Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 2 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 26 years, 2 months ago by
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My nine-year-old daughter wonders why Jewish people eat Matzoh. What is the significance of the unleavened bread, and what ingredient is not used: Yeast, baking soda, or both?
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Name : Judy, Gender : F, Age : 40, City : Burlington, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Stay-at-home mom, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,The meaning of the matza is that when we left Egypt, it was in a great hurry and we took dough that was not given the opportunity to rise. The bread made from that dough came out flat, like matza. We eat the matza for the duration of Passover as a reminder.
Traditional matza is made with two ingredients; flour and water, although many varieties are made with some flavorings like garlic, salt, onion and other stuff. It wouldn’t surprise me if someone made blueberry matza. As far as I know, all these varieties are absolutely kosher and legal.
What makes the matza different from bread is the preparation. The sages determined a long time ago that flour mixed with water would, all by itself, without any yeast or anything else, ferment and begin to rise 18 minutes after mixing. Matza, therefore, must be completely mixed and baked in less than 18 minutes, so that it is baked before it has a chance to rise. The bakeries making matza under supervision have operations that make small batches of dough and get it into the oven extra quick. There has to be someone with a stopwatch to ensure that it beats the 18-minute deadline, and I assume that they occasionally throw out a batch if they screw up and miss the deadline.
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Name : Jesse-N30803, Gender : M, Religion : Jewish, Age : 40, City : Herzliya, State : NA, Country : Israel, Occupation : Engineer,The previous response touched on the central issue: fermentation of grains. Judaism relies on a principle of ‘building a fence around the law.’ In other words, if something is forbidden then everything that could lead to it is also forbidden, controlled, or discouraged. For that reason, the requirement to eat only unleavened bread was extended to all grain (not just wheat) products (not just bread) which could possibly ferment. Wine, being made from fruit, is allowed; whiskey, being made from grain, is forbidden. Different Rabbinical traditions introduced variations (some Jews eat rice, some don’t), but the principle is the same.
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Name : JerryS, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 52, City : New Britain, State : CT, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,
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