[Avodah] What is Chametz?

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 12:29:08PM +0000, Alan Rubin wrote:
: Is chametz a purely Halachic construct, an empirically observable
: phenomenon or something else?
...
: Chametz can only occur with 5 species. Is it not possible that other
: species might also leaven?

That's the whole discussion in the gemara about whether orez leavens.
I would think that R' Yochanan ben Nuri holds that chameitz means leaven,
in the biological sense. However, we follow the chakhamim that chameitz
means leavening one of the 5 grains, which are really 5 subtypes of the
2 grains for which EY is blessed, with water. Otherwise, the leavening
is called sirchon, not chameitz.

So, I would say that gemara (Pesachaim 35a) bears out a difference
between leaven and chameitz.

HOWEVER, the leavening of one of the 5 grains with exposure to water
is an empirically observable phenomenon. So the difference isn't about
empiricism. It may be biologically the same as other forms of leavening,
but it is different in an empirical way -- the ingredients differ.

: Pure Mei Peyros cannot make chametz. But Mei Peyros is mostly water
: and presumably bread made with it looks like it has leavened.

The problem with mei peiros, though, is fears of impurity. Not "looks
like". If any water was added to the H2O in the fruit, you could have
chameitz. And technically speaking, with the extra fructose provided by
the fruit juice, the yeast have a feast to work with and will produce
bubbles in the dough faster than with just water and starch to work with.

...
: So what is chametz?

As I suggested above, it is the leavening of water and one of the 5
species. Directly correlated to an empirical metzi'us, just not as broad
of a category as leavening.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             A sick person never rejects a healing procedure
micha at aishdas.org        as "unbefitting." Why, then, do we care what
http://www.aishdas.org   other people think when dealing with spiritual
Fax: (270) 514-1507      matters?              - Rav Yisrael Salanter