[Avodah] kezayit - weight or volume

[Eli Turkel]

We have discussed in the past whether the size of zayit is measured by
weight or volume. I found this from Rav Rimon (Gush)

Volume or Weight?



     The Rambam (Hilkhot Chametz U'Matza 5:12) defines "shi'ur chala" (the
minimum amount of dough that requires the separation of "chala") as
approximately 43.5 eggs, and he adds, "like the body of an average egg -
not its weight."  As the Maggid Mishna explains, the Rambam here
establishes that these measurements are determined by volume, not weight, a
principle that seems to emerge as well from the mishnayot (Keilim 17:6 and
elsewhere) and many other sources.  This is also the view of the Mishna
Berura (486:3).  However, the Kaf Hachayim (168:46) observes that common
practice was to calculate according to weight, seemingly against the
straightforward reading of all the poskim.  We may perhaps attribute this
practice to the difficulty involved in constantly measuring volume.


     Today, Ashkenazim calculate volume, in accordance with the
aforementioned ruling of the Mishna Berura, and this is also the oft-cited
view of Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv.  The Sefardic authorities dispute the
issue: Rav Ovadya Yosef (Yechaveh Da'at 1:16) writes that the weight
measurement should be used, while Rav Shalom Messas ("Tevu'ot Shemesh")
maintains that we determine measurements based on volume.

-- 
Eli Turkel
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