[Avodah] What is Chametz?

[David Riceman]

Alan Rubin wrote:
> Is chametz a purely Halachic construct, an empirically observable
> phenomenon or something else?
>   
IIRC Rabbi Tendler once published a paper arguing that it must be a 
halachic construct, since baked flour retains gluten.  Hence, he argued, 
one can make a dough out of matza meal and yeast and water and produce 
something empirically indistinguishable from hametz, but which is kosher 
l'pesah.  I've never tried the experiment, but it sounds plausible to me.

David Riceman