chometz

Tag Archives: chometz

The Knead to Know: The Rise of Sourdough

By: Rabbi Tzvi Rosen

Fall 2023

We are all familiar with the Torah’s directive to rid our homes of chometz in order to prepare for Pesach. The Torah uses two terms when instructing us in the cleaning process: chometz and se’or.

Ask any talmid or talmida: “What is chometz,” and you will get a very erudite response. Ask the next question: “What is se’or,” and seven out of ten will shrug and say, “I dunno,” while the other three might venture, “Sourdough?” When you follow up and ask them to define sourdough, most – if not all – will say, “I dunno!”

Today, more and more homes are seeing sourdough boules find their way into their bread baskets. With its “rise” in popularity, it is only natural that we look into this new trend and ask, “Ma nishtana sourdough bread from its conventional counterpart? Are there halachic and practical differences?”

Wheat and Bread Making Fundamentals

Let’s begin by reviewing […]

A Brief Intro to “Kosher for Passover” and the Pesach Holiday

By: Rabbi Dovid Heber

January 2025

Passover is a joyous eight-day holiday celebrated in early spring. The name Pesach is derived from the Hebrew “to pass over,” since G-d “passed over” the homes of the Jews during the tenth plague on the Egyptians.

Passover commemorates the redemption of the enslaved Israelites from Egypt and the forging of the new Jewish nation. It has a distinctive set of laws and customs, the highlight being the Seder, a festive meal on the first two nights (only one in Israel) that includes many symbolic foods – matzah, bitter herbs, charoses – and four cups of wine. This family-centered holiday is widely observed, albeit with a diversity of beloved traditions passed down from generation to generation. Passover’s popularity is reflected in the kosher marketplace where, by some accounts, 40% of sales revolves around this holiday.

Passover involves a unique set of kosher laws, chief among them the prohibition to eat any […]