Chametz
By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
Chametz
By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
In this study I would like to look at chametz, leaven, and it’s details, symbolism, and implications. Jews approach the spiritual through our involvement in the physical. chametz (leaven) is the physical component that includes a spiritual component. In fact, real spirituality comes from being able to see through mundane physical objects, to their spiritual core. Further, we see the physical as bridge to the spiritual because Judaism recognizes that the physical has been created as a visceral mirror for abstract spiritual concepts. One of the goals of this study is to understand the spiritual component of chametz.
Lets start by examing the Torah prohibition against chametz on Pesach (Passover):
Shemot
(Exodus) 12:15-20 For seven days you
are to eat bread made without yeast (chametz). On the first day remove the yeast(chametz)
from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast (chametz) in it from
the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.
On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and
another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to
prepare food for everyone to eat--that is all you may
do. "Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations
to come. In the first month you are to eat bread made
without yeast (chametz), from the evening of the fourteenth day until
the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast (chametz)
is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast (chametz) in
it must be cut off from the community of
Shemot
(Exodus) 13:6-7 For seven days eat bread made without yeast
(chametz) and on the seventh day hold a festival to HaShem. Eat
unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be
seen among you, nor shall any yeast (chametz)
be seen anywhere within your borders.
On Pesach we are
forbidden to own chametz (leavened bread, i.e., virtually any flour product not
especially produced for Pesach) or have it in our possession. On the evening
preceding Pesach there is a serious search of the home for chametz.
The prohibition on eating chametz (leavened bread) on Pesach is different from all other prohibitions in the Torah. This begins from the fact that the prohibition is only for seven days. The simple question is: If chametz is bad, for some reason, it should be prohibited all year; and if not, why is forbidden on Pesach?
All other food prohibitions fall into two possible
categories; either eating, or all benefit, is
forbidden. Indeed, chametz falls into the latter category. However, in
addition, there is a prohibition called "lo yeira'eh lekha". chametz
may not be in your possession all the days of Pesach.
There is no prohibition on having ham in one's home, but chametz must be gotten
rid of before Pesach. That is why Pesach is the cause of massive spring
cleaning in Jewish homes, as we conduct an obsessive
search to root out any crumbs that might be lurking somewhere. There is no
other prohibition like this.
On Pesach, we are enjoined to strike out the very existence of chametz from our lives. chametz is not to be found anywhere "in your borders." According to the Ramban, the aim is that chametz not be found "in your mind," it should be like dust in your eyes.
What is so bad with chametz that we are set to destroy it,
and why does our attitude change so completely seven
days later?
Our Hakhamim specified five grains which can become chametz: wheat, barley, spelt, rye, and oats. Ashkenazic authorities added to this list rice and kitniot, or legumes (including beans, peas, lentils, corn and maize, millet, and mustard). Sephardic authorities, prohibit only the five specified grains, thus Sephardic Jews are allowed to eat legumes and rice during Pesach.
During the eight days of Pesach (in the diaspora), chametz cannot lose its identity in an admixture (the ratio needed is usually 1/60). Therefore, the minutest amount of chametz renders the whole admixture chametz and its use on Pesach is prohibited. However, during the rest of the year, chametz follows the normal rules of admixture, i.e. it loses its identity in an admixture of non-chametz. This affords us the opportunity to differentiate between foods purchased before and during Pesach.
The Sages teach us
that there is no punishment for eating less that kazait,
the bulk of an olive, of forbidden food, if done
accidentally. So, if a drop of milk accidentally falls in the beef stew, we are
allowed to eat it. But one Torah prohibition does not follow this standard,
chametz. If we even so much as possess, much less eat, the tiniest speck of
chametz during Pesach, the punishment is keret, spiritual excision. We have no
other mitzva like it. This mitzva declares that we are to live in the moment
which is beyond the reach of the yetzer hara, a moment beyond time.
Shemot (Exodus) 12:15 Anyone who eats chametz, that individual
will be cut off from the Jewish people.
Chametz which remains in the possession of
a Jew over Pesach may not be used, eaten, bought or sold even after
Pesach.
Given the nature of modern food technology, that results in the necessity that any processed food have special Pesach supervision.
חמץ
- chametz
מצה - Matza
chametz (leaven)
shares nearly the identical letters with matza (unleavened bread). The only
difference is that one has a chet (ח)
and the other has a hay (ה). A careful examination
of these two letters will
reveal that the only difference is one very tiny line. A line so short it is
just a point.
What is the
difference between matza and chametz? To bake matza, we must have the matza
cooked within eighteen minutes of the time we first add water to the flour. If we go eighteen minutes
and one seconds, the matza becomes chametz.
The difference is
one second! The same ingredients that make matza, if left an extra second will
become chametz. Again, the difference is very tiny.
On Pesach, eating
matza is a mitzva and eating chametz is a grave sin
which cause a soul to be cut off from Israel. The very same material can either
be spiritual rocket fuel or spiritual excision; all for the sake of one second!
Keep in mind that
the number eighteen is written in Hebrew as: יח
These two letters can be reversed to spell: חי
Which is the Hebrew word for life!
Now if we eat
chametz at Pesach, the penalty is spiritual
excision:
Shemot (Exodus)12:15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first
day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the
seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
Shemot (Exodus) 12:19
Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth
that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation
of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.
WOW! If we eat matza
at Pesach, it is a mitzva derisa and we enter the sublime spiritual realms
because of the mitzva. But, if we eat the same stuff that took a second longer
to cook, we are completely cut off from
The Zohar equates chametz and idolatry:
Zohar 2:182 Whoever eats chametz on Pesach is as if he prayed to an idol.
R. Menachem Kasher[1] draws a series of halakhic parallels between the laws of idolatry and the
laws of chametz:
Some have observed that chametz, the air that puffs up dough into bread, is the ego. Just as chametz makes bread look bigger than it is without adding any substance, so too an ego filled with self importance is ultimately nothing but hot air.
Ego, though, has a purpose that is good. Any psychologist will tell you that a healthy ego is a powerful motivator, giving people the courage to pursue their dreams and stand up for what is right. The ego drives us to build the world, to accomplish the tasks that HaShem has set before us. Though we think that we are building up ourselves, in reality we are usually building the world in a very real way. Because we wish to be seen and appreciated by others, we perform tasks and mitzvot which ultimately build the world and accomplish the purposes of HaShem. Thus we see that the ego is a good thing and that our goal should be the mastering of the ego for HaShem’s work.
chametz is nothing but puffed up matza. But what chametz is actually made out of is nothing less than matza itself! So too there is an idea that the ego is nothing but a corrupt twisted desire that actually has its basis in a drive coming from the soul. For example:
The soul wants only to give, to help humanity and fix the world. The ego's perverted version of this noble drive is the desire for power and control, the urge to conquer the world.
The soul wants to connect with the Divine. The ego wants to use spirituality to serve its needs (this is the basis for idol worship).
The soul wants to connect with other people meaningfully. The ego corrupts this desire into a drive to manipulate and take from people.
By seeing that often the ego is nothing but a corruption of a noble desire we can easily move past it and bring even the ego to serve HaShem.
The Ramchal zt”l teaches us that chametz is a symbol of yetzer hara, the evil inclination. This urge to sin is a force given to us by HaShem to balance the yetzer toz, the good inclination. With these two in balance, we have the free will to choose the good or the evil. With the yetzer hara and the yetzer tov we would not have free will.
The yetzer hara is also the desire which pushes us to marry in order to fulfill lust. It is the desire which pushes us to build a house in order to marry. It is the desire wich pushes us to work hard in order to gain the money or power that we covet. But, in the end, each of these selfish acts is used by HaShem to build His world and to cause us to do His will. Our goal is to bring the yetzer tov under our control to eliminate the lust, love for money, love for power, and every other selfish desire. Our goal is to use the yetzer hara to bring about the world desired by HaShem.
Sometime, on a future Pesach, the yetzer hara will finally be destroyed and we will enjoy the reward that came from over coming the yetzer hara. Then we will no longer have to battle the yetzer hara, and we can enjoy the reward that we earned by controling the yetzer hara.
Berachot 17a
R. Alexandri on concluding his prayer used to add the following: Sovereign of
the Universe, it is known full well to Thee that our will is to perform Thy
will, and what prevents us? The yeast in the dough and the subjection to the
foreign Powers. May it be Thy will to deliver us from their hand, so that we
may return to perform the statutes of Thy will with a perfect heart!
When the chametz enters the dough mixture through the air or water, it is acting independently, intruding on its own. Fermentation, chametz, is a function of nature which symbolizes the negative forces of civilization which sway man from his responsibilities, which entice man to sin. This is how evil works, it sneaks up quietly and unobtrusively. Fermentation represents the evil urge, the urge to sin, the influence of alien ideas and forces. It is the voice that encourages us to ignore the pushy power of evil until it is too late. Flour and water which stand for more than eighteen minutes become by definition chametz, leaven. Because matza is bread which is not leavened, it represents man in control of his passions, exercising his independent disciplined will unflayed by external forces. Matza is the very opposite of chametz. It is man alert, on the defensive, disciplined and in control, rising above the forces of nature.
Pesach is the time
of freedom, spiritual freedom (which is the essence
of why HaShem brought us out of Egypt). The only
thing that stands between you and HaShem, is you. To come close to HaShem
(which is the essence of life and the opportunity of every mitzva and holiday), one must remove his yetzer hara. One must choose the good! This is the
lesson of removing the chametz from our possession.
The Sages teach that
the yetzer hara, evil inclination, cannot touch one who acts immediately at the
flash of inspiration from HaShem. If we live at that transcendental moment, we
will live beyond the reach of Paro’s magicians, beyond the reach of evil. Then
HaShem will reward us midda kneged midda, measure for measure.
Our Sages have told us that chametz and the preparations associated with it are extremely
symbolic. Chametz represents the
evil within us, our yetzer hara,
our evil inclination. It represents all of our character flaws such as
haughtiness, jealousy, unbridled passion and lust. Just as we need to remove
every speck of chametz from our
household, so too we need to remove every speck of spiritual chametz from our beings. Just as much time and effort is expended on preparing ourselves
physically for Pesach, by removing any hint of chametz, we must also exert much time and effort on preparing
ourselves spiritually for Pesach, by working on improving our character, which
is accomplished by removing all the evil traits we unfortunately carry with us.
Then, and only then, can we stand before HaShem.
Among the many laws of offerings to be brought in the Beit HaMikdash, there is a curious restriction: no chametz may be brought on the altar as part of the various meal-offerings. We can’t bring chametz on Pesach:
Shemot (Exodus) 34:25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my
sacrifice with chametz; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the
passover be left unto the morning.
Nor can we bring chametz to the altar at any other time:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 2:11 No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto
HaShem, shall be made with chametz: for ye shall burn no chametz, nor any
honey, in any offering of HaShem made by fire.
So when do we bring leaven to the Temple?
Shavuot is the Festival of Weeks. It is also the
festival designated as the time to bring first fruits
from the new crop in the Land of Israel to the Temple. Shavuot is linked to Pesach by the Omer. We count
seven cycles of seven days
from Pesach and then we celebrate Shavuot. Pesach is the start of a process;
Shavuot is the end. On Pesach, we remove all leaven and eat only unleavened
bread. On Shavuot, we bring loaves of leaven.
The Passover home atmosphere is created by the
practice of cleansing the home of all traces of chametz, or leaven, and by the
careful avoidance of its use throughout the holiday,
both at home and away.
The term chametz is applied not only to foods, but also to the dishes and utensils in which foods are prepared or served during the year. 'These may not be used during Pesach, except as indicated.
MECHIRAT CHAMETZ - The Selling of Leaven: According to the Biblical injunction that "no leaven shall be seen or found in your possession,"during Pesach, one must dispose of all non-Pesach foods for the full week of Pesach.
Torah law prohibits the use or legal possession of
any chametz, leaven of any kind, on Pesach. In order to be certain that all chametz
has been removed from our possession, Jewish tradition requires us to sell our
remaining chametz to a non-Jew. This chametz, then,
becomes the property of the non-Jew for the duration of Pesach and should be
set aside in a place in one's home that will be unused during Pesach.
The authorization of the right to sell chametz can be granted to another. In order to symbolize that one is transferring the authority to sell, it is customary to make a token monetary transfer. The money contributed will be used to provide needy families with Pesach necessities.
BEDIKAT CHAMETZ - The Search for Leaven: Taking place the evening before the first Seder, (except when Pesach begins on a Saturday night), this ceremony is the climax of the Pesach preparation. Ten pieces of chametz are hidden around the house. The family gathers together with a candle for lighting the way, a feather for brushing-up the chametz, and a wooden spoon onto which the chametz is brushed.
BIUR CHAMETZ - The Burning of Leaven: The crumbs of bread that have been gathered the night before are put together in a bundle and burned the morning before Pesach. The appropriate prayers can be found in any Haggada.
The seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot is a time when we move from matza to chametz.
1. Chametz may not be eaten in any form on Pesach, for seven days (eight outside of Israel).
2. It is prohibited to have chametz in your possession during Pesach
(beginning one hour before noon on the day before.). Either one simply gets rid
of it all, or it can be sold to a non-Jew through
the offices of your local Hakham.
3. The night BEFORE Pesach, one searches through the entire house to insure
that there is no chametz around. The found chametz, and any left over, is burnt
the next morning. One mentally removes any remaining chametz from one's mind
and makes it "hefker" (free, unowned).
In the ultimate sense, fermentation is not merely a process which does not
take place in matza. That is its lesson. In reality it was Israel who had become fermented, up to the point where
they almost became chametz. It was HaShem who saved
Israel from becoming chametz, which would have spelled Israel's destruction. It
was the redeeming hand of HaShem which guaranteed
that Israel would "remain matza" for all time
to come.
Hmmm…
Soncino Zohar, Bereshit, Section 1, Page 157a As
R. Hiya and R. Jose were once walking on the road, the latter said: ‘Every time
we walk together and discuss matters pertaining to the Torah, God performs for
us miracles, and now that we have a long road before us let us occupy ourselves
in the Torah and so God will join us.’ R. Hiya then opened with the verse: In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at
even, ye shall eat unleavened bread (Ex. XII, 18). ‘This unleavened bread’, he
said, ‘is called in another place “bread of affliction” (Deut. XVI, 3), an expression
on which the companions have commented as follows. When Israel were in Egypt
they were under an alien power; and when God desired to bring them near unto
Himself, He assigned them the region of the bread of ’oni (affliction), the
term ’oni admitting also of the reading ’ani (poor), and thus pointing to King
David, who said of himself: “for I am poor (’ani) and needy” (Ps. LXXXVI, 1).
Now this bread of affliction is called matza (unleavened bread), symbolic of
the female principle, which without the male principle is, so to speak, in
poverty. Thus Israel were first brought near the grade symbolized by matza. But
afterwards God caused them to enter other grades, until the male principle
joined the female principle, and so matza received the addition of the letter
vav, symbolic of the male principle, and became converted into mitzva (command,
precept). So Scripture says: “For this commandment” (Deut. XXX, 7): first matza
(unleavened bread), then mitzva (commandment).’
* * *
This study was written by Hillel ben David
(Greg Killian).
Comments may be submitted to:
Greg Killian
7104 Inlay St SE
Lacey, WA 98513
Internet address: gkilli@aol.com
Web page: http://www.betemunah.org/
(360) 584-9352
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