Preparing
for Pesach-week (Pesach and Week of Unleavened Bread)
Therefore, it is important that we observe the Festival of Unleavened
Bread correctly, with joy and gladness, and obedient to the commandments
concerning the Feast. The understanding
of what leavening is, and is not, is paramount to keeping the Feast correctly. And so is the knowledge that we are COMMANDED
to observe this Feast and EAT unleavened bread ALL SEVEN DAYS of the Feast
itself!
Leaven-cleaning for
Pesach week
Let’s
consider the literal commandment of removing the leaven and “not eating
anything with leaven in it for seven days”
With the start of YHVH's
calendar (the beginning of this new Scriptural year) on the first of Aviv, we
will have 14 days left to remove all leaven from our houses (before the 15th
of Aviv when the week of Unleavened Bread is going to start. By the morning
of the 14th of Aviv, it should be removed already) – see:
Shemot
(Exo) 12:15 ‘Seven days you shall eat
unleavened bread. Indeed on the first day you cause leaven to cease from your
houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh
day, that being shall be cut off from Yisra’ĕl” and
Devarim
(Deu) 16:4 “And no leaven should be
seen with you in all your border for seven days…..”
 If you’re new to this, may we suggest that you begin every year this time, by going through your cupboards, your pantry, your freezer and your refrigerator perhaps starting shortly after Purim but not later than the first week in the month of Aviv, the first month of the new Scriptural Year (Normally corresponds with March/April on the Gregorian calendar). If you are in fellowship with other believers who strive to be Torah observant or in a Messianic congregation you will get confirmation each year when the New moon (Rosh Chodesh) of the First month has been sighted in Yerushalayim and thus when the 14th of Aviv will be (when the original Ancient Torah/Hebrew calendar of YHVH is followed) unless you follow the Rabbinical calendar (the Hillel II calendar) which is a fixed calendar since the Diaspora and not yet corrected because they are awaiting a new Sanhedrin to correct it. Messianic believers who choose to follow this Hillel II calendar will know ahead of time which is the fixed date for Pesach week on that specific year. (We here at Beit El are following the Ancient calendar of witnesses who sight the New moon every month from Yesruahsalyim and then sending the news out all over the world. The fixed Hillel II calendar is normally a day or two out of sync with the real sighting of the sliver of the New Moon. They are normally a day or two ahead of believers who follow the Ancient original calendar).
Check your cupboards and all
tins and plastic holders for old cookie crumbs to clean out. All the freshly
bought cookies, rusks and bread must be eaten or removed from the property by
the morning of the 14th of Aviv. Before then you also have to
check your fridge and deep freezer for any frozen stuff with leaven in. Start
checking already now and make a list of things that will still be in for
instance the freezer and that you will have to remove completely nearer to
the time. Otherwise you might forget that it is there. Also start checking
already now ALL labels on the groceries in your cupboards (you will be
surprised where you will find leavening) and move these items to the
front/top so that you can use them more or less up - what is left by the 14th of Aviv needs to be removed. One will find ‘Yeast extract’ in many
food additives and flavourings, so look on the labels under “ingredients”
(spices and soup and sauce packages as also in marmite and some tins like
some liquid soup or sauce (tins or packages)). Definition from Wikipedia: “Yeast extract is the common name for
various forms of processed yeast products that are used as food additives or
flavourings. They are often used in the same way that monosodium glutamate
(MSG) is used, and, like MSG, often contain free glutamic acids. The texture
ranges from liquid to a light paste. (Herbst p.681) Glutamic acid in yeast
extracts are produced from an acid-base fermentation cycle, only found in
some yeasts, typically ones bred for use in baking”. With the last couple
of days, move the remaining leavening to your countertops so you can clean
out the cupboards/pantry and remove the leavened stuff.
Begin your cleaning (vacuuming
etc) in the rooms least likely to have any food in them, and once clean,
declare them off limits to all food. As the week of Pesach arrives to be in a
few days’ time, you will find most of your leavened food has been eaten
(those last menus can be rather "creative") or thrown out if old
stuff and only the kitchen, dining room, and refrigerator/freezer areas are
left to scrub clean. What leaven in food stuff is still left must be removed
from the property by the 14th of Aviv. (If you do the traditional
ceremony called Bedikat chametz with your children, then on the morning of
the 14th of Aviv you burn the last of the leaven.)
As you clean and remove leaven from your home, ask that the Father through his Ruach HaKodesh (Set-Apart Spirit) also show you areas of your life where ‘leaven’ may be hidden. The physical removing of bread and cake crumbs from under the beds, in between the couch cushions etc, the bread crumbs in the bread toaster, the crumbs in the oven and microwave etc., will remind us of this truth (removing the leaven out of all the corners of our lives – there will be more info about the lessons in all this while we are cleaning, later in this document).
Passover/Pesach Leaven Cleaning List
What Foods are Chametz (leavened)?
The
traditional interpretation of chametz is any flour of the
five biblical species of grain: wheat, oats, spelt, barley, and rye, which
has been combined with moisture and allowed to sit (and therefore
ferment) before baking is completed. (Take note that the flour itself is not
ferment).This is even true of flour to
which no yeast has been added, since yeast occurs naturally as a result of
the fermentation process. Naturally, there had to be a line drawn to
decide how long flour could sit after being combined with moisture, so
rabbinic authority has determined a safe amount of time as eighteen minutes
(though there are variations). Take note again that this flour of the five
biblical species of grain on its own is not yeast – We will though throw
out self-raising flour and all leavened breads and cookies, biscuits and
rusks that are baked already and still in our houses by the morning of the 14th
of Aviv.
Obviously,
traditional sandwich breads are leavened and must be removed, but in fact,
even flatbreads such as pita, pancakes, and tortillas are removed from the
house, because fermentation may have occurred in them. The Rabbinical Jews
also remove noodles and cereals because that is their Halacha and has to do
with the extra fences that were put around Torah, but we personally don’t
throw out noodles and cereals- only the cereal and noodles that are old.
More on
Chametz (leaven) and Matzah (unleaven)
“Chametz
comes about from "se’or" the process of fermentation. Se’or is
Hebrew for the actual leavening agent and progression that takes place as
food is fermented. Both chametz which is leavened items and se’or,
the
cause of rising, are forbidden during the feast of Unleavened Bread.
Chametz & a noun (Strong’sH2557), Se’or (sin-aleph-resh) (Strong’s H7603).
Chametz
(Leavened) bread and matzot (unleavened) bread are made of identical
ingredients: just flour and water. Yet we are commanded to eat one (unleavened bread/matzot) and not the
other (leavened bread/chametz).
The difference is that with leavened bread, fire or heat has not been applied
to mixture within 18 minutes because after 18 minutes it starts to rise or
ferment and now it became leavened (chametz) because fermentation took place.
Chametz (Leavened) is the opposite of Matzah (unleavened); Chametz is thus
bread or food items contaminated with leavening agents. This word is from the
root Hebrew term "chametz" which means to “become sour or
corrupted”. End of quote from Rendelman.
Question: What
(Biblically) is leaven/ yeast? What did people actually use as leaven in
ancient days? How did they cultivate, gather, and store it? Does that include
baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), and baking powder (a mix of carbonate, acid
and starch)?
 Answer: “Biblical
“leavening” is that which causes something to swell up or change its basic
nature by fermentation – a process which completely alters the basic
substance by souring or fermenting it, and causing it to swell up. Some quotes of experts: “Other than from the brewer,
the only way a baker had to obtain yeast was straight from the air. The air
around us is full of wild yeast cells, some of which are good for raising
bread. A mixture of liquid and flour (and possibly a bit of sugar) set aside
in a warm place will collect wild yeast form the air. As the yeast feed and
the decomposing flour (sugars result from the breakdown of the starch)
fermentation occurs with by-products of carbon dioxide and alcohol.
Fermentation means the yeast colony is growing. Allowed to grow for a few
days, the flour mixture becomes quite sour and full of active yeast cells.
This sourness is pleasant and characteristic of yeast bread and not like the
bitterness of brewer's yeast.”
“The most important leavening agent for many
breads is carbon dioxide, a byproduct of certain chemical or organic
ingredients. Carbon dioxide will lighten heavier doughs that are barely
affected by steam or air. Its rising action occurs rapidly or slowly
depending on what agent is producing the gas. The texture of the bread
depends on how the dough or batter is handled before the rising.”
Yeast is a
substance which causes this kind of chemical change and reaction.” Yeast is a
type of small single celled fungi that causes fermentation as it consumes a
food source. Yeasts are living organisms with 3,200 billion cells to the
pound -- and not one is exactly alike. So apart from yeast obtained from the
air, we are familiar with the clean packages of yeast from the grocery store
(those are the packages of yeast that must also be out of our houses by the
morning of the 14th of Aviv) that enhances the process but in
“biblical times” it referred to a piece of decaying bread that was permeated
with yeast. Yeast is a type of small single celled fungi that causes
fermentation as it consumes a food source. The yeast in this piece of
leavened dough would then begin multiplying rapidly throughout the entire
lump of dough. As the yeast feeds on the carbohydrates in the dough it
produces little carbon dioxide gas bubbles which causes the dough to rise and
become fluffy bread when it’s baked. In biblical times when you prepared some
dough for baking bread you would take a small piece of leavened dough that
you had been saving, and mix it in with the new batch of dough. Then after
the new batch of dough was permeated throughout with the yeast they would
take a small piece and save it for the next batch of dough. This process
would continue unbroken until the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Remember
that even flour to which no extra yeast agent has been added (whether in the
old way of keeping an old lump and add it in to the new dough or whether by
bought yeast in a packet) to speed up the process, can become “chametz”
(leavened) if exposed to air and water or moisture for a long time since
yeast occurs naturally as a result of the fermentation process.
What about
baking soda and baking powder, because we know the Rabbinical Jews remove
this from their houses?
A good
quote from a Torah teacher:
Biblical “leavening” is that which causes something to swell up or
change its basic nature by fermentation – a process which completely alters
the basic substance by souring or fermenting it, and causing it to swell
up. Yeast is a substance which causes
this kind of chemical change and reaction.
Baking soda operates on a completely different principle from yeast,
so it is neither se'or nor chametz. Baking soda
and baking powder don’t change the nature of the thing itself. They cause
things to fluff up in a good
sense. They don’t alter the BASIC NATURE of a thing by causing
fermentation! Jews do use baking soda
and even baking powder if it is flour free. That’s why there is Jewish
Passover recipes containing them for Passover use. They reject flour in
something, assuming that the flour might contain leaven. This, however, is what I would call
“over-kill.” Since flour itself is not
a leaven, it is not wrong to use baking powder with flour in it.
So, with this new understanding, I would now tell people that BOTH
baking powder AND baking soda are all right to use. This is a change from our previous
understanding. I did not know then
that the only reason baking powder was rejected by the Rabbis was because it
contained flour. Well, so does
matzos! Flour is not leaven,
however. Of course, we should avoid
any flour which has leaven in it such as self-rising flour and when we bake
unleavened bread ourselves, we must
put the dough in the oven before 18 minutes are passed and wash up quickly.
Says Leslie Koppleman Ross, “You may be surprised to see Pesakh recipes
calling for baking soda and baking powder, which are used to make cake
rise. Unlike yeasts and sour dough,
they are not considered leavening (any more than are the eggs used to make fluffy
Pesakh cakes)” (p.39). This author
points out that baking soda is merely a derivative of salt (sodium
bicarbonate) and is therefore approved for Passover usage.” End quote.
So, unlike the Halacha of the Rabbinical Jews, in our opinion it looks
like one does not need to remove baking soda or baking powder (each household
will have to decide for themselves though whether they want to remove baking
soda and baking powder or not). The
passages in question speak to one of the 5 grains that could possibly
“leaven” in the presence of water and time: wheat, barley, oats, rye, and
spelt" but this does not mean we
are required to get rid of all flour, barley, or other grains – so long as
they are not leavened – but we should keep them free from becoming leavened,
by keeping them from becoming exposed to air and water or moisture– Remember,
we read in Shemot/Exodus 12, that when the Yisraelites left Mitsrayim/Egypt, “So the people took their dough [flour
dough] before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in
kneading troughs wrapped in clothing” (Exodus 12:34). They kept their flour, but did not allow
water and air, with the air-borne yeast, to come into contact with it,
thereby keeping leaven-free. Even so,
we can use flour during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and baking soda or baking
powder, but we must not leave the flour dough exposed to the air longer than
18 minutes, before popping it in the oven to bake! (Many people are baking
their own unleavened bread with flour during this week – it will be unleavened/matza if the dough goes
in the oven before 18 minutes expire.)
Medicines?
Medicines
that contain any kind of chametz are not prohibited on
Passover.
Alka-Seltzer for instance is an
effervescent antacid and pain reliever and does not need to be removed (it is
neither chametz nor seor.
In
general, inedible items that may contain chametz need not be
removed from the house.
Wine and
vinegar?
Wine and
vinegar (other than grain vinegar) are not considered chametz,
because they are not made from grain products. Says Ariel ben Layman: A
thought on the wine issue: The Torah has nothing inherently bad to say about
alcohol, only drunkenness. To be sure, every day, while the Tabernacle/Temple
stood, Isra'el was Commanded to bring the ‘Olah Tamid ' dyim't h'l{[ the
“regular burnt offering (Num. 28)
” In these
verses “strong drink” (Hebrew: nesekh sheykhar r'kev .$,s,n= distilled alcohol) is
Clearly commanded. In verses 16-25 the regulations concerning the Pesach offering are
outlined. Clearly the Torah commands the ‘Olah Tamid’ to accompany the Korban
Pesach (Passover offering) (verse 24). The implication is that alcohol is
fine during Pesach. (Again, you might want to remove wine that doesn’t state
“kosher for Pesach”)
Malted beverages
When we
look at things which are processed should we also look at the Malted, or
Maltodextrin and other ingredients which may have been make into Chametz?
Malt beverage is an American term for both
alcoholic and non-alcoholic fermented beverages, in which the primary
ingredient is barley, which has been allowed to sprout ("malt")
slightly before it is processed. By far, the most predominant malt beverage
is beer, of which there are two main styles: ale and lager. A non-alcoholic
beverage brewed in this fashion is technically identical to
"non-alcoholic beer." Such a beverage may be prepared by either
removing alcohol from the finished product or by using a slightly altered
brewing process which yields very little alcohol (technically less than 0.5%
by weight).
The term "malt beverage" is often
used by trade associations of groups of beer wholesalers (e.g. Tennessee Malt
Beverage Association) to avoid any negative connotations associated with
beer. Additionally, the term is applied to many other flavored beverages
prepared from malted grains to which natural or artificial flavors have been
added to make them taste similar to wines, fruits, colas, ciders, or other
beverages. This subcategory has been called "malternative," as in
Smirnoff Ice, or "maltini," as in 3SUM, which also has energy
components like caffeine. Marketing of such products in the United States has
increased rapidly in recent years.
In most jurisdictions, these products are
regulated in a way identical to beer, which allows a retailer with a beer
license to sell a seemingly wider product line. This also generally avoids
the steeper taxes and stricter regulations associated with distilled spirits.
In Texas, such beverages must be referred to
as "flavored beers" rather than "Malt Beverages".
You can
see that Beers and other malted beverages are something we need to look at
being removed.
Beer,
whiskey and the like are fermented grain products; therefore we throw it out
before Pesach.
Once
again, alcohol is mostly a matter of the individual conscience. The Scriptural
commandment is “not to get drunk from alcohol”.
Common household items, which may contain leavening agents:
Common places where leaven may be found around the home:
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A
spiritual application to think about while cleaning out the Chametz (leaven)- quote from Messianic
Torah teacher Rendelman – Emet ministries: "The rabbis teach us that the word ‘leaven’
means corruption, anything that brings corruption. They define it as the "yetzer hara", the “evil
inclination within man that causes leavening in them,” wrote Rabbi Nydle.
The yetzer hara, also known as 'the flesh', is within every human being. It is
a desire to satisfy self but that sours our life and leads to our spiritual
corruption. Chametz is the fleshly cravings within each of us that must be
denied. "Those who live according to the sinful nature (or yetzer hara)
have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in
accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The
mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and
peace; the sinful mind is hostile to Elohim. It does not submit to Yahveh’s
Torah, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature (yetzer hara)
cannot please Yahveh," (Romans 8:5-7).
"Chametz (leaven) is the
opposite of Matzah (unleavened), so if Matzah (Unleavened) symbolizes Moschiach
(Messiah) and the mitzvoth (commands – a general term that encompasses all
kinds of commandments), then chametz
(leaven) must represent the ego and sin. "Clean out therefore the old chametz, that you may be a new lump,
as you are unleavened. For even Moshiach our Pesach was sacrificed for us: 8 So
then let us keep the moed (appointment), not with old chametz, neither with the
chametz of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened Matzah of sincerity
and emet (truth),"-- 1 Corinthians 5: 7-8.
Chametz and se’or are code words
for selfishness, pride, and ego. Chametz /#mx a noun (Strong’sH2557) meaning leaven,
that which is leavened; from the root H2556 chametz /#mx (verb)
meaning to be sour, to leaven. According to TWOT the root
word/verb designates the action and result of yeast which ferments or sours
bread dough. This idea of becoming
sour is extended to a person’s negative attitude. For example, in
Tehillim/Psalms 73:21 chametz is translated as cruel [and in Psa. 73:21 as
grieved]. The Torah strongly commands that anyone eating chametz during
Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread will be “cut off” from Yisrael
(Exod. 12:19-20). Exodus 12:39 notes that Passover bread was not leavened
because the Hebrews went out quickly from Mitsrayim/Egypt and thus had no time
for the dough to rise. Thus it had the symbolic value of teaching Yisrael
that having been redeemed from Mitsrayim they should leave their old life [and
sinful, “sour” carnal nature] quickly and set out toward the Promised Land by
faith. Leavened (chametz) bread was also prohibited in connection with the
offerings involving blood (Exod. 23:18; 34:25). Neither it nor honey could be
burned with the meal (Lev. 2:11) and it could not be baked with the fire
offering (Lev. 6:15). But leavened bread could be eaten with the thank offering
(Lev. 7:13) and with the first fruits offering on Shavuot/Pentecost. In later
Jewish thought leavened bread become a symbol of corruption and impurity, as
also in Yahshua’s teachings (Matt. 16:2; Mark 8:15) and in one remark by
Paul (1 Cor. 5:8) (Vol. 1, page 289).
Chametz (LEAVEN) is former Matzah
(UNLEAVENED) that has become puffed up by sin. "Then Yahshua said to
them, Take heed and beware of the chametz (leaven) of the Prushim (Pharisees)
and of the Tzadukim (Sadducees)…Then they understood how that He commanded them
not to beware of the chametz of lechem (BREAD) but of the (added) teachings and
behavior of the Prushim (Pharisees) and of the Tzadukim (Sadducees),"
-- Mattitiyahu / Matthew 16: 6 &13, Restoration Scriptures Translation.
We are also told in the Messianic Writings (also called second Writings or
Apostolic Writings) that "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up,"
1 Corinthians 8: 1. While Matzah (unleaven) is pure obedience to Torah, chametz
(leaven) is a picture of Torah observance that has been corrupted or even
halted for knowledge. Knowledge may lead to pride while knowledge coupled
with humble obedience will result in righteousness. Just knowing what the
Scriptures teach is not enough; we have to be doers of the word! "See,
he is puffed up; his desires are not upright-- but the righteous will live by
his faith," -- Habakkuk 2.” End of quote from Rendelman.
Chametz (yeast) “is a metaphor for the yeser hara, the evil
tendency, which is rooted in pride. The
leavened dough has the bloated shape of pompous self-importance and
arrogance. Like the rising dough, pride
grows continually. The search for
chametz [to get rid of it from our property], in a figurative sense, is the
self-examination we should undertake to pinpoint our evil tendencies. The burning [or getting rid of] the chametz
symbolizes the heartfelt elimination of our negative inclination” (The
Essence of the Holy Days, Avraham Yaacov Finkel, page 149).
Leavening Works Rapidly
“Eighteen
minutes is the length of time when flour dough (“any dough prepared from flour
of the ‘five species’: wheat, rye,
spelt, barley, and oats) mixed with water, left exposed to the air, becomes
“leavened” by the leavening agents floating in the air if not baked within 18
minutes”.
Notice how swiftly dough can
become leavened, if left “exposed” to the elements around us (water and air)
(Longer than 18 minutes and it will become chametz)! So it is with our own minds, if left exposed
to wicked surroundings and volatile temptations! Thus to prevent leavening and fermentation,
both physically of our bread dough, and spiritually of our minds, time is of
the essence! Our bread dough must be baked
quickly, and not left to “sit around,” absorbing contamination from the air!
And so it is in our spiritual
lives. We dare not “sit around,”
allowing wafting particles of “sin” or “temptation,” to begin sifting into our
minds through carelessness, lack of attention, and sheer lethargy. The righteous life is to be a life of activity,
action, careful introspection, and OVERCOMING the yester hara, or “evil
impulse” of our flesh and mind!
Says Lesli Koppelman Ross, in Celebrate! The Complete Jewish Holidays Handbook, “As
we get rid of leaven and replace it with matzah [unleavened, flat bread], we
are supposed to confront whatever it is that we normally allow to persist in
our lives but which should perhaps, like the leaven, be eliminated, and that
which we suppress which should, like the back-to-basics unleavened bread, be admitted”
(p.14).
A Most
Serious Command
Putting out the leaven, during the Days of Unleavened Bread, should not
be taken lightly. In seven passages YHVH
commands us to do it.
The punishment for violating this commandment is one of the most severe
– being “cut off” from the people of Yisrael – or being cast out from Elohim’s
people (His Kehilla!). This penalty
applies to only one other positive commandment – that of circumcision (physical
or spiritual, as the case may be). The
result is that the violator is separating himself by refusing to demonstrate
obedience to YHVH, loyalty to Him, and allegiance to His community and
government.
Keeping hold of chametz willfully and deliberately, during these days
of unleavening, is tantamount to keeping hold of SIN, and wickedness, and
refusing to abandon the ways of Egypt, and the “yester hara” or “evil
inclination” of human nature (Jer.17:9; Rom.8:7). And remember, “The wages of SIN is death”
(Rom.6:23).