[Avodah] What is Chametz

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 08:39:02PM +0000, Alan Rubin wrote:
: >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.

: So I take some mei peyros, let some of the H20 in it evaporate and replace 
: it.
: That will make chametz but the original mei peyros wouldn't.
: What if I collect the vapour from the mei peyros and add it back to the 
: original mei peyros?

Those are interesting questions about the ingredients, but the ingredients
are still empirical things.

Let me explain where I'm coming from. I put together a relatively
involved theory about the relationship between halakhah and reality --
that halakhah applies to metzi'us -- literally: that which can be found,
and things that of mamashus -- literally: tangibility. Empirical reality,
but as a person can directly experience it without the aid of tools such
as microscropes. This even ties into things that can be experienced but
weren't, cases where we need to rely on rov, chazaqah, etc...

We're both making distinctions between halachic reality and the world
as science can objectively determin it to be.

However, I don't want to call "the world as experienced" non-empirical.
Because I am simultaneously playing another game; that of distancing
myself from Brisker "chalos sheim", where one can create categories and
not care about reality or what the halachic category means.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             A person must be very patient
micha at aishdas.org        even with himself.
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