{"id":5475,"date":"2011-03-04T02:03:50","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T00:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=5475"},"modified":"2021-03-15T12:41:48","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T10:41:48","slug":"04-02-03","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/04-02-03\/","title":{"rendered":"03.\u00a0What Is <strong>\u1e24ametz<\/strong> and What Is <strong>Se\u2019or<\/strong>?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> that is prohibited by the Torah on Pesa\u1e25 is any one of the five species of cereal grains that came into contact with water and fermented. The five species are wheat (<strong>\u1e25itta<\/strong>), barley (<strong>se\u2019ora<\/strong>), oats (the common identification of the \u201c<strong>shibolet shu\u2019al<\/strong>\u201d mentioned by the Sages), rye (<strong>shifon<\/strong>), and spelt (<strong>kusmin<\/strong>). These species are used to make bread, the staple food of mankind. The Sages ordained a special blessing to be recited before eating bread \u2013 \u201cWho brings forth bread from the earth\u201d (\u201c<strong>ha-motzi le\u1e25em min ha-aretz<\/strong>\u201d). After eating bread, the Torah commanded us to recite <strong>Birkat Ha-mazon<\/strong>. So that bread will be tasty and easy to digest, its dough is fermented and made to rise.<\/p>\n<p>There are two types of leaven products: <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> and <strong>se\u2019or<\/strong>. Both are produced by mixing flour and water. Common <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> is the leavening of the dough to bake bread and cakes. The leavening is done by leaving the dough at rest without handling it. If one wants to accelerate the leavening, one mixes <strong>se\u2019or<\/strong> (starter dough) into the dough. <strong>Se\u2019or<\/strong> (akin to sourdough) is the second type of leaven product. It is produced by leaving <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> for a long time, so that it continues to effervesce and ferment, until it tastes so sour that it is not fit for human consumption. The purpose of <strong>se\u2019or<\/strong> is to hasten and improve the quality of leavening of various types of dough, for the preparation of breads and cakes. In other words, <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> is intended for eating while <strong>se\u2019or<\/strong> is a leavening agent in preparing <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> foods. The Torah prohibited both, and the law is the same regarding both. One who leaves a <strong>kezayit<\/strong> of either of them in his possession during Pesa\u1e25 violates <strong>bal yera\u2019eh <\/strong>and <strong>bal yimatzei<\/strong> (<strong>Beitza<\/strong> 7b).<\/p>\n<p>But if flour of the five cereal grains is mixed with water, kneaded rapidly, and put it into an oven immediately, then the dough will not have enough time to rise. This is the matza that we are commanded to eat on the first night of Pesa\u1e25, as a commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt, as is written, \u201cAnd the people picked up their dough before it leavened\u201d (Shemot 12:34). Thus, specifically those species of grain that may become <strong>\u1e25ametz <\/strong>are the species from which one makes matza for the mitzva (<strong>Pesa\u1e25im<\/strong> 35a).<\/p>\n<p>Although rice and millet are similar to the five species of cereal grain, and although they rise, they do not undergo a complete fermentation process as the five cereal species do. Therefore, the prohibition against <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> does not apply to them, and if one made matza out of one of them, one does not fulfill any mitzva with it on Pesa\u1e25.<\/p>\n<p>Note that <strong>kusmin <\/strong>(spelt) is not the same as <strong>kusemet <\/strong>(buckwheat). The former is one of the five species of cereal grain, whereas the latter is a type of legume and may be eaten on Pesa\u1e25 by those who eat <strong>kitniyot<\/strong>; even among those who do not eat <strong>kitniyot<\/strong>, it is permitted for sick people (MB 453:4, 7; note well that some mix up the names and call spelt <strong>kusemet<\/strong>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The \u1e25ametz that is prohibited by the Torah on Pesa\u1e25 is any one of the five species of cereal grains that came into contact with water and fermented. The five species are wheat (\u1e25itta), barley (se\u2019ora), oats (the common identification of the \u201cshibolet shu\u2019al\u201d mentioned by the Sages), rye (shifon), and spelt (kusmin). These species [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-02-general-rules-of-the-prohibition-against-hametz"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>03.\u00a0What Is \u1e24ametz and What Is Se\u2019or? - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/04-02-03\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"03.\u00a0What Is \u1e24ametz and What Is Se\u2019or? - Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The \u1e25ametz that is prohibited by the Torah on Pesa\u1e25 is any one of the five species of cereal grains that came into contact with water and fermented. 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