (" G aon ) indeed actually cites a novel source for this custom. The Talmud in Pesachim (40b) notes that Rava objected to the workers of the Raish Gelusa (the Exilarch) cooking a food called chasisi on Pesach, since it was known to be confused with chametz. The Talmud ( Hebrew: he תַּלְמוּד is a record of Rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history The Tosefos explain that, according to the Aruch, chasisi are lentils and thus, argues the Vilna Gaon, establishes the basis for the concern of Kitniyos. The Tosafot or Tosafos (תוספות are Mediæval commentaries on the Talmud. Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman, known as the Vilna Gaon or Elijah of Vilna and simply by his Hebrew Acronym Gra (" G aon

While this practice is considered binding in normative Ashkenazi Judaism, these items are not chametz and therefore are not subject to the same prohibitions and stringencies as chametz. For example while there is a prohibition against owning chametz on Passover, no such prohibition applies to kitniyot. Similarly, while someone would not be permitted to eat chametz on Passover unless his life were in danger (since this is a Torah prohibition), the Rabbis prohibit kitniyot and therefore people who are infirm or pregnant, maybe allowed to kitniyot, on consultation with a Rabbinic authority. Illness (sometimes referred to as ill-health or ail) can be defined as a state of poor Health. Furthermore, kitniyot is considered "Batel B'Rov" meaning that Ashkenazi Jews may eat food containing less than 50% kitniyot as long as the kitniyot are not distinguishable within the food and the food was not prepared to take advantage of such a "loophole". However, many Ashkenazi Jews today hold to a standard not to eat food containing any kitniyot. Jews with a Sephardi heritage from Israel, Syria, Iraq, and Iran are not subject to this and are allowed to eat kitniyot freely. Sephardi Jews ( Hebrew: ספרדי, Standard Səfardi Tiberian Səp̄arədî; plural For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Some Sephardi Jews from Spain and North Africa (for example, Moroccan Jews) have different restrictions. For example, Moroccan Jews avoid having rice during Pesach.

Gebruchts

Main article: Gebruchts

At Passover, some religious Jews will not eat matzo that has become wet, including matzo balls and other matzo meal products. Gebrochts (געבראָכטס lit 'broken' also gebrokts) refers to Matzo that has absorbed liquid Such products are called "gebruchts" or gebrokts, a Yiddish word meaning "broken" referring to the broken or ground matzo used for baking or cooking. Instead of matzo meal, they use potato starch in cakes and other dishes. The Hebrew language term for gebruchts is "matza shruya," (מצה שרוייה, literally "soaked matza") although most Jews who actually observe the practice call it by its Yiddish name.

References

  1. ^ Sefer haChinuch §9
  2. ^ ibid. Sefer ha-Chinuch ( ספר החינוך Hebrew: "Book of Education" often simply "the Chinuch " is a work which systematically discusses §11, 20
  3. ^ ibid. §12, 19
  4. ^ see Mishnah Berurah §442
  5. ^ Laws of Selling Chametz.
  6. ^ Mishnah Berurah §434

External links

See also

Passover ( Hebrew, Yiddish: פֶּסַח Pesach, Tiberian: pɛsaħ Israeli: Pesah, Pesakh, Yiddish Kitniyot, qit'niyyoth (קִטְנִיּוֹת,קטניות, קיטניות (literally little things) are a category of foods defined by Jewish law and tradition Matza (also Matzah, Matzoh, or Matsah) מַצָּה in Ashkenazi matzo or matzoh, and in Yiddish, matze Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus, he כַּשְׁרוּת refers to Jewish dietary laws.

Dictionary

chametz

-noun

  1. Food made from leavened grain flour. The Torah states that Jews are not permitted to eat or drink it during the festival of Pesach (Passover), nor own it or even be seen with it, but must remove it from their houses and land at the beginning of the festival.
  2. Arrogance, pride, artifice (this usage is based on a disputed translation of the Hebrew source word)
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