What is Chametz (leavening)?
Exodus 12:15 tells us, "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel."
The Hebrew for "unleavened bread" is "matzah", which describes the cracker-like bread we eat for the 7 days of Passover (8 days for orthodox Jews outside of Israel). The Hebrew for the "yeast" we are to rid our homes of is se-or (referring to bread that has risen due to the fermentation process), and the Hebrew for the "leavened bread" which we must avoid is chametz. The United Bible Society's "A Handbook on Exodus" (a commentary created to help translators deal with the original languages) says the following: "Unleavened bread was made without any leavening agent, like yeast, to make it rise. The leaven was a piece of unbaked fermented dough from a previous batch, that was normally added to the fresh dough to make it rise."
In Orthodox Judaism, any product which includes wheat, barley, rye, oats, or spelt that was not made according to strict rabbinic Passover regulations and supervision (mainly, they must not have come in contact with water or yeast) is unacceptable during Passover. Products with these grains must bear the "Kosher for Passover" rabbinic stamp.
Where does that leave Messianic Judaism? Messianic Judaism is unique in that we are not bound together by a similar adherence to halachah (loosely - Jewish law). Rather, we are held together by our common acceptance of Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah. Our Messiah is now our head instructor. In other words, He outweighs Moses, the Prophets, and certainly the rabbis in how we are to be obedient to God. He doesn't contradict Moses or the Prophets, but His revelation for the believer clarifies and has more authority.
Yeshua never stresses the minutia of a legalistic Torah observance (for those who feel Matthew 5:17ff contradicts my statement, please listen to the recordings on this portion under "Bible Studies" on our website). Rather, Yeshua teaches that what is of most importance is the heart. Matthew 15:11, for example, teaches, "That which enters into the mouth doesn't defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." While I'll save the debate for whether this applies to kosher and non-kosher foods for another time, I will say that this verse (like many others) clearly states Yeshua's focus and concern and that concern is the heart as revealed in our speaking and thinking and not strict adherence to details of the food laws.
Around this time of year I often get questions such as, "what qualifies as leavening?" and "what about the leavening in my dog's food?" Here is my answer...as Jews and Gentiles within a Messianic community, we have taken upon ourselves the testimony of God's faithfulness to his covenant with Abraham and his descendants throughout the millennia. As such, we show a closer connection to Torah than most churches. This is part of our role and part of who we are. So I encourage people within our synagogue to get rid of leavening products for the 7 days of Passover. (If this will create problems with one's spouse or roommates, simply avoid eating leavened foods for those days).
However, because of Messiah's stress on what is in our hearts and what comes out of our mouths, we can allow for varying degrees of adherence to the law to "put away the yeast out of our houses." That law now has its value in how it affects what Yeshua was most concerned with - our hearts, minds, and language. In other words, if you punctiliously remove absolutely all leavening according to the most strict orthodox standards, but it produces no fruit in your heart - you continue with the same sins, same bad habits, and same foul speech - it is as if you had done no mitzvah (commandment/good deed) at all. On the other hand, if you only clear your home of the most obviously leavened products (bread, cakes, bagels, etc.) and do so remembering that these things represent the sin we must cleanse from our lives (1 Corinthians 5:7,8), then I truly believe you stand before the Lord as if you had followed the law in all of its detail - even if you don't make your dog eat matzah for 7 days!
Be greatly blessed,
Rabbi Josh
1 Corinthians 5:7, 8 (WMB)
Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Messiah, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place. Therefore let’s keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Exodus 12:15 tells us, "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel."
The Hebrew for "unleavened bread" is "matzah", which describes the cracker-like bread we eat for the 7 days of Passover (8 days for orthodox Jews outside of Israel). The Hebrew for the "yeast" we are to rid our homes of is se-or (referring to bread that has risen due to the fermentation process), and the Hebrew for the "leavened bread" which we must avoid is chametz. The United Bible Society's "A Handbook on Exodus" (a commentary created to help translators deal with the original languages) says the following: "Unleavened bread was made without any leavening agent, like yeast, to make it rise. The leaven was a piece of unbaked fermented dough from a previous batch, that was normally added to the fresh dough to make it rise."
In Orthodox Judaism, any product which includes wheat, barley, rye, oats, or spelt that was not made according to strict rabbinic Passover regulations and supervision (mainly, they must not have come in contact with water or yeast) is unacceptable during Passover. Products with these grains must bear the "Kosher for Passover" rabbinic stamp.
Where does that leave Messianic Judaism? Messianic Judaism is unique in that we are not bound together by a similar adherence to halachah (loosely - Jewish law). Rather, we are held together by our common acceptance of Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah. Our Messiah is now our head instructor. In other words, He outweighs Moses, the Prophets, and certainly the rabbis in how we are to be obedient to God. He doesn't contradict Moses or the Prophets, but His revelation for the believer clarifies and has more authority.
Yeshua never stresses the minutia of a legalistic Torah observance (for those who feel Matthew 5:17ff contradicts my statement, please listen to the recordings on this portion under "Bible Studies" on our website). Rather, Yeshua teaches that what is of most importance is the heart. Matthew 15:11, for example, teaches, "That which enters into the mouth doesn't defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." While I'll save the debate for whether this applies to kosher and non-kosher foods for another time, I will say that this verse (like many others) clearly states Yeshua's focus and concern and that concern is the heart as revealed in our speaking and thinking and not strict adherence to details of the food laws.
Around this time of year I often get questions such as, "what qualifies as leavening?" and "what about the leavening in my dog's food?" Here is my answer...as Jews and Gentiles within a Messianic community, we have taken upon ourselves the testimony of God's faithfulness to his covenant with Abraham and his descendants throughout the millennia. As such, we show a closer connection to Torah than most churches. This is part of our role and part of who we are. So I encourage people within our synagogue to get rid of leavening products for the 7 days of Passover. (If this will create problems with one's spouse or roommates, simply avoid eating leavened foods for those days).
However, because of Messiah's stress on what is in our hearts and what comes out of our mouths, we can allow for varying degrees of adherence to the law to "put away the yeast out of our houses." That law now has its value in how it affects what Yeshua was most concerned with - our hearts, minds, and language. In other words, if you punctiliously remove absolutely all leavening according to the most strict orthodox standards, but it produces no fruit in your heart - you continue with the same sins, same bad habits, and same foul speech - it is as if you had done no mitzvah (commandment/good deed) at all. On the other hand, if you only clear your home of the most obviously leavened products (bread, cakes, bagels, etc.) and do so remembering that these things represent the sin we must cleanse from our lives (1 Corinthians 5:7,8), then I truly believe you stand before the Lord as if you had followed the law in all of its detail - even if you don't make your dog eat matzah for 7 days!
Be greatly blessed,
Rabbi Josh
1 Corinthians 5:7, 8 (WMB)
Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Messiah, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place. Therefore let’s keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.