Pesachim 37a (לז.) — the Talmud in English

And Beit Hillel permit it.

And we discussed this:

How much

is the measure of

thick bread?

Rav Huna said:

Its thickness is

a handbreadth!

And this is what Beit Shammai prohibited. And Beit Hillel permitted it,

as

we

indeed find this with the showbread,

whose thickness was

a handbreadth!

The showbread was called by this name because it had faces, and a face is no less than a handbreadth. Moreover, it too was not made from leavened dough, as it is written: “Any meal-offering that you shall offer to the Lord, you shall not make leavened.” And we derive: “Any meal-offering”—to include the showbread. Evidently, even when it is a handbreadth thick, it does not become leavened.

But if it is thicker than a handbreadth, even Beit Hillel prohibits it, due to concern that it may become leavened.

Rav Yosef raised an objection to this:

What proof is there from the showbread, whose preparation was performed by priests, who are exceptionally diligent?

And if they said this with regard to the diligent,

who can prevent leavening even when the dough is a handbreadth thick, would they

say

the same

with regard to

matza entrusted to everyone, including

those who are not diligent?!

Moreover, the preparation of the showbread involved extensive labor, as is the case with all meal-offerings. For we learned: All meal-offerings require three hundred rubbings [rubbing the wheat between one’s hand and the vessel] and three hundred blows [striking the wheat with a fist]. And because of all the labor expended on them, they did not quickly become leavened.

And if they said this with regard to

the showbread, which is

bread requiring extensive labor,

and does not become leavened even when a handbreadth thick, would they

say

the same

with regard to

ordinary

bread, which does not require extensive labor?!

Moreover, they would cut wood for the Temple only during the summer, until the fifteenth of Av, so that it would be thoroughly dry. And bread baked on this wood does not quickly become leavened. Therefore,

if they said

with regard to the showbread, which was baked

with dry wood,

and does not become leavened even when a handbreadth thick, would they

say

the same with regard to ordinary matzot baked

with damp wood?!

Moreover, the oven in the Temple was heated every day without interruption, for baking meal-offerings and the loaves of the thanksgiving-offering. Consequently, it was very hot. Therefore,

if they said

with regard to the showbread that it does not become leavened when a handbreadth thick, that is because it was baked

in a

hot oven. Would they

say

the same even with regard to ordinary matza baked

in a cool oven?!

Moreover, the showbread was baked in a metal oven.

And if they said this with regard to a metal oven,

in which the bread does not become leavened, would they

say

the same even with regard to matza baked

in an earthenware oven?!

Rav Yirmeya bar Abba said: I asked Rabbi privately

[I asked Rabbi privately]: What is thick bread?

And who was he?

He was Rav Yirmeya’s teacher—

Rav

was he.

And some say: Rav Yirmeya bar Abba said that Rav said:

I

asked Rabbi privately this question—

and who was he?

He was Rav’s teacher—

Rabbi

was he.

And he said to me:

What is thick bread?

It is

bread

[dough]

made in a large quantity!

For each matza itself is not thick. Rather, one kneads the dough of many matzot at once. And Beit Shammai did not prohibit it due to concern that it might become leavened, but because kneading it involves extensive exertion. On a Festival day, it is prohibited to engage in exertion that is unnecessary .

And why did they call it

“thick bread”?—

Because there is a great quantity of dough in the kneading!

When all the dough is kneaded together, it is thick.

Alternatively, if you wish, say: In the place of this tanna

[in the place of the tanna of that beraita],

a large quantity of bread,

“thick bread,”

is what they called it!

For in their usage, the meaning of “thick” was “large in quantity.”

And we discussed this:

What is the reason

that Beit Shammai prohibited kneading thick bread?

If it is because

it involves extensive exertion, and

he is engaging in unnecessary exertion

on a Festival [since he could knead a small quantity of bread, which would not involve such exertion], then

why specifically on Passover

? Surely

even on another Festival

as well,

also

unnecessary exertion is prohibited.

And we answer:

Indeed, that is so,

and it is not specifically on Passover that doing so is prohibited.

And this tanna was speaking of the Passover Festival

when he

stated

this law, and therefore he mentioned Passover. The same law applies to the other Festivals.

It was taught likewise in a beraita: One may not bake thick bread on a Festival—

the statement of Beit Shammai.

And Beit Hillel permit it !

Evidently, their dispute is not specifically with regard to the Passover Festival.

The Sages taught: One fulfills

the obligation of matza whether

with fine bread or

with

coarse bread

[bran bread]! As stated above, “matzot, matzot” comes to include various types.

And

one also fulfills the obligation

with decorated sereikin

[matzot made in the form of various designs]

on Passover!

And

even though they said: One may not make

decorated

sereikin on Passover

in the first instance, after the fact one fulfills the obligation with them.

Rav Yehuda said: This matter was asked by Baitos ben Zunin of the Sages: Why may one not make decorated sereikin on Passover?

They said to him: Because

if we permit making them,

the woman will linger over it

[over the dough] in order to decorate it, and will not hurry to put it into the oven.

And

in the meantime, she

will cause it to become leavened.

He said to them,

Baitos: If that is the reason they prohibited it,

it is possible

to make them in a manner that does not give rise to this concern. For example,

she can make

this design

with a mold, and press it

[the design mold]

at once

[quickly, with a single push] onto the dough. In this manner, she does not delay while making the design, and there is no concern that it will become leavened.

They said to him:

It is prohibited to do so even with a mold. For most bakers do not possess such a mold. And if we permit it,

they will say: All decorated sereikin

are

prohibited

to make,

but the sereikin of Baitos

ben Zunin are

permitted!

Therefore, they prohibited making them in every manner, because of the principle that one may not distinguish between cases.

Rabbi Elazar bar Tzadok said: Once I entered behind my father into the house of Rabban Gamliel. And they brought decorated sereikin on Passover before him.

I said to him: Father,

but

is this not what the Sages said: One may not make decorated sereikin on Passover?!

He said to me: My son, they did not

say this with regard to the sereikin

of everyone

;

rather, they prohibited only the sereikin

of bakers

!

Because they make them to sell them, they are particular about their beauty and spend a long time making their designs. But a householder who makes them for himself is not so particular about beautifying them, and does not leave them outside the oven.

Some say: This is what Rabbi Tzadok said to his son:

Rabbi Tzadok to his son:

They did not

prohibit the sereikin

of bakers,

to prohibit them,

but rather the sereikin

of everyone!

For bakers are expert and accustomed to this work, and they also have molds. Therefore, there is no concern that they will leave them waiting before baking them. And those sereikin in Rabban Gamliel’s house were made by bakers.

Bakers are skilled and accustomed to this work, and they also have molds. Therefore, there is no concern that they will delay putting the pastries into the oven. The pastries in Rabban Gamliel’s house were made by bakers.

Rabbi Yosei said: One may make

on Passover

sereikin

decorated when they are thin,

like wafers!

Since they are thin and insubstantial [sparse], they do not quickly become leavened.

But

one may not make sereikin

decorated when they are thick,

like loaves!

Because of their thickness, they become leavened even after a short delay.

We learned there: Sufganin

[dough that is porous like a sponge],

and dovshanin

[dough fried in honey],

and iskritin

[dough made like a honey-cake, whose dough is very soft],

and a pan-cooked challa

[a frying pan, that is, dough made in a frying pan],

and

bread

mixed with teruma

[in which teruma flour is mixed]—all these types of bread

are exempt from challa!

Bread mixed with teruma is exempt from challa because it is written with regard to challa: “You shall set aside a teruma.” And we exclude from this: bread that already contains teruma .

And all the rest are exempt because they are not “bread.” The obligation of challa applies only to bread, as it is written: “When you eat from the bread of the land.”

And we discussed this:

What is

“the pan-cooked challa”?

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: This

is dough

scalded

[placed into boiling water in a frying pan]

made by householders!

For it was not made according to the proper preparation of bread .

Reish Lakish said:

All the types

mentioned here

in this Mishna

are pan-cooked preparations!

They were cooked in a vessel standing over a fire. Therefore, they are not “bread,” for bread is only that which is baked in an oven.

And Rabbi Yohanan said:

Even

pan-cooked preparations

are “bread,” and

are obligated

in challa.

And these

mentioned in the Mishna are exempt from challa because

he made them

[cooked them]

with

the heat of

the sun .

The Gemara raises an objection:

It was taught:

The sufganin, the dovshanin, and the iskritin—

if

he made them in a pan,

then they

are obligated.

But if he made them

in the sun,

then they

are exempt!

It is explicitly stated that “pan-cooked preparations are obligated.”

And this is a refutation

of

Reish Lakish.

Ulla said: Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish can say to you: The statement that “pan-cooked preparations are obligated”

is dealing with a case in which

what are we dealing

with?

When

he first

heated

the pan over the fire,

and afterward attached

the bread to it. Since the walls of the pan are boiling hot, this is similar to bread baked in an oven. Therefore, it is obligated in challa.

And Reish Lakish exempted a pan-cooked preparation only when one attached the bread to the pan while it was still cold. The bread does not receive intense heat all at once, as it does in an oven; rather, its heat gradually increases. Therefore, it is not similar to bread baked in an oven, and it is exempt from challa.

And we raise a difficulty:

But

if one

attached

the bread to the pan

and afterward heated

it,

what

is its law? If you say

that it is likewise exempt,

the latter clause of the beraita will be difficult.

For instead of

teaching

in

the latter clause,

“If he made them in the sun, they are exempt,” it should distinguish and teach the matter itself

[with regard to a pan-cooked preparation]. And it should say as follows:

When does this statement apply, that a pan-cooked preparation is obligated?

When

he heated

the pan

and afterward attached

the bread to it.

But

if

he

attached

the bread

and afterward heated the pan, it is not like bread baked in an oven,

and it is exempt

from challa!

And we answer: This is indeed what the beraita said. Rather,

parts are missing, and this is what it teaches:

A pan-cooked preparation is obligated.

When does this statement apply? When he heated it and afterward attached it. But if he attached it and afterward heated it,

it is not like bread baked in an oven.

And it becomes like one made in the sun. And

therefore, it

is exempt!

And we ask:

Come and hear: One fulfills

the obligation of matza

with matza hina

[which is not fully baked, from the expression “raw”].

And

one also fulfills the obligation

with matza made in a pan!

This is difficult for Reish Lakish, who said that it is not included in the category of “bread.” Yet even with regard to matza, “bread” is required, as it is written: “the bread of affliction.”

And we answer:

Here too,

the discussion

is

when he

heated

the pan

and afterward attached the matza to it. In such a case, even according to Reish Lakish it is called “bread.”

We learned above: One fulfills the obligation with matza hina! And we discussed this:

What

is the measure of baking through which the matza is considered

“matza hina”?

Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: Any

matza that was baked to such a degree

that

if one

breaks it

[breaks it apart] again,

strings are no longer drawn from it,

is called bread, and one fulfills the obligation with it.

Rava said: And likewise

the same

applies to the loaves of a thanksgiving-offering!

For the slaughter of the thanksgiving-offering consecrates the bread that accompanies it. The slaughter consecrates it only once its surface has formed a crust in the oven, at which point it is already called “bread.” This is the same measure mentioned here: “One breaks it and strings are not drawn from it.”

And we raise a difficulty:

It is obvious

that the law of matza and the law of the loaves of a thanksgiving-offering are identical. For

here,

with regard to matza,

“bread

of affliction”

is written.

And

also

here,

with regard to the thanksgiving-offering, “a challa of

bread”

is written.