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Nisan and Chametz

March 26, 2012 by Ketzirah

Let’s talk chametz.

Chametz (חמץ) is one of two reasons we don’t eat bread during Passover.  There’s a couple of reasons for eating unleavened bread given in the Torah, but beyond eating Matzah there is also this thing called chametz  If it were just bread there wouldn’t be all these other prohibitions on food during Passover.

I’m not going to go all technical about the laws of Pesach or chametz — there’s plenty of other sites you can find that on. Personally, what I love is how Passover practices so closely align the spiritual and the physical.  So let’s do a little more thinking about the symbolism of chametz and why it’s so important.

The simplest definition of chametz is food made from five different grains that has been allow to ferment.  Generally these grains are defined as wheat, barley, oat, spelt or rye. I have found a couple of articles that point out that spelt, rye and oats didn’t grow in biblical Israel — so they really can’t be what the Torah intended.  But we are a people who build and build on tradition, so these grains may have been substituted for Middle Eastern grains during the Diaspora.  But I digress….

What I find interesting here is the correlation between chametz and the “hamotzei” prayer over bread. Two food types have special blessings, wine and bread. With wine we say, “the fruit of the vine,” but there are lots of foods that grow on vines that we don’t use that prayer for: only grape wine and sometimes juice.  The other special food is leavened bread.

What do these two things have in common?  Divine Intervention.

Both foods are created through a partnership between G!d(dess) and humanity that goes way beyond basic cooking. If you’ve ever tried to bake bread or make wine, you totally know this to be true.  There is magick — Divine Essence made manifest — in the act of fermentation.  Why Jews picked these two types of fermentation to acknowledge — who knows?

Even the letters that make up the word chametz are a clue: חמץ.  The letter Chet (ח) is the first letter of the word Chaya — life!  The form of the letter chet, according to Inner.org,  means: “The union of God’s immanence, transcendence, and the Jewish People.”  So let’s look at the second letter, the Mem (מ). Here we have the letter that begins “mayim” — water.  Inner.org puts it very poetically by saying, it “symbolizes the fountain of the Divine Wisdom.”  Lastly we have the Tsadi Sofit (ץ).  Inner.org mostly deals with the Tzadik in its regular, not final form — I found this to be quite revelant, “the consciousness of Atzilut uniting with the source of wisdom and descending to teach Creation.”  Chametz is a substance that transforms and creates new life (ח) through contact to water (מ) and connects G!d(dess) and humanity.

This brings me to chametz and why we don’t eat it during Passover.  During Passover we fast.  Not like the fast of Yom Kippur or other fasting holidays.  We fast, we refrain from creating or ingesting food that can only be created through this incredible partnership.  We remove all traces of the Divine catalyst from our homes so we are sure it is not infected from the twelve plagues as we relive them each year.  We break the final chains from slavery by insisting on self-reliance for a week and eating only foods that can be crafted without this Divine catalyst.

So this Passover, look at that Matzah differently.  Look at the rules around clearing out the chametz differently.  When Pesach ends and you take the first bite of delicious bread — or first sip of beer — think about it.  Say the blessing.  Know that this is evidence of G!d(dess) working in our world.

————

Ketzirah is a Kohenet, Celebrant, and Artist.  She works with individuals and groups to explore, discover, and create meaningful rituals and ritual artwork to mark moments in life.

 

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Judaism & Belief, Passover Tagged With: bread, chametz, chometz, convert to judaism, darshan yeshiva, embodied judaism, food, ketzirah, kohenet, leaven, nisan, Passover, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, Pesach, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

Mushroom-Chard Bread Kugel (Dairy)

March 3, 2012 by newkosher

You can use any mushrooms you like in this dish. I like to use a mix of criminis and shiitakes, mostly because those are the two kinds my local co-op carries reliably, but also because it makes the dish much more interesting. This sits squarely in the realm of comfort food, and is even good eaten cold for breakfast. Serves 6-8

8 oz mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1 medium red onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch chard, chopped

8 eggs

4 c milk

1 loaf day-old challah, roughly torn (approx 8 cups)

4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Butter as needed

Salt and pepper to taste

Saute the mushrooms and onion until the mushrooms are browned and the onions are transparent. Add garlic and cook a minute or two longer. Steam the chopped chard, then squeeze out all the liquid and add to the mushroom mixture. Toss with the challah, then turn into a buttered 9×13 baking dish.

Whisk the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together until foamy, then pour into the baking dish. Top with cheese, then bake, covered with foil, at 375 for 60 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes longer. When a toothpick comes out clean, the kugel is done. Enjoy with a big salad and a bowl of tomato soup on a chilly day.

Filed Under: NewKosher (Recipes) Tagged With: bread, Chard, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, Kugel, Mushroom, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

Fall Apple Loaf Cake

July 26, 2010 by newkosher

It should be known that Fall is my favorite season. As a lifelong vegetarian, I have never even had Thanksgiving turkey, but yet I still crave fall food with a hunger no carnivore can match. I start thinking about Fall food as soon as August 1st rolls around. In particular, any dessert that contains pumpkin, apple or ginger. This delicious Apple Walnut loaf cake is my favorite!

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 sticks salted butter, melted and cooled*
1 cup sugar
3 large apples, peeled and sliced**
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together the flour, cinnamon and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well incorporated. Stir in apple slices. Add the flour mixture all at once and mix until JUST COMBINED. The biggest mistake people make with muffins and loaf cake are overmixing. If you need the science behind this, I suggest watching Alton Brown’s episode on blueberry muffins. There is no need to remove lumps or even use an electric mixer. Fold in walnuts. Pour batter into a well-greased non-stick 5×9 loaf pan. Bake for 1hr 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

*If you would like this parve, you can substitute with vegetable oil.
**Any apples are fine – I usually pick Fuji or Gala. I have a special technique for cutting my apples for this bread. After peeling the apples, I use the vegetable peeler to cut thin slices of apple. I find that this lets the apples naturally dissolve into the batter and saves you the potential nicking of a finger.

Filed Under: NewKosher (Recipes), Rosh Hashanah Tagged With: apples, bread, cake, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, fruit, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

Prayer Before Meals: Ha-Motzi

November 5, 2009 by Patrick Beaulier

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghWMOlzTr7g

Barukh atah Adonai Elohaynu melekh ha-olam
ha-motzi lechem min ha-aretz.
(Amen)

Filed Under: Judaism & Belief, Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: bread, challah, chamotzi, daven, food, hamotzi, Jewish, jewish prayer, Jews, Judaism, kosher, mitzvah, mitzvot, prayer, prayer before meals, Torah

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