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Chametz

Chametz (also chometz , ḥametz , ḥameṣ , ḥameç and other spellings transliterated from Hebrew : חָמֵץ / חמץ ; IPA: [ χaˈmets ] ) are foods with leavening agents that are forbidd...

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Chametz (also chometz, ḥametz, ḥameṣ, ḥameç and other spellings transliterated from Hebrew: חָמֵץ / חמץ; IPA:[χaˈmets]) are foods with leavening agents that are forbidden to Jews on the holiday of Passover.

Chametz is a product that is both made from one of the five species of grain and has been combined with water and left to stand raw for longer than eighteen minutes (according to most opinions) and becomes leavened. This law appears several times in the Torah; according to halakha (Jewish law), Jews may not own, eat or benefit from chametz during Passover. The penalty for eating chametz on Passover is the divine punishment of kareth (cutting off).[1]

Etymology

The adjective chametz is derived from the common Semitic rootḤ-M-Ṣ, relating to bread, leavening, and baking. The related noun chimutz is the process of leavening or fermenting. It is cognate to the Aramaicחמע, "to ferment, leaven" and the Arabicحَمْضḥamḍ, "acid", حَمُضَḥamuḍa "to be sour", "to become acidic", "to acidify". This root relates to acidity and sourness in Hebrew as well, as the word chometz -חומץ‎ - means vinegar, and the word chamootz -חמוץ‎ - means sour.[2][3]

The Torah has several commandments governing chametz during Passover:

  • The positive commandment to remove all chametz from one's home (Exodus 12:15).[4]:§9
  • Not to possess chametz in one's domain. (Exodus 12:19, Deuteronomy 16:4).[4]:§11,20
  • Not to eat chametz, or mixtures containing chametz (Exodus 13:3, Exodus 12:20, Deuteronomy 16:3).[4]:§12,19

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, which is the 21st day of the month and the last of the seven days of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 13:6). Traditional Jewish homes spend the days leading up to Passover cleaning and removing all traces of chametz from the house.

Description

Chametz is a product that is both made from one of five species of grain and has been combined with water and left to stand raw for longer than eighteen minutes (according to most opinions) and becomes leavened.[2][5]

All fruits, grains, and grasses for example naturally adhere wild yeasts and other microorganisms. This is the basis of all historic fermentation processes in human culture that were utilized for the production of beer, wine, bread and silage, amongst others. Chametz from the five species is the result of a natural microbial enzymatic activity that is caused by exposing grain starch—which has not been sterilized, i.e. by baking—to water. This causes the dissolved starch to ferment and break down into sugars that then become nutrients to the naturally contained yeasts. A typical side effect of this biological leavening is the growth of the naturally adhering yeasts in the mixture, which produce gaseous carbon dioxide from glycolysis, which causes the fermented dough to rise and become increasingly acidic.[2]

The five grains

According to the Talmud, chametz can only be present in the five species of grain. Other species are considered not to undergo "leavening" (chimutz), but rather "spoilage" (sirchon), and thus cannot become chametz.[6]

Al menos cuatro de los cinco cereales contienen altos niveles de gluten . El quinto cereal ( shibolet shual ) se traduce en la tradición judía asquenazí como « avena » (que tiene bajo contenido de gluten), pero muchos estudiosos modernos lo interpretan como una variedad de cebada (con alto contenido de gluten). Si esta última interpretación es correcta, entonces los cinco cereales tienen alto contenido de gluten. Esto sugiere que el gluten es un componente necesario del jametz , ya que mantiene la masa unida durante el levado, permitiendo la formación de un pan esponjoso. [ 7 ]

Levadura

Los agentes leudantes , como la levadura o el bicarbonato de sodio , no son jametz en sí mismos . Más bien, son los granos fermentados los que lo son. Por lo tanto, la levadura puede usarse en la elaboración de vino. De manera similar, el bicarbonato de sodio puede usarse en productos horneados de Pésaj hechos con harina de matzá y en bolas de matzá . Dado que la harina de matzá utilizada en esos alimentos ya está horneada, el grano no fermentará. Si se puede usar un leudante químico como el bicarbonato de sodio con harina para hacer matzá de huevo es un tema controvertido entre las autoridades sefardíes contemporáneas . [ 8 ] De acuerdo con quienes lo permiten, las galletas hechas con harina de Pésaj, vino y un leudante químico (la ausencia de agua las haría similares a la matzá de huevo según las reglas del jametz ) se comercializan en Israel con el nombre de "galletas de vino" para los sefardíes y otros que comen matzá de huevo en Pésaj.

Rigor

La Torá especifica el castigo de kareth , uno de los niveles más altos de castigo en la tradición judía, por comer jametz en Pésaj ( Éxodo 12:15 ). [ 9 ] Durante Pésaj, comer jametz está prohibido sin importar cuán pequeña sea su proporción en una mezcla, aunque la regla habitual es que si menos de 1/60 de una mezcla no es kosher , la mezcla está permitida. Si la dilución ocurrió antes de Pésaj, se aplica la regla habitual de 1/60; los judíos asquenazíes aplican esta indulgencia solo si la mezcla es líquida. [ 10 ]

Asimismo, se permite obtener algún beneficio (como la venta) de ciertos alimentos no kosher, pero no se puede obtener ningún beneficio del jametz durante la Pascua. Se pueden poseer y usar en la Pascua mezclas que contengan menos del 50 % de jametz y que no sean consumidas habitualmente (como medicamentos o comida para mascotas , incluso si son perfectamente comestibles), pero no se pueden comer. [ 11 ]

Removal of chametz

A small scale bi'ur chametz. Note the charred ashes of the lulav palm frond from Sukkot has been used for kindling to reuse a holy object to perform an additional mitzvah.
Bi'ur chametz (destroying chametz)

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

  • Bi'ur: (ביעור) destroying one's chametz. All appropriate methods of destruction, like burning, are included in this category. On the night preceding the 14th of Nisan, a formal bedikat chametz (search for chametz) is conducted by candlelight. The chametz found in this search is burned the next morning, in a formal bi'ur ceremony.
  • Bittul (ביטול): nullifying one's chametz. On the night and again on the morning of the 14th of Nissan, at the formal bedikah and bi'ur respectively, the head of the household recites an Aramaic statement nullifying all chametz remaining in the family's possession. The statements conclude that the chametz "shall be nullified and considered ownerless as the dust of the earth." Bittul must be done before the prohibition of chametz takes effect; once five twelfths of the day have passed on Passover eve, bittul is no longer an effective means of removal, and any chametz that one discovers must be destroyed.[13]
  • Mechirah: (מכירה) selling one's chametz. Until five twelfths of the way through Passover Eve one may sell or give one's chametz to a non-Jew, and it is no longer one's responsibility.[14] One who keeps the sold chametz in a household must seal it away so that it will not be visible during the holiday. After the holiday, the non-Jew generally sells the chametz back to the original owners via the agent; nevertheless, he is under no obligation to do so.

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 it.[15]Mechirah, which averts the prohibition of ownership, is an alternative to destruction.

Sale of chametz

In many Jewish communities, the rabbi signs a contract with each congregant, assigning the rabbi as an agent to sell their chametz.[16] The 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; during the 2000s, the Rabbinate sold its chametz to 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.[17]

Chametz found during or after Pesach

"Chametz" in large black Hebrew letters on a letter-size piece of paper, affixed horizontally to white plastic background.
Chametz sign on blocked-off sections of a Jerusalem supermarket during Passover

According to halakha (Jewish law), if chametz is found during Shabbat or Yom Tov, it must be covered over until Chol HaMoed, when it can be burned. Chametz found during Chol HaMoed (except on Shabbat) should be burned immediately.

After the holiday, there is a special law known as chametz she'avar alav haPesach (chametz that was owned by a Jew during Pesach). Such chametz must be burned, since no benefit is allowed to be derived from it, not even by selling it to a non-Jew. Chametz she'avar alav haPesach may not be eaten by Jews after Pesach. If a store owned by a Jew is known not to have sold its chametz, a Jew may not buy any from that store until enough time has passed in which it can be assumed that 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.

Kitniyot

Among Ashkenazi Jews, the custom during Passover is to refrain not only from products of the five grains but also kitniyot (lit. small things), which 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 as well.[18]

The custom of kitniyot is observed by Ashkenazi Jews. Some Sephardi Jews from Spain and North Africa (for example, Moroccan Jews) have different restrictions, such as avoiding rice during Pesach. In recent years, there is some movement among Conservative as well as some Orthodox Ashkenazi Jews to cease to observe the tradition of kitniyot.[19]

Egg matzo

Matzo is generally made from flour and water. If made from flour and a different liquid, such as fruit juice or eggs, it is not considered chametz. Ashkenazi custom is generally to avoid such products, in case some water was mixed into the liquid, which could cause the mixture to become chametz.[20] This product is known as "egg matzo" or "enriched matzo".

Gebrochts

At Passover, some Hasidic Jews will not eat matzo that has become wet, including matzo balls and other matzo meal products although it cannot become chametz.[21] Such products are called gebrochts (Yiddish: 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 term for gebrochts is matzah sh'ruyah (Hebrew: מצה שרויה, soaked matzo), but outside Israel, the Yiddish name is usually the one that is used.

See also

References

  1. ↑Shurpin, Yehuda. "What Is Chametz (Chometz)?". www.chabad.org. Retrieved 2026-03-27.
  2. 123"Defining Hametz". yahadut.org. Jewish Tradition. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  3. ↑ "על המילה חָמֵץ" [ Acerca de la palabra Jametz ] . hebrew-academy.org.il (en hebreo) . Consultado el 28 de marzo de 2024 .
  4. 1 2 3 Sefer ha-Chinuch
  5. ↑ Rabino Yaakov Horowitz (2021). "¿Qué es la matzá? - Kosher para Pésaj" . OU Kosher . Archivado del original el 28 de febrero de 2021.
  6. ↑ Yerushalmi Pesajim 2:4 (16b); Talmud Bavli Pesajim 35a
  7. ↑ ¿Por qué estos Cheerios son diferentes de todos los demás Cheerios?
  8. ↑ El rabino Ovadia Yosef lo permite, ya que el bicarbonato de sodio produce su propio dióxido de carbono en lugar de provocar la fermentación del grano, mientras que el rabino Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron y otros lo prohíben. Para los rabinos asquenazíes , la cuestión es puramente teórica,puesto que, tradicionalmente, la mayoría de los asquenazíes no consumen matzá con huevo durante la Pascua.
  9. ↑ "Cuatro Mitzvot sobre la prohibición del jametz" . Peninei Halakha . 4 de marzo de 2011. Consultado el 28 de marzo de 2024 .
  10. ↑ Shulján Aruj OC 447:4, y Rema
  11. ↑ Shulján Aruj OC 442:4 , SA Harav OC 442:22, Rambam Jametz Umatza 4:12
  12. ↑ Éxodo 12:15
  13. ↑ Shulján Aruj OC 434:2, 443:1
  14. ↑ Shulján Aruj OC 443:1, 445:2
  15. ↑ Mishná Berurá §434
  16. ↑ "Leyes de venta de jametz" . Archivado del original el 9 de abril de 2008. Consultado el 12 de abril de 2008 .
  17. ↑ "El guardián musulmán del pan de cada día de Israel" . The Independent . 6 de abril de 2009. Archivado del original el 19 de abril de 2009. Consultado el 19 de abril de 2009 .
  18. ↑ "Qué alimentos son Kitniyot: Una lista de Kitniyot - OU Kosher Passover" . Passover . 22 de enero de 2013. Consultado el 19 de abril de 2019 .
  19. ↑ «Va'ad Ha'Halakhah - Resúmenes en inglés (Volumen 3)» . תשובות לימינו . Instituto Schechter de Estudios Judíos . Consultado el 19 de abril de 2009 .
  20. ↑ "¿Es kosher el matzá de huevo para la Pascua? "
  21. ↑IsraelNationalNews: In Time for the Holiday: What is Matzah? How is it Baked?: "According to Jewish Law, once matzo is baked, it cannot become chametz. Some Hasidic communities do not eat "wetted" matzo, for fear that part of the dough was not sufficiently baked and might become chametz when coming in contact with water."
  • Chabad.org: Chametz
  • OUKosher.org: Bedikat Chametz by Rabbi Eli Eleff
  • Balashon Hebrew Language Detective: Chametz
  • HaRav Eliezer Melamed: General Rules of the Prohibition Against Hametz
  • Burning Chametz