Driving in to work tonight, I heard a chef-philosopher on On Being relating an anecdote about a farmer who grew spelt for Passover matzos. Seems that, at harvest time, he would drive his combine through the fields at a walking pace, while a rabbi walked alongside. Periodically, the rabbi would order the combine stopped, and point out a patch of wild garlic, which, if harvested along with the spelt, would render the harvest non-kosher.
Can someone explain how a vegetable can be non-kosher? TIA.
Passover is seriously anal compulsive season for food in the faith - the matzoh is made specially so there is absolutely no chance of fermentation in the dough so anything other than flour, water and salt is strictly forbidden and the dough has to be baked within IIRC 10 minutes [or some seriously short amount of time], so if anything other than the spelt is harvested it becomes ritually contaminated because it may get ground along with the spelt.
Oh, okay. That makes far more sense than what the chef/philosopher said. Thanks very much.
Hi
First as I understand it, it depends where your community holds, for example in NYC many Jews will eat broccoli while in TO no dice. Strawberries have become an issue for many as well. Raspberries too.
The issue is bugs and insects they are not kosher and if you looked an any of the above mentioned foods there are plenty of crevices for them to hide and they do. Then again I am not a Rabbi so I could be wrong.
Pretty sure wild honey is also not kosher.
My earlier comment re broccoli is based on it being fresh, one can by frozen broccoli that has been debugged and it only costs 8-10$ (in my community) what a bargain.
Pretty sure many won’t touch fresh Brussels sprouts and cauliflower either.
That has nothing to do with why contaminating the PASSOVER matzah is a problem; the bugs in broccoli is a general problem, and there is a way to soak it to get the bugs out.
18 is the number of life, because each letter has a numerical value, and the letters in the Hebrew word for life equal 18. Jews frequently make charity donations and other monetary gifts in multiples of 18. For my son’s bris, we got lots of checks for $54; also, some for $108.
There was a UL circulating after 9/11 about a Jewish man “saved by his tefillin.” He lived, because he left them in his car, or something, and went back for them, and was late, and missed getting on one of the planes that hit one of the WTC towers; he was late getting back by 18 minutes.
Hi RC
I was answering the last question re vegetables, I didn’t even talk about matzah, yet.
Yes I know there are ways to clean broccoli, which is good because I rather enjoy it.
So it sounds more like the garlic would be contaminating the spelt, and that’s the reason for the prohibition, and that if the wild garlic was growing elsewhere (i.e. not near the spelt), it would be just fine?
I understand about the 18, but how is the Minute defined in Jewish law, such that a period of time has numerological significance? The length of a minute is arbitrarily constructed without reference to Jewish law. Any value on earth can be subdivided into 18 arbitrary units. For example, if it were significant to regard something 18 miles away, just call it 29 kilometers and save yourself all the angst.
Yes RC is of course correct there is no garlic in matzah, I don’t love the word contaminate, I prefer to think compliant, just more positive.
And yes I am familiar with gematria and the significance of 18. I am a ger.
. .
I always thought religions made logical sense, but now I don’t know what to think.
You might be the only one.
Wild Honey Pie is sourced from The Beatles.
Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'These are the plants which you may eat among all the plants that are on the earth: Among the plants whatever divides the bulb, having cloven bulbs and growing in the garden; that you may eat. Nevertheless these you shall not eat among those that grow wild or those that have cloven bulbs…”
No?
You REALLY want a smilie on that one, Dr. Drake; you almost got me. Fortunately, I was able to vet that one and figure that it was a parody.
On a practical basis, having a bunch of wild garlic (Allium vine ale) processed along with wheat could make for unpleasant taste surprises when the final product is baked, though garlicky crackers might be enjoyable, “kosher” or not.
You can use wild garlic much as the cultivated kind, eating the tender grass-like leaves as a substitute for chives, or harvesting and consuming the bulbs (which are much smaller than those of cultivated garlic). The downside is that wild garlic is a rampant weed in gardens.
I would like to know why the change in matzah, at the time of the Exodus matzah was more of what we would call pita today, why and when did that change to its current version and variations ie egg matzah et al.