Chametz, also Chometz, Ḥametz and other spellings transliterated from Hebrew: חָמֵץ / חמץ (IPA: [χaˈmets]), are leavened foods that are forbidden on the Jewish holiday of Passover. According to Jewish law, Jews may not own, eat or benefit from chametz during Passover. This law appears several times in the Torah; the punishment for eating chametz on Passover is the divine punishment of kareth ("spiritual excision"), one of the most severe levels of punishment in Judaism.
Chametz is a product that is both made from one of five types of grain, and has been combined with water and left to stand raw for longer than eighteen minutes.
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The Torah has several commandments governing chametz during Passover:
The prohibitions take effect around late morning on the eve of Passover, or the 14th of the month of Nisan in the Jewish calendar. Chametz is permitted again from nightfall after the final day of Passover. Traditional Jewish homes spend the days leading up to Passover cleaning and removing all traces of chametz from the house.
Biblically, five specific species of grain become chametz after wetting. The actual species are not known with certainty, although they would necessarily have been crops that grew in the middle east in Biblical times. When the Bible was translated into European languages, the names of food grains common in Europe, wheat, barley, spelt, rye and oats, were used, some of which were not grown in ancient Israel:
As more accurate historic and botanical evidence comes to light, some scholars today propose that only the 'five grain species' native to the Land of Israel can become chametz.[2][3] They are:
Shippon (shifon) – einkorn (Triticum monococcum),
Kussemet – emmer (Triticum dicoccon),
Chittim – durum wheat (Triticum durum) and bread wheat (Triticum aestivum),
Se’orim – six row barley (Hordeum vulgare), and
Shibbolet shual – two row barley
Spelt, rye, and oats (Avena sativa) did not grow in the Land of Israel in the biblical period. Since spelt (Triticum spelta) is genetically closely related to bread wheat it is also considered to be prohibited. Rye should not be eaten since it closely resembles wheat and can be mistaken for it; it was considered chametz during Exile, even though in actual fact it did not grow in ancient Israel and was not on the list of chametz-capable grains. According to the Talmud, when any grain not listed is exposed to water it begins to "decay or rot", rather than "rise" (sirachon).
Source: Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, Gil Marks, Publisher - John Wiley and Sons, NJ, 2010, Eli Rogosa based on her field research in Israel and on interviews with Israeli scholars <growseed.org>
The Torah specifies the punishment of karet (spiritual excision) for eating chametz, one of the highest levels of punishment in Jewish tradition. 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, during Passover eating chametz is prohibited no matter how small a proportion it is in a mixture,[4] although usual non-kosher foods can be diluted by kosher food to one part in sixty and then be permitted. Sephardi Jews do not follow this stringency if the dilution happened before Passover.
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 amounts of chametz, such as the Mishnaic Babylonian dipping sauce (Mishna Pesachim 3:1) which contained bread crumbs, salt, and whey, may not be eaten by Jews on Pesach, and are subject to a Rabbinic difference of opinion as to whether or not they can be owned by Jews on Pesach (See Rashi and Tosafot at the beginning of the 3rd Chapter of Tractate Pesachim.)
In addition to the Biblical prohibition of owning chametz, there is also a positive commandment to remove it from one's possession.[5] There are three traditional methods of removing chametz:
It is considered 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.[8] Mechirah, which averts the prohibition of ownership, is an alternative to destruction.
In many Jewish communities, the rabbi signs a contract with each of his congregants, assigning him as an agent to sell their chametz.[9] This practice is convenient for the congregation and ensures that the sale is binding by both Jewish and local law.
For chametz owned by the State of Israel, which includes its state companies, the prison service and the country's stock of emergency supplies, the Chief Rabbinate act as agent; since 1997, the Rabbinate has sold its chametz to Mr. Jaaber Hussein, a hotel manager residing in Abu Ghosh, who puts down a deposit of 20,000 shekels for chametz worth an estimated 150 million dollars.[10]
According to Halakhah, if chametz is found during Yom Tov, it must be covered over until Chol HaMoed when it can be burned. Chametz found during Chol HaMoed should be burned immediately.
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.
Because of the Torah's severity regarding the prohibition of chametz, many communities have adopted stringencies not biblically required as safeguards from inadvertent transgression.
Among Ashkenazi Jews, the custom during Passover is to refrain from not only products of the five grains but also kitniyot. 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. Many include peanuts in this category as well.
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. The most common explanation, however, has to do with the talmudic concept of Marit Ayin (translated as "how it appears to the eye"). While not against the laws of passover to consume kitniyot, a person might be observed eating them and thought to be eating chametz despite the law, or erroneously conclude that chametz was permitted. To avoid this confusion, they were simply banned outright.
While it would seem ideal to eat foods that cannot conceivably become chametz, there are authorities who are concerned that Kitniyot might in some way become confused with true chametz. First, cooked porridge and other cooked dishes made from grain and Kitniyot appear similar. Second, Kitniyot are often grown in fields adjacent to those in which chametz is grown, and these grains tend to mix together. And third, Kitniyot 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 Kitniyot people would be better able to avoid chametz. The Vilna Gaon (Hagaos HaGra, ibid.) 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 Tosefos explain that, according to the Aruch, chasisi are lentils and thus, argues the Vilna Gaon, establishes the basis for the concern of Kitniyot.
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, kitniyot is merely prohibited by the Rabbis, and therefore people who are infirm or pregnant, may be allowed to eat kitniyot, on consultation with a Rabbinic authority. 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.
There is some movement among observant Ashkenazi Jews to cease to observe the tradition of kitniyot.[11]
Sephardi Jews have no general restrictions. Some Sephardi Jews from Spain and North Africa (for example, Moroccan Jews) have different restrictions such as avoiding rice during Pesach.
At Passover, some religious Ashkenazis will not eat matza that has become wet, including matza balls and other matzo meal products, although it cannot become chametz[12]. Such products are called "gebruchts" or gebrokts, a Yiddish word meaning "broken" referring to the broken or ground matza used for baking or cooking. Instead of matzo meal, they use potato starch in cakes and other dishes. The Hebrew term for gebruchts is "matza shruya," (מצה שרוייה, "soaked matza"), although outside Israel the Yiddish name is usually used.
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