Pesachim 35

“No additional prohibitions can apply to an object that is already prohibited.”

I wrote yesterday that the protracted discussion on purity and teruma caused me to lose the thread of the relevance to Passover. Today, I found my way back in the text, which provides a lesson on the different types of grains. We are told that wheat, spelt, barley, rye and oats are the proper grains for matza, although the most common practice is to produce matza from wheat flour. The Rabbis have provided those with gluten allergies an alternative to wheat. For instance, oats are considered a good option for those who suffer from wheat sensitivity.

We are told that “a person fulfills his obligation to eat matza on the first night of Passover” if he eats matza made from wheat, barley, spelt, rye or oats. But that is not enough. The matza must be properly tithed, and a portion split off -- the halla -- for the priests. There are all kinds of rules in preparing the matza and I wonder as the Jews were hurrying out of Egypt if they had time to consider all the contingencies in producing the unleavened bread. 

Can you imagine, collecting your belongings and leaving the only land you might have known, no matter how bitter, and trying to determine if the bread you needed for nourishment, which had no time to leaven, was produced from a batch of dough that was properly separated for the priests? I assume these were unusual circumstances, and one would have been forgiven if this was not the case and spared spiritual death or flogging here on earth. And of course, I know that many of these rules came afterwards and were Rabbinic in nature and designed to put guardrails around the Torah.

We are told that rice and millet are unacceptable for producing matza because they do not rise to a state of leavening like the other grains when water is applied to them. The text tells us that instead of becoming leaven, they rot. This seems like a logical parallel construct, because if one is giving up leaven, then they should eat matza made from a grain that could in fact leaven. It is a small reminder of what has been given up when the unleavened bread is consumed. It should be mentioned that millet has been put forth as a good choice for people with diabetes who need to lower their blood sugar and bread made from rice is available for those with gluten sensitivities.  

We learned yesterday that if consecrated items were not continuously watched, they would be disqualified out of concern that they might have been contaminated. And even if there is no chance that they were contaminated, and even if Elijah himself attests to their purity, they are disqualified. A similar logic is applied to rice and millet by Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Nuri who prohibits the grains during Passover because they are “close to being leavened.” His concern is not that they do not rise in the same way as other grains, but that one might accidentally consume them because of their similarity to leavened bread.

This discussion of grains reminds me of the period in my life when I tried to give up gluten and carbs. A friend referred me many years ago to an alternative medicine physician who has since become very well-known. This doctor told me that all my health issues – including pre-diabetes and high cholesterol – would clear up if I gave up gluten entirely. He had what seemed like a “shtick” to me at the time and I still struggle to see how something that comes from the earth can be so harmful. 

I gave up all gluten products for several weeks. It was a long time ago and I do not remember if I felt better or if my numbers improved, but what I remember is the overwhelming sense of hunger and deprivation. One day, I was in a bodega and there was a wrapped corn muffin on the counter. I stared at the muffin so intently that the clerk looked at me and put it in my bag without charging and said, “Merry Christmas.” 

That was the day I gave up on the gluten and carb-free diet. And I ate the somewhat stale, oil-saturated corn muffin. If my eyes could convey such an urgent sense of need, there was no way this diet was going to have a positive impact on my life. I have since learned that that are better complex grains, such as rye, which is on the Rabbis “matza approved list.” But every once in a while, I break down and have a truly horrible but wonderful golden corn muffin and enjoy a quiet moment of carb-infused contentment.