Leaven, Leavened and Unleavened Bread

Saor, Chametz, va Matzot

By Yochanan Zaqantov

We are quickly approaching Pesach (Passover) and the Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread). As we get ready for these days we are told we should remove the leaven from our homes. So with this in mind today we will be studying what is leaven, leavened and unleavened bread from the Tanakh. Also, we will look at what is leavened of the food/condiments/etc… that should be put out of our homes for these days.

The first word we will cover is Leaven or Sa’or (Sin-Aleph-Resh), which is a masculine noun, found in the BDB (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew English Lexicon) on page 959 as reference number 7603 and in the New Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance (NEHC) on page 1195.

Shemot (Exodus) 12:15,19

15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the very first day you shall cause to cease leaven (sa’or) from your houses, for anyone eating anything leavened (chametz) that soul shall be cut off from Yisrael, from the first day until the seventh day. (Interlinear Bible)

On the first day the leaven (sa’or) should already be gone from our homes. And anyone eating anything Chametz or Leavened will be cut off. So Chametz is the result of something exposed to Sa’or.

19Seven Days leaven (sa’or) not shall be found in your houses. For anyone eating anything leavened (mach’metzet), that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, a stranger or a citizen of the land.

He we see again Sa’or is not to be found in our homes. We are also not to eat anything Chametz. This applies to the home born (ez’rach) and the stanger (ger).

Shemot (Exodus) 13:7

7 Throughout the seven days unleavened bread (matzot) shall be eaten; no leavened bread (chametz) shall be seen with you, and no leaven (sa’or) shall be found in all your territory (boundaries).

All seven days we are to eat Matzot. No chametz is to be seen with you. No Sa’or is to be found within our boundaries/borders. The area we control.

Vayiqra (Leviticus) 2:11

11 No meal offering that you offer to Yehovah shall be made with leaven (sa’or), for no leaven (sa’or) or honey may be turned into smoke as an offering by fire to Yehovah.

The fire offering was not to have sa’or in it.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16:4

4For seven days no leaven (sa’or) shall be seen with you in all your borders, and none of the flesh of what you slaughter on the evening of the first day shall be left until morning.

From these references we can see that we are to remove the leaven (sa’or) from our homes for the seven days of the feast of Unleavened Bread. It is not to be found within our borders.

Next, we will look at the next word which is Leavened or Chametz which is a verb found in the BDB on page 329 as reference number 2556 and in the New Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance (NEHC) on page 440. In Hebrew it is chet-mem-tsadie.

Shemot (Exodus) 12:19,20,34,39

19No leaven shall be found in your houses for seven days. For whoever eats what is leavened (mach’metzet), that person shall be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a citizen of the country.

20You shall eat nothing leavened (kal mach’metzet); in all your settlements you shall eat unleavened bread.

All leavened items we are not to eat.

34So the people took their dough before it was leavened (yech’matz), their kneading bowls wrapped in their cloaks upon their shoulders.

39And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had taken out of Egypt, for it was not leavened (lo chametz), since they had been driven out of Egypt and could not delay; nor had they prepared any provisions (food for journey) for themselves.

Tehillim (Psalms) 73:21-22 (Interlinear Bible)

²¹For my heart was in ferment (yit’chametz) and I was pierced my reins.

²² And I was brutish and I did not know; I was like animals with you.

We see it used to describe something fermented or lifted up like ones heart which is haughty or overly proud. These are being used in a figurative sense. But they tell us that leavened is something lifted up.

The other references are literally concerning the bread. What is interesting from verses 34 and 39 is that they had dough when they left. Dough here is batzek (1217) pg.130 BDB.

The kneading process could have included adding a leavening agent. Since they weren’t to eat leavened bread and they rushed to get out of Egypt the bread the bread was unleavened. We will be looking at what was leavened in their day and for us today.

The indication from Numbers 33:5 would seem to indicate more than a days journey from Rameses to Succoth. They start out with dough in the morrow after the Passover offering as seen in verse 4. This would be the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This meant that the dough without the right conditions and introduction a leavening agent would not rise right away.

Lets read it.

Bamidbar (Numbers) 33:3-4

³They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. It was on the morrow of the passover offering that the Israelites started out defiantly in plain view of all the Egyptians. ⁴The Egyptians meanwhile were burying those among them whom Yehovah had struck down, every first-born—whereby Yehovah executed judgment on their elohim.

⁵The Israelites set out from Rameses and encamped at Succoth.

This matches the account in Exodus 12:33 – 39

³³The Egyptians urged the people on, impatient to have them leave the country, for they said, “We shall all be dead.” ³⁴So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls wrapped in their cloaks upon their shoulders. ³⁵The Israelites had done Moses’ bidding and borrowed from the Egyptians objects of silver and gold, and clothing. ³⁶And Yehovah had disposed the Egyptians favorably toward the people, and they let them have their request; thus they stripped the Egyptians.

³⁷The Israelites journeyed from Raamses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children. ³⁸Moreover, a mixed multitude went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had taken out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, since they had been driven out of Egypt and could not delay; nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

Bread making and Leaven

I have some excerpts from Vladia Rudel article “Leavening Agents in Breadmaking”.

“Unleavened flat bread is the oldest form of bread known. Flat breads were either baked or fried on a hearthstone or griddle. Today, as in earlier times, bread is usually baked or fried, but almost always some kind of leavening agent is used to make it lighter and finer than the dense, heavy, flat bread of the past.”

“There are three common methods by which bread can be made to rise. These are by the presence of steam during cooking, aeration, and the production of carbon dioxide in the dough. All of these methods involve incorporating and trapping gas in the substance of the bread”

“Steam is helpful in the last minute rising of yeast breads when the oven heat boosts the final activity of the yeast in what is termed "oven spring." Steam also helps form the bread's crust during the first half of baking. But once the bread is cooked, steam becomes the enemy. As it recondenses, it will ruin the crust and sog the interior of a loaf if not allow to escape and evaporate as the bread cools.”

“Air lightens baked goods by expanding with heat. The air pockets that permeate a dough or batter also provide space for the accumulation of carbon dioxide gas and steam. Beaten eggs hold air inside batter and create the proper structure for leavening. Therefore, air is most often a leavening agent in egg breads and, cakes. It is also an important secondary agent in the lightening of pastries, especially puff pastry. By the end of the sixteenth century the French pastry masters had learned to aerate their many pastries through the use of eggs and cream.”

“The most important leavening agent for many breads is carbon dioxide, a byproduct of certain chemical or organic ingredients. Carbon dioxide will lighten heavier doughs that are barely affected by steam or air. Its rising action occurs rapidly or slowly depending on what agent is producing the gas. The texture of the bread depends on how the dough or batter is handled before the rising.”

“Today three types of baking powder are manufactured: phosphate, anhydrous phosphate, and sodium aluminum sulfatephosphate. The difference between them is the speed with which they product carbon dioxide. Sodium aluminum sulfatephosphate is common household baking powder. It reacts the most slowly of the three. Baking powder is the primary leavening agent for all quick breads not containing acidic ingredients.”

“All chemically leavened bread doughs and batters require a light hand and little handling. The bread must be baked very soon after mixing, so that the carbon dioxide will be released during baking rather than lost to the atmosphere beforehand. Because quick breads are handled lightly and rapidly, the gluten in the flour is not highly developed, which makes for an airier and less cohesive texture than yeast breads.”

“It is believed that yeast-risen bread was first developed in ancient Egypt. The Egyptians were accomplished brewers and so had yeast at hand; they grew an early strain of glutenous grain called Emmer wheat, and they were the scientists of their time - able and willing to experiment with the results of the first batch of accidentally fermented bread dough. They also invented the first bread ovens.”

“Sometimes ale itself would be used in the dough. Since fermented beverages were not pasteurized, the yeast cells would still be active. But the problem with brewer's yeast or barm is its bitterness. Bread made from barm is noticeably more bitter than bread made from dough fermented without it. Its rising capacity also is less than that of straight yeast.”

“Other than from the brewer, the only way a baker had to obtain yeast was straight from the air. The air around us is full of wild yeast cells, some of which are good for raising bread. A mixture of liquid and flour (and possibly a bit of sugar) set aside in a warm place will collect wild yeast form the air. As the yeast feed and the decomposing flour (sugars result from the breakdown of the starch) fermentation occurs with by-products of carbon dioxide and alcohol. Fermentation means the yeast colony is growing. Allowed to grow for a few days, the flour mixture becomes quite sour and full of active yeast cells. This sourness is pleasant and characteristic of yeast bread and not like the bitterness of brewer's yeast.”

Thus, the creation of a sourdough starter or barm the byproduct of making beer before its pasteurized.

So the Leavening (Yeast) would have to have to gather through a careful process. Or the dough would have to sit in warm area to draw in the Wild Yeast.

So we can see that Yeast, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and eggs can be used to leavening (lifting up) bread. Eggs form a seal for the dough that traps the gases from baking but does not cause the bread to rise itself. Baking soda and Baking powder are chemical and cause air to be created in the bread like eggs. None of these three (eggs, baking soda, baking powder) agents ferment bread. Yeast does cause fermentation, which causes the lifting

Chametz in its noun form is used to show something is leavened. It is reference 2557 in the BDB on page 329.

Related to Feast of Unleavened Bread

Shemot (Exodus) 12:15

Seven days unleavened bread you shall eat. Indeed on the first day it is already removed.

Shemot (Exodus) 13:3

³And Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, on which you went free from Egypt, the house of bondage, how Yehovah freed you from it with a mighty hand: no leavened (chametz) bread shall be eaten.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16:2-3

2 And you shall sacrifice a Passover to Yehovah Eloheykha of the flock, and of the herd, in the place which he shall chose to cause His Name to dwell there. 3 You shall eat no leavened (chametz) with it. Seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, bread of affliction for I haste you came out from the land of Egypt so that you may remember the day that you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.

Not offered with some sacrifices, offerings

Shemot (Exodus) 23:18

¹⁸You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with anything leavened (chametz); and the fat of My festal offering shall not be left lying until morning.

Shemot (Exodus) 34:25

²⁵You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with anything leavened (chametz); and the sacrifice of the Feast of Passover shall not be left lying until morning.

We can see the similarities of these two verses are both talking of the Pesach sacrifice. No leaven is to be offered with the blood of this sacrifice.

Vayiqra (Leviticus) 6:9-10

⁹What is left of it shall be eaten by Aaron and his sons; it shall be eaten as unleavened cakes, in the sacred precinct; they shall eat it in the enclosure of the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁰It shall not be baked with leaven (chametz); I have given it as their portion from My offerings by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.

The unleavened bread they were to each no leaven or chametz was to be baked in it.

Vayiqra (Leviticus) 2:11

¹¹No meal offering that you offer to Yehovah shall be made with leaven (Chametz), for no leaven (Chametz) or honey may be turned into smoke as an offering by fire to Yehovah.

Offered with Some Sacrifices

Vayiqra (Leviticus) 7:11-13

¹¹This is the ritual of the sacrifice of well-being that one may offer to Yehovah:

¹²If he offers it for thanksgiving, he shall offer together with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes with oil mixed in, unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of choice flour with oil mixed in, well soaked.

¹³This offering, with cakes of leavened (chametz) bread added, he shall offer along with his thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being.

Vayiqra (Leviticus) 23:15-17

¹⁵And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering—the day after the sabbath—you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete:

¹⁶you must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to Yehovah.

¹⁷You shall bring from your settlements two loaves of bread as an elevation offering; each shall be made of two-tenths of a measure of choice flour, baked after leavening (Chametz), as first fruits to Yehovah.

We can see that was to be used sometimes and not for other times.

There is also the word Chomatz that is reference number 2558 and found on pg. 330 in the BDB. It is from the root of verb usage of Chametz.

Bamidbar (Numbers) 6:3

³he shall abstain from wine and any other intoxicant; he shall not drink vinegar (chomatz) of wine or of any other intoxicant, neither shall he drink anything in which grapes have been steeped, nor eat grapes fresh or dried.

Rut (Ruth) 2:14

¹⁴At mealtime, Boaz said to her, “Come over here and partake of the meal, and dip your morsel in the vinegar (chomatz).” So she sat down beside the reapers. He handed her roasted grain, and she ate her fill and had some left over.

Tehillim (Psalms) 69:22

²²They give me gall for food, vinegar (chomatz) to quench my thirst.

Mishlei (Proverbs) 10:26

²⁶Like vinegar (chomatz) to the teeth, Like smoke to the eyes, Is a lazy man to those who send him on a mission.

Mishlei (Proverbs) 25:20

²⁰Disrobing on a chilly day, Like vinegar (chomatz) on natron, Is one who sings songs to a sorrowful soul.

Based upon this relationship of being from the same root some have reasoned that because the they have the same root that things which are fermented like vinegar (Leavened Wine) are also prohibited during the Days of Unleavened Bread. So that anything fermented or soured would also be forbidden to eat during Pesach (Passover) and Chag HaMatzot. Not all Karaites agree with this interpretation.

In the article on Passover and Matzot, Hakham Nehemia quotes an Ancient Karaite Sage who holds the position that only the leavening of grains know to leaven are forbidden to eat as leavened. You can also read this at http://www.karaite-korner.org/passover.shtml

"and the sage our teacher Yosef Kirkisani said... only the five types of grain can be made into Hametz, namely wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye. And the sage was correct because whatever experimentation shows to leaven can be used for Matzah, but the flour of the other 'seeds' do not leaven. For example, [the flour of] millet, rice, beans, lentils, and peas do not leaven but spoil [lit. 'stink']." [Aharon ben Eliyahu (14th Century), Gan Eden, pp.45d-46a].

"The sage Yosef Kirkisani said that only the five types of grain can be made into Hametz, namely, wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye. It has also been said that if experimentation shows that a thing can become leaven then it can be used to make Matzah. However, all the other 'seeds' such as bean, lentil, pea, millet, and rice flours do not leaven but spoil [lit. stink]. And the sage our teacher Aharon (author of Etz Hayyim) said that all of these matters can become known through experimentation and he has spoken well for millet flour if left with water for a number of days does leaven. Therefore, in truth, there are six types of grain that can leaven and from which Matzah can be made: the aforementioned five as well as millet. And if Hametz is made from any of these it must be destroyed... and so too any alcohol made from the five types of grain [e.g. beer] or from millet. But some of the fools in our times who pretend to be wise do not eat anything that ferments based on the verse 'no leaven shall you eat' such as fermented milk [i.e. yogurt, etc.] and fruits soaked in water; they also refrain from eating beans and rice and any type of 'seed' and this is because of their foolishness and their lack of knowledge..." [Elijah Baschyatchi (15th century), Aderet Eliyahu, Ramla 1966, pp.133-134]

“The second school of thought argues that Hametz is not strictly speaking "leavening" but something like "fermentation". They point out that in biblical Hebrew vinegar is called "Hometz Yayin" meaning "leavened-wine" (others translate: "soured wine"). This is used as proof that Hametz refers not only to the leavening of grains but any fermentation or souring process. Based on this reasoning, they forbid the consumption of anything fermented. Included in their list of forbidden foods on Passover are all forms of alcohol, lentils, rice, and all milk products such as yogurts and cheeses. This school also considers wine to be Hametz, which is somewhat surprising given that vinegar is called "leavened-wine" (implying that the difference between wine and vinegar is that the latter is leavened but the former is not!). Adherents of this view include the medieval Karaite sage Samuel al-Maghrebi and the modern sage Hakham Meir Rekhavi (download his introduction to the new Karaite Haggadah.”

We have read that leavening is a fermenting process. The question is whether leaven includes all fermented products or only those that cause bread to leaven. In reading the context of the verses that tell us that we are not to have leavened bread, the focus of leaven is that which leavens the dough. While Chomatz is related it is never used in relationship to the verses in reference to Chametz and Pesach (Passover) and Hag Hamatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread). So I would conclude that the leaven we are concerned about is that we would use to leaven bread.

So now lets look at Unleavened Bread or matzah, which is reference number 4682 in the BDB on pg 594. It is a feminine noun. In Hebrew, mem-tsadie--hey.

Unleavened bread (Matzah)

Vayiqra (Leviticus) 2:5

⁵If your offering is a meal offering on a griddle, it shall be of choice flour with oil mixed in, unleavened (matzah).

Vayikra (Leviticus) 8:26

²⁶From the basket of unleavened bread that was before Yehovah, he took one cake of unleavened bread (hamitzot), one cake of oil bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat parts and on the right thigh

Shemot (Exodus) 12:15,18

15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread (matzot); on the very first day you shall cause to cease leaven (sa’or) from your houses, for anyone eating anything leavened (chametz) that soul shall be cut off from Yisrael, from the first day until the seventh day. (Interlinear Bible)

¹⁸In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread (Matzot) until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.

Shemot (Exodus) 12:8

⁸They shall eat the flesh that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread (Matzot) and with bitter herbs.

Bamidbar (Numbers) 9:11

¹¹they shall offer it in the second month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight. They shall eat it with unleavened bread (Matzot) and bitter herbs,

Shemot (Exodus) 23:15

¹⁵You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Matzot)—eating unleavened bread (Matzot) for seven days as I have commanded you—at the set time in the monthof the Abib, for in it you went forth from Egypt; and none shall appear before Me empty-handed;

This shows us we are to eat Matzah each of the days.

Summary – What are we to do? Why do we do it?

Shemot (Exodus) 12:15,19

¹⁹No leaven (Saor) shall be found in your houses for seven days. For whoever eats what is leavened (chamatz), that person shall be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a citizen of the country.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16:3

³You shall not eat anything leavened (chametz) with it {Passover Offering); for seven days thereafter you shall eat unleavened bread (matzot), bread of distress—for you departed from the land of Egypt hurriedly—so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live.

We can see we are not to eat leavened bread for these days. Also all leaven in our homes is to be removed. For all of us, we recognize what is leavened bread.

We also see that dough without introduction of leaven will eventually leaven on its own but only after a period of time at rest and in ideal conditions. The question rests with what is leaven? Leaven is that which would cause the grains of wheat, spelt, barley, oats, millet and rye in a dough form to rise. Yeast is the way the bread would rise.

We have read that leavening is a fermenting process. The question is whether leaven includes all fermented products or only those that cause bread to leaven. In reading the context of the verses surrounding the observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it tells us that we are not to have leavened bread, the focus of leaven is that which leavens the dough. While Chomatz is related it is never used in relationship to the verses in reference to Chametz and Pesach (Passover) and Khag Hamatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread).

So in my mind the leaven we are to remove is that which when added to dough would leaven it or (e.g., soups) or contain the leavening materials like flour and yeast.

1. Remove all leavening agents (sour dough starter, brewers yeast) and leavened bread products.

2. Thoroughly search your homes for leavened products you are not aware are there.

3. Beer (made from grains and by product can be used for leavening)

4. Remove flour that has leavening agents in it. (Self-rising).

Question is baking soda a chemical leaving agent (so’ar). That is a good question since they did exist during the time of Yisrael and the Navi and Gadol Cohen are not present today. We have to decide for ourselves whether to use it or not. For Yisraelim, Yeast would have been the only leavening agent of their days.

How detailed should we remove the leaven (Chametz) from our homes? We are commanded to remove all leaven. What about those crumbs in the toaster? Or what about the crumbs in a couch? If the part of the bread was leavened then the particle of it was leavened too. So we should do out best remove all we can get to.