During Pesach, a Jew is not allowed to eat, derive benefit from, or own any chametz.
Matzah is made from flour of wheat, oats, spelt, barley, or rye, mixed with water, and baked fast, such that the entire process, from the time the water hits the flour, to the time that the matzahs come out of the oven, is less than 18 minutes.
Chametz is anything made from wheat, oats, spelt, barley, or rye that isn't matzah.
So, we need to not consume, derive benefit from, or own anything made from those things.
Yet it would be a serious hardship to, for instance, not be able to own casks of whiskey which were aging. So you could sell them to a non-Jew, and then buy them back after Pesach. But it was a good idea to create a contract such that you'd be certain that you COULD buy them back after Pesach.
As long as these contracts were being written, other people could sign on, and so, as I have a good collection of whiskeys, and other chametz things that would be a hardship to throw out, I can sign on to one of these deals. For the duration of Pesach, I don't own those things. But I expect that their ownership is likely to revert back to me, after.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-08 07:05 pm (UTC)Matzah is made from flour of wheat, oats, spelt, barley, or rye, mixed with water, and baked fast, such that the entire process, from the time the water hits the flour, to the time that the matzahs come out of the oven, is less than 18 minutes.
Chametz is anything made from wheat, oats, spelt, barley, or rye that isn't matzah.
So, we need to not consume, derive benefit from, or own anything made from those things.
Yet it would be a serious hardship to, for instance, not be able to own casks of whiskey which were aging. So you could sell them to a non-Jew, and then buy them back after Pesach. But it was a good idea to create a contract such that you'd be certain that you COULD buy them back after Pesach.
As long as these contracts were being written, other people could sign on, and so, as I have a good collection of whiskeys, and other chametz things that would be a hardship to throw out, I can sign on to one of these deals. For the duration of Pesach, I don't own those things. But I expect that their ownership is likely to revert back to me, after.