Kosher for Passover: Sense and Nonsense

I hate Passover.

Strangely, my deep and abiding love of bread is not one of the reasons I hate Passover. In fact, I appreciate the creativity that dietary restrictions (particularly temporary ones) can inspire. That, however, is another post. I hate Passover primarily¹ because I find many of the religious prohibitions around food to be intellectually dishonest.

According to the Torah, the special dietary restriction during Passover is a restriction against eating leavened chametz. Chametz is identified as five specific grains. Jewish law, enumerated by rabbis, has taken this somewhat further:

1. Leavening takes place when the grain is mixed with water and allowed to sit for a short time. Only water counts - other liquids (even though they may be 99% water by volume) do not.
2. Leavening cannot occur once a grain has been baked. (Thus, flour that has never been exposed to water can be mixed with water and immediately baked to create matzo.)
3. Despite the above, it is only permissible to consume grains that have been made into matzo.

These rules started to bother me when I was much younger than I am now. I don't remember when it was that I realized that, assuming a literal interpretation of the Passover story (which I find unlikely), the Jews fleeing Egypt were eating matzo which was almost certainly not kosher for Passover. I'm sure that they would have given their bread as much time to rise as they could.

Image by KarenGetting back to the rules, point one (above) doesn't make any sense. I can mix fresh squeezed orange juice with flour and let it sit for an hour without it being leavened, but if I use concentrated orange juice and add even a drop of water, it is leavened? Point three is just weird and overbearing. I can't eat raw flour on Passover? I don't know why I'd want to do so, but I can think of no good reason to prohibit it. Ultimately, it makes me think that there are rabbis out there worried that a drop of water might have gotten in my flour without them sticking their face in it to make sure that doesn't happen. (Remember, only water counts. Rabbinic drool, like orange juice, doesn't.)

Ashkenazi traditions are even more nonsensical. They expand the prohibition to other grains (like corn and rice) not included in the technical prohibitions as well other foods that aren't even grains, including beans and lentils. Not only are the whole foods prohibited, but foods such as corn oil (which fairly clearly contains no water) and corn syrup (OK, I can't really object to a prohibition on corn syrup) are as well. Why? Ultimately, it comes down to custom.

What really gets me, though, are the Kosher for Passover products out there. As much as I appreciate the ingenuity that goes into some of those products, they seem to intentionally flout the spirit of the rules. For instance, I spoke to my father tonight. He'd made a Kosher for Passover coffee cake. He said it was pretty good. My mother used to make "Passover rolls" with matzo meal and egg, but they at least had the decency to be inedible. Think about that, though: a Kosher for Passover cake. The coffee cake passes muster, but a 'matzo' that I might make at home while trying to recreate an authentic version of what was presumably eaten by Jews fleeing Egypt wouldn't be acceptable. This really, really bothers me.

Maybe later on this week, I'll make some authentic matzo.

¹There's also that whole thing about killing lots of Egyptians.