[Avodah] Particles of flour cannot become Chamets

hankman hankman at bell.net
Wed Apr 18 12:08:09 PDT 2012


RMB wrote:
When I saw the ST, I *assumed* he was talking chemistry, not shiurim. One
wet grain of wheat can't leaven (neither chimutz nor even sirchah). Even
if ambient yeast turn some of the carbs in the wheat into CO2 and alcohol,
there isn't the ability to make a bubble of dought around the CO2.

CM asks:

My understanding of what actually makes something chometz has always been quite deficient. I understood that as a practical matter it requires one of the 5 grains to come into contact with water for an adequate length of time (which could vary with temperature etc), and is commonly called rising or leavening. The more direct terminology in lashon hakodesh (as RMB mentions above) of chimutz (process) or sirchah (result of process?) was not correlated well to my English terminology for the same. Loosely, I took chimutz sometimes to mean the rising (or synonymously leavening? – or is leavening a term more related to the chemistry?) brought on by the chemical process RMB refers to above. Then I pictured the notion of sirchah as sort of stretch marks (or surface cracking? not sure which) when the dough rises? Not to clear how all this fits together to make a coherent picture of what chometz is, and when chometz happens. Furthermore the distinction between the trapped CO2 bubbles forming so the dough actually rises, or the CO2 chemistry still happening but not being trapped to form a bubble, (so no visible rising occurs) would that actually prevent chometz from forming? If it is a process or substance not detectable to the eye (without enough substance to trap the bubbles) it does not matter halachically (as in eating bacteria etc.)? If anyone has a good handle on these things I would certainly appreciate a clarification.

Kol Tuv

Chaim Manaster
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