A slippery slope for the Passover diet?
The Passover holiday starts next week. As Jews — and philo-Semites — begin to think about the Seder, they should check out this Joan Nathan story in the New York Times from a few days ago. It’s about how Orthodox rabbis are lightening up on baking for Passover: When Emily Moore, a Seattle-based chef and ...
The Passover holiday starts next week. As Jews -- and philo-Semites -- begin to think about the Seder, they should check out this Joan Nathan story in the New York Times from a few days ago. It's about how Orthodox rabbis are lightening up on baking for Passover: When Emily Moore, a Seattle-based chef and instructor, was invited to consult on recipes for Streit's Matzo, she assumed that the baked goods would have their traditional heft, because no leavening can be used during Passover. Not so, said Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik, a member of a prominent rabbinic dynasty, who oversees the company's ritual observances. Let the cookies and cakes rise, he told her. Let there be baking soda and baking powder. "He acted like I was crazy," Ms. Moore said. The biblical prohibition against leavened bread at Passover ? which begins on Wednesday night ? has kept observant Jews from using any leavening at all. Cakes and cookies of matzo meal (ground matzo), matzo cake meal (which is more finely ground) and nuts can be tasty, but dense. So it will surprise many Jews ? it certainly surprised me ? that among the profusion of products that most Orthodox certification agencies have approved for Passover are not just baking soda, but also baking powder. Some rabbis are lifting other dietary prohibitions that they say were based on misunderstandings or overly cautious interpretations of biblical sanctions, and because they want to simplify the observance. This is all to the good... indeed, as someone who, after careful empirical research, has determined that everything tastes better with bacon, I can only hope that small steps like the easing of Passover restrictions lead to larger reforms in the Kosher dietary laws. Mmmmm..... baking powder.....
The Passover holiday starts next week. As Jews — and philo-Semites — begin to think about the Seder, they should check out this Joan Nathan story in the New York Times from a few days ago. It’s about how Orthodox rabbis are lightening up on baking for Passover:
When Emily Moore, a Seattle-based chef and instructor, was invited to consult on recipes for Streit’s Matzo, she assumed that the baked goods would have their traditional heft, because no leavening can be used during Passover. Not so, said Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik, a member of a prominent rabbinic dynasty, who oversees the company’s ritual observances. Let the cookies and cakes rise, he told her. Let there be baking soda and baking powder. “He acted like I was crazy,” Ms. Moore said. The biblical prohibition against leavened bread at Passover ? which begins on Wednesday night ? has kept observant Jews from using any leavening at all. Cakes and cookies of matzo meal (ground matzo), matzo cake meal (which is more finely ground) and nuts can be tasty, but dense. So it will surprise many Jews ? it certainly surprised me ? that among the profusion of products that most Orthodox certification agencies have approved for Passover are not just baking soda, but also baking powder. Some rabbis are lifting other dietary prohibitions that they say were based on misunderstandings or overly cautious interpretations of biblical sanctions, and because they want to simplify the observance.
This is all to the good… indeed, as someone who, after careful empirical research, has determined that everything tastes better with bacon, I can only hope that small steps like the easing of Passover restrictions lead to larger reforms in the Kosher dietary laws. Mmmmm….. baking powder…..
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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