How is your night different from all ancient SeiꞋders?

Break free from zombiethink; question why, restore ancient Ha•lâkh•âhꞋ.

בס”ד

“Hometz”

חָמֵץ (khâ•meitzꞋ; often corrupted to “homꞋetz”) — in ancient times, was “sour dough starter,” not modern, cultivated, baker’s yeast. This was a piece (roughly 1/5th of the desired end weight of dough), from cultured, fermented, seed dough saved from a previous batch, which had been allowed to set and rise by a natural fermentation of lactobacilli and yeasts. Ancients were not even aware of yeast cells in foods other than baked grain goods, much less in non-food products. The prohibition against khâ•meitzꞋ during Khaj ha-Matz•ōtꞋ (pilgrimage of matz•ōtꞋ) originally was limited only to baked grain goods such as breads, buns, rolls, cakes and the like. All of the non-bakery goods that are added today in addition to that described in Tan”kh was not understood by the ancients as containing khâ•meitzꞋ, and are an addition to Tor•âhꞋ in contravention of Dᵊvâr•imꞋ 13.1.

Just as one can argue fanatic lengths the ancients never imagined, contravening Dᵊvâr•imꞋ 13.1; so, too, one can argue in harmony with Dᵊvâr•imꞋ 13.1 that khâ•meitzꞋ is limited to bakery goods – as khâ•meitzꞋ was originally intended by the ancients.

Matz•âhꞋ

מַצָּה (matz•âhꞋ, pl. matz•ōtꞋ) — was a soft flat bread (like today’s Iraqi pitꞋâh) to which they did not introduce the usual starter of “sour dough” leavening – khâ•meitzꞋ. This ancient soft flat matz•âhꞋ was nothing like today’s fanaticized square “matza” crackers.

Kar•pasꞋ

כַּרְפַּס (kar•pasꞋ; a sprig of fresh oregano, not celery), Biblical אֵזוֹב (ei•zovꞋ; hyssop) — was available to everyone, growing wild in fields (ei•zovꞋ is protected today in Israel). It is doubtful that celery existed in ancient Israel.

This is the green used for the 1st dipping, in red wine vinegar – symbolizing the Biblical dipping of hyssop in blood to daub on the door-posts.

Salt water is a later innovation-reform of the European Ashkenazim, abandoning the red wine vinegar association with blood in response to European Christian blood libels that Jews abducted Christian children, sacrificed them and drank their blood. The idea of salt water representing tears was invented after the fact as justification for internalizing the reform. The Yemenite custom, substituting kha•rosꞋet, same as the second dipping, undoubtedly arose from transferral of the same European reform abandoning the blood symbol (red wine vinegar), since there is no early tradition of salt water.

Mâ•rōrꞋ

מָרוֹר (mâ•rōrꞋ; dandelion leaves, Israeli wild lettuce or other wild salad greens; not modern iceberg lettuce, which was unknown in ancient Israel). Mâ•rōrꞋ is used for the 2nd dipping, in חֲרֹסֶת (kha•rosꞋet). Dipping with חֲזֶרֶת (kha•zerꞋet; Pᵊsâkh•imꞋ 10.3), redundant in mâ•rōrꞋ, cannot mean the modern definition – horseradish, which was introduced in Europe and unknown in ancient Israel.

The Four Questions

In every modern SeiꞋder: [a] one of the Four Questions has been reformed; [b] the order of the questions is different, and [c] answers to two of the original four questions are never even addressed in the SeiꞋder!

The earliest extant text is given in Tal•mudꞋ, Pᵊsâkh•imꞋ 116a, Mi•shᵊnâhꞋ:

How differs this night from all other nights?

1. That in all nights we may eat khâ•meitzꞋ and matz•âhꞋ; this night it’s all matz•âhꞋ
2. That in all nights we may eat the rest of the greens; this night mâ•rōrꞋ
3. That in all nights we may eat meat roasted, stewed or otherwise-cooked; this night it’s all roasted.
4. That in all nights we may dunk [morsels] once; this night twice.

In advance, yes, I know the “why” justifications that are given for the innovation-reforms. These justifications are, nevertheless, innovation-reforms. Exacerbating their contravention of Tor•âhꞋ shë-Bi•khᵊtavꞋ, these justifications are based on logical fallacies; casuistry that contravenes Dᵊvâr•imꞋ 13.1.

Come back to Torâh as ancient Israel knew it.

Wishing everyone a restored, pristine PesꞋakh and Khaj ha-Matz•ōtꞋ sâ•meiꞋakh,
bi-Vᵊrakhōt ha-Torâh
Pâ•qidꞋ Yi•rᵊmᵊyâhꞋu