We must ask, why does God give the command to remove leaven from our homes?
Many people find the Days of Unleavened Bread especially ridiculous for a Christian, astonished that anyone would toss out their bread annually. Even Jews react quizzically upon learning that a non-Jew keeps these days. It turns to surprise when they learn that true Christians interpret “leaven” differently than they do! The difference between their view of what leaven is and the intent of God’s command is revealing.
Most Jewish people who still observe these holy days do so as a ritual, interpreting God’s commands by judgments in the Torah rather than by the spiritual intent of God’s command. In fact, instead of banning leaven, the Jews ban grain. The idea is that grain left out to ferment could become chametz—leavened.
The notion that something might puff up—the actual principle of the day according to your Bible—is not at play here. As an example, the Jews do not prohibit baking soda or baking powder. “They’re just minerals,” said Rabbi Soloveichik. “What do we care about minerals?” Soy milk, though, might contain grain and is therefore banned.
A Jew would remove beer from the home because it contains yeast. They would also remove noodles, which contain grain that might become leavened.
One acceptable way for a Jew to remove leaven is to sell it to a third party and buy it back after the festival. Less scrupulous observers will keep their leavened items in a locked box on their own property, sell them to a third party, and buy them back when the days have ended—with the leavened items never having left their property! Many are now comfortable arranging theirchametz sale online.
We must ask, why does God give the command to remove leaven from our homes?
The Effects of Leaven
During the Days of Unleavened Bread, God uses leaven to represent sin because of its effect:Leaven causes bread to puff up (1 Corinthians 5:1-8). This festival shows that we are to become unleavened spiritually through the physical labor of deleavening our homes—removing anything that will cause bread to puff up.
There are three common leavening agents used to puff up or produce fermentation, causing dough to rise: yeast, bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and baking powder. Since these items are primarily leavening agents, they should be removed from your property during these days. Yeast is a biological leavening agent. Baking powder and baking soda are chemical leavening agents, which means they leaven your food much faster! Leavening agents cause baked goods, such as bread, cake, certain crackers and cookies, cereals and pies to rise by trapping carbon dioxide and air in the dough, forming tiny bubbles. Even some candies and other foods are leavened, so careful label reading is a must.
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