Daily Talk

The Taste of Nothing Extra

One olive-size of bread, on one night a year, and the Torah calls it an obligation for every Jew in every place and every time. Why does the plainest food in the world carry the heaviest weight? And why does adding honey ruin it?

Chametz u'Matzah 6Wednesday, July 15, 2026

The Taste of Nothing Extra

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About This Talk

Chapter 6 of Chametz u'Matzah defines the one obligatory act of eating in the Jewish year: an olive-size of matzah on the night of the fifteenth of Nisan. The Rambam maps what counts, the five grains, the poor man's dough, matzah swallowed without chewing, matzah eaten under coercion, and what does not: honey dough, cooked matzah, bikkurim matzah even in Jerusalem, and loaves watched for a sacrifice instead of for the mitzvah.

The Taste of Nothing Extra | The Rambam Experience | The Rambam Experience