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Hello, this is for people to understand other traditions, we are all different and celebrate differently,kathy
Passover Preparation - Pesach Preparation
How does one prepare for the Passover / Pesach holiday in terms of making the household kosher for Passover / Pesach? For observant Jews, the answer to this question involves a great deal of organization. Preparing for Passover / Pesach in the Orthodox Jewish world is no walk in the park! So how to prepare for Passover / Pesach while observing Jewish laws for Passover cleaning / Pesach cleaning? Stay tuned, the answer follows! (But don't hold your breath, it's not a short answer! Oy, that was close.)
A few days - in many cases weeks or months - before the Passover holiday begins, observant Jews clean their households of any trace of fermented grain products and chametz (alternate spellings are "chometz", "hametz", "hometz", "hammes" or "hamez"). Chametz means "leaven" in Hebrew. In the Passover dietary laws, leaven includes any foods or drinks created as a result of leavening or fermention with the exception of matzah which must be made from one of the five fermenting grains specified in the Passover dietary laws. In essence, chametz includes leavened foods, drinks and ingredients that are made from or contain wheat, rye, barley, oats or spelt. Therefore, all grain products such as breads, cereals and other breakfast foods, grain alcohol, grain vinegar and malts, are forbidden during Passover. Why do this? In Exodus 12:15 of the Torah, it states that no leavened bread (chametz) must be eaten during the Passover holiday. Four verses later, the Torah states that no chametz of any kind should be found in the home during the Passover holiday. So what do observant Jews do? Observant Jews will kosherize the household for Passover by cleaning the household from top to bottom of chametz or leaven. This process may begin anywhere from days to weeks before Passover begins, depending on the size of the household and the amount to be cleaned. After this Passover cleaning is completed and the chametz has been collected, on the day before Passover begins, observant Jews will go through a procedure with their Rabbi whereby they will symbolically "sell" their chametz to their Rabbi who in turn will "sell" it a non-Jew with the understanding that the "sale" is purely symbolic in nature. The non-Jewish person is then considered to be the owner of the chametz during the Passover holiday period. After the Passover holiday is over, there is usually some monetary compensation given to the non-Jewish person in order to nullify the transaction, thus returning the chametz to the Jewish people who "sold" the chametz to the non-Jewish person through their Rabbi. This satisfies the biblical commandment from G-d to the Hebrews in Exodus 13:7 to not have any chametz in one's possession during the Passover holiday. The process of "selling" the chametz is known as "Mechirat Chametz", which means "sale of leaven" in Hebrew. The chametz or leaven that is sold must be put in a completely sealed-off place that is inaccessible during Passover. When the sale of leaven is carried out, there is a limited amount of chametz that is deliberately not sold. This chametz is then used to fulfill the mitzvot ("commandments" in Hebrew, meaning G-d's commandments) of Bedikat Chametz, Bitul Chametz, and Biur Chametz (see further down in this paragraph), whereby the chametz that was not sold is destroyed either on the day before Passover or at the latest, in the morning at a specified time according to Jewish law - usually around 10 A.M. or so - on the day when Passover begins at sundown. After that, only kosher for Passover foods are eaten except for matzah, which is saved for consumption during the Passover Seder which opens the Passover holiday at sundown on the same day. Since the Jewish day begins at sundown in the Hebrew calendar, this means that one can dispose of the chametz on the same day as Passover in the secular calendar because Passover will begin at sundown later in the day. The sale of leaven is also performed in the case where if for some reason the chametz cannot be destroyed. After the household has been cleaned of chametz and at sundown on the night before Passover begins, observant Jews carry out a traditional Passover custom where they search their households one final time looking for chametz. This search is called "Bedikat Chametz" or "Bedikath Chametz" which means "search for leaven" in Hebrew. One is forbidden to work or eat a meal when nightfall arrives, and the search for leaven begins. By this time, one's household should be cleaned of chametz, and only symbolic representations of chametz are used such as bread that must be wrapped in aluminum foil. These pieces of bread are then placed in different areas of the household. After these symbolic representations of chametz are placed in different areas around the household, all who are participating in the search for chametz should be present when a blessing is said before the search starts concerning G-d's command to remove leaven from the household. No words should be said after this blessing until the search for leaven has been completed, unless one has something to say about the search for leaven. Each person participating in the search then goes around the household with a lit candle, a container or paper bag and a feather (yes, a feather!) and uses the feather to put the chametz into the container or paper bag, along with the pieces of bread that were placed around the household. The search must thoroughly cover everything in every room, even any and all garages and garbage cans! After the search is completed, a bracha ("blessing" in Hebrew) and a final declaration - called "Kol Chamira" in the Aramaic language (meaning "nullification of all leaven") - is made saying that all types of leaven that one has knowledge of have been found and removed from the household, and that any missed leaven shall be disowned and nullified. Reciting "Kol Chamira" fulfills the mitzvah ("commandment" in Hebrew, meaning G-d's commandment) of "Bitul Chametz", which means "mental nullification of the leaven" in Hebrew. Where does the ritual of reciting "Kol Chamira" for "Bitul Chametz" come from? The answer is that the Gemara of the Talmud states that one should also perform "Bitul Chametz" prior to doing the "Bedikat Chametz" so as to begin the process by eliminating concerns that there will be chametz in the household during Passover. However, there are differences of rabbinical opinion on whether to do both Bitul Chametz and Bedikat Chametz or to do just Bedikat Chametz alone. If evidence of chametz is found in the household during the following morning on the day when Passover begins at sundown, observant Jews then burn the chametz by a religiously specified time that morning, as mentioned, around 10 A.M. or so. This is called "Biur Chametz" in Hebrew. "Biur" means "to destroy" or "to get out of one's possession" in Hebrew, so "Biur Chametz" means to destroy the leaven. After destroying the leaven by burning it, the bracha, and Kol Chamira declaration are repeated, where the Kol Chamira essentially says that all types of leaven that one has knowledge of have been found and removed from the household, and that any missed leaven shall be disowned and nullified. If any chametz is found in a Jewish person's possession - meaning on one's person and/or in the household - during the Passover holiday and was not sold to a non-Jew, then that chametz is forbidden to be used or sold at all even after Passover. This law is called "chametz she'avar alav ha'Pesach", which means "chametz that remained during Passover" in Hebrew, and is simply a penalty for either not performing the rituals of Bedikat Chametz and Biur Chametz or not performing them correctly. Throughout the Passover holidays, observant Jews will not eat any food or drink or come into contact with any edible or non-edible product that has leaven in it.
In accordance with Jewish law, it is forbidden to purchase and eat bread that has been baked during the Passover holiday and so after the Passover holiday, observant Jews will only buy bread that has been made after the Passover holiday. To ensure that the bread was made after the Passover holiday, observant Jews usually purchase bread from rabbinically-approved bakeries. In addition, bread made with animal shortening and/or lard is non-kosher and so observant Jews will avoid bread containing those ingredients.
Aside from cleaning the household of chametz, there is a custom called Ta'anit Bechorot, or Ta'anit Bekhorot. "Ta'anit Bechorot" means "Fast of the First Born" in Hebrew. From sunrise until sunset on the day before Passover, the first born male of every Jewish household fasts in commemoration of the 10th plague of Passover, in which G-d spared the first born male in every Jewish household in Egypt, and instead slew the first born in every Egyptian household. If there is no first born male in a Jewish household, then the oldest male in the family fasts. If there are no children, then the oldest member of the family fasts. This is done because all Egyptian families were affected by G-d's wrath, whether or not they had a first born son. This fast is also in memory of the slain first born Egyptian males, and symbolizes the gratitude of the first born males of Jewish households to G-d as well as serves as a reminder of G-d's might and power. However, first born Jewish males can be exempted from the Ta'anit Bechorot by attending a siyyum bekhorot. Siyyum means "the celebration held after the public completion of study of a tractate of the Talmud or at the end of a year of study" in Hebrew, and siyyum bekhorot means "the celebration held after the public completion of study of a tractate of the Talmud or at the end of a year of study for first borns" in Hebrew. This celebration usually involves eating at a feast. The siyyum bekhorot is done so that the obligation or mitzvah to hold a celebration will override the minor obligation or mitzvah to fast on the day before Passover. The siyyum bekhorot is done on the morning before Passover, with the ritual of burning the chametz done soon after that, and before the morning is over.
As mentioned, chametz means "leaven" in Hebrew, and according to Pesachim 35a of the Mishnah Talmud, the term "chametz" applies to five species of grain and their derivatives which, when mixed with water, create a leavening process. These 5 grains can be used to make challah and therefore, they can become "leaven" or "chametz" which is prohibited during the Passover / Pesach holiday except for use in making matzah. Benjamin Mordecai Ben-Baruch is a former principal in the United Hebrew Schools of Metropolitan Detroit and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation and also of the Progressive Jewish Voice. He describes the 5 prohibited grains as follows:
* Hitim - wheat [Triticum durum and vulgare]
* Se'orim - 6- and 4-rowed barley, [Hordeolum sativum and vulgare]
* Kusmim - {Even Shoshan = Triticum dicoccum, J. Cohen = spelt} emmer/lesser spelt/ rice wheat [Triticum dicoccum]
* Shibbolet Shu'al - {Even Shoshan = Avena; J. Cohen = oats} 2-rowed barley [Hordeolum distichum]
* Shippon - {Even Shoshan = Secale = rye, J. Cohen = rye} spelt wheat [Triticum spelta]
According to Benjamin Mordecai Ben-Baruch, "these are the only items which can become hamaitz. While there is virtually total rabbinic agreement since Talmudic times that these Biblical Hebrew terms comprise the sum total of items which can become chametz (or hamaitz), there is not agreement regarding the proper translation of the terms kusmim and shibbolet. Some authorities include oats in the above list but it is doubtful whether oats should be included. Cereal foods such as buckwheat ("kasha") and grains such as rye are sometimes mistakenly included in the above group because of mistranslations of the Hebrew or upon modern Hebrew usages which should not be applied to terms in their Biblical contexts. [NOTE: This does not make rye breads made of a combination of rye and wheat flour kosher for Passover.]" In general, the 5 principal grains and their derivatives that are prohibited for consumption and from even being in one's possession during the Passover / Pesach holiday except when making matzah can summarized as follows:
* Barley
* Oats
* Rye
* Spelt
* Wheat
The Talmud states that matzah must be made from one of the above-mentioned five grains in order to fulfill the biblical commandment to eat matzah on Passover. However, these same five grains must not be used as part of any other foods that are prepared during the Passover holiday. Why only these five grains? The answer is that these five grains are known to satisfy the description of the events told in Exodus 12:39. According to Exodus 12:39, the Hebrews baked unleavened bread before it had enough time to ferment from the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt in haste. Since the possibility of fermentation was a necessary prerequisite to accepting a grain that would be used for making matzah in order to satisfy the passage told in Exodus 12:39, the Talmudic rabbis believed during their time that pods which contained edible seeds - known as legumes or pulse - would not ferment if water were added to them and so these legumes would not qualify as ingredients for making matzah. Examples of these legumes included peanuts, peas, millet, lentils, and beans, and later on, rice was added to this list by Maimonides. However, it is now known today that these legumes will in fact eventually ferment after coming into contact with water.
There is also the question of avoiding the creation of leavening during the making of matzah with any of the above-mentioned five grains. Jewish tradition determined that the time it takes for flour to ferment under normal conditions is a period or range that is needed to walk a Roman mile, which was estimated at 18 to 24 minutes. The shorter time of 18 minutes was eventually adopted as the standard time for flour to become chametz. From this reasoning, it has been established that when any of the five species of grain mentioned above come into contact with water at room temperature and they are not kneaded together, they will become leaven or chametz from eighteen minutes onward. If heat or other ingredients are added, this may lessen the time for those grains to become chametz. Therefore, since matzah is cooked using only wheat flour and water and absolutely no other additives, to avoid it becoming leaven or chametz one must put the matzah ingredients into the oven well within the time frame of eighteen minutes which began from the point at which both the wheat flour and water came into contact with each other. Matzah can only be made with water that has been stored and cooled overnight, and the grain must not have come into contact with water or have been tampered with in any way. It is kneaded into dough either by hand or by a machine in a cool room because heat may create instant leavening. After kneading the dough, it is rolled into thin sheets, perforated many times to allow air to escape which will both retard leavening and prevent the dough from rising and swelling when baking, and then baked. From the time the wheat flour and water come into contact to the time the sheets of dough are put into the oven to the time the sheets of matzah complete their baking should be no longer than 18 minutes to prevent leavening. The oven must also be heated to the proper baking temperature to prevent leavening. After matzah is baked, the oven must be completely cleaned of dough crumbs. When matzah is kneaded and baked within 18 minutes at the correct temperature to prevent leavening, no more leavening can occur with the matzah. This means that matzah products such as ground matzah meal, farfel, or flour can then be cooked with hot water or blended with any other Passover ingredients because now it will not become chametz. The making of matzah is usually supervised by a rabbinical authority to assure its authenticity.
Shmurah Matzah
What is shmurah matzah? Shmurah or Shmura means "watched" or "guarded" in Hebrew. This "watched", "guarded", or "protected" matzah is named as such because the grain that comprises it is carefully "watched" for signs of having any contact with water right from the time the grain is harvested, since any contact with water will introduce the possibility of leavening occurring and disqualify it from being used for Passover. All types of matzah, whether shmurah matzah or matzah pashutha (pashutha matzah means "regular matzah" in Hebrew) must be kneaded and baked within 18 minutes to avoid leavening. In the case of shmurah matzah this means that when the dough is kneaded, cut into rounded-shapes and placed in an oven for baking, the total process - from the beginning of kneading when the dough comes into contact with water to completing the baking - must take less than 18 minutes otherwise the dough will become chametz (leavened) and not fit for Passover consumption. Factors such as heat in the working environment, warm water, and dough which is left standing will hasten the process of the dough becoming chametz, so matzah factories segregate the matzah oven from the area where the dough is kneaded. According to Pesachim 94b of the Talmud, there is an explanation that at night, the sun underneath the earth will heat up the wells and streams, causing their waters to become tepid. Therefore, Rabbi Judah ordered that this kind of water should not be used in the preparation of matzah because the tepid water will speed up the process of fermentation. He ordered that matzah should be made with water that has "lodged" or been kept overnight in the household at cool temperatures so that when this cooler water comes into contact with the flour when preparing matzah, fermentation will not be as rapid as with tepid water. To further ensure that matzah does not become chametz, hand-made matzah factories will close down their production facilities every 18 minutes to thoroughly clean all equipment, including rolling pins and mixing devices, to ensure that no traces of dough remain from the previous batch of dough. The workers will also wash their hands thoroughly, and the rabbinical supervisor will check everything to confirm that no traces of dough remain. Some machine-made matzah factories will follow this approach as well, using a mixture of shmurah and regular matzah flour. Their equipment for making matzah is designed to be dismantled for this purpose. This kind of matzah is known as "18 minute matzah". However, most owners of factories that make machine-made matzah do not shut down their factories after 18 minutes, but rather clean their equipment at the start of a production cycle of matzah-making, then follow the opinion of the Talmud which states that it will take much longer than 18 minutes for the dough to become chametz if it is constantly being kneaded, so their production facilities will be set up so that the dough is constantly being worked on. They also use equipment that does not allow the dough to stick to it, and set up the equipment to ensure that the dough does not remain in the production system prior to baking for a period of time that comes close to 18 minutes. This is done to keep the dough moving through the system well within 18 minutes so that there is enough time left for the dough to be baked within 18 minutes.
Matzah is usually not eaten on the day prior to the start of Passover to enhance the novelty of eating matzah at the appropriate times during the Passover seder, which opens the Passover holiday. Some Jews will not eat matzah for an entire month prior to the start of Passover to further enhance the experience of eating matzah when it is required during the Passover seder.
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