[Avodah] K'zayis as weight not volume?

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 08:10:40PM -0400, Zev Sero wrote:
: In the case of matzah, the traditional conversion factor happens
: to be 1.  It appears that experimental data contradicts that tradition;
: if verified then the practise needs to be re-evaluated.  Maybe sefardi
: matzot are denser than the ones Ashkenazim use today.

No baked good could be nearly as dense as a liquid. There is incomparably
less gas disolved in water than air-holes in matzah. And soft matzah
would have to be even LESS dense than our crackers in order to be soft
(and yet made of the same material).

Picture it: ROY says the shiur if 27gm. He gave that assuming 1 gm means
1 cc, or IOW he was giving shitas R' Chaim Na'ah -- 27cc. However, in
reality anyone following his weight would be eating at least 46.6 cc
(assuming a pessimistic .58 gm/cc).

You could make a size chart with a much smaller safety factor and use
volume. The advantage of switching to mass is lost one you throw in such
a margin of safety.

The only thing I could think of: Sepharadi matza differs far more widely
in thickness than ours -- some use crackers, others use something more
like a wrap, and yet others get as thick as a laffa. Area therefore
doesn't translate cleanly to volume.

Which would mean the only alternative to using weight would be to immerse
the matzah in liquid and see how much is displaced -- which would leave
you with unusable matzah for the mitzvah.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Nearly all men can stand adversity,
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