Khomets. (דער) [-] חמץ is Yiddish for ‘chametz’ (relig.) (noun). In German, חמץ is (der) ‘Chametz’. In Hebrew: חָמֵץ (‘chametz’) (m.). In Polish: ‘chamec’ (m.). I took the background image above in Vienna, 🇦🇹; 92 days ago. I chose חמץ as today’s word because “chametz” is the term for foods that are baked with leavening agents, which are forbidden during the Jewish festival of Passover. In Yiddish, ‘Passover’ (relig.) (noun) is: (דער) [-] פּסח (‘peysekh’). This year, פּסח started at 🌅 on 05 April 2023 and will end at 🌅 on 12 April 2023 in 🇮🇱. The photograph above shows the front entrance to the “Stadttempel” (1826) in the Seitenstettengasse (1.). After the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (70 CE) and the dispersion of the Jewish people from the Land of Israel, by necessity many of the religious rituals then took place in the home. Therefore, the purity and sacredness of the home is, in theory, of utmost importance as the place where the religious tradition continues. One aspect of this is the removal of all traces of חמץ from the home of observant households before the beginning of פּסח. Furthermore, there should be no forms of חמץ in one’s domain and no חמץ or mixtures containing חמץ should be consumed over the 7(/8)-day holiday. The prohibition takes effect from around late morning on the eve of פּסח. According to the Talmud, חמץ can only consist of the grains of the “five species of grain”: wheat, barley, oats, rye and spelt. In Yiddish: (דער) [-] װײץ (‘veyts’) (wheat); (דער) [-] גערשט (‘gersht’) (barley); (דער/דאָס) [-] האָבער (‘hober’) (oats); (דער) [-] קאָרן (‘korn’) (rye); and: (דער) [-] שפּעלץ (‘shpelts’) or: (דער) [-] אָרקוש (‘orkush’) (spelt). By extension, leavening agents such as yeast or baking soda are not in and of themselves חמץ, as they leaven by chemical reaction and not by biological fermentation. Three traditional menthods of removing חמץ are: destruction (traditionally by fire) (“bi’ur”), nullification (“bittul”) and sale to non-Jews (“mechirah”). 🥖😘
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