Are there sources EXPLAINING why we have to make matzah within 18 minutes? I understand having a time limit if in fact the reason we eat matzah is to reenact the speed which we left Egypt (that explination is questionable as we ate matzah in Mitzraim anyway, but that is food for another question) But why 18 minutes, it seems a bit like an arbitrary number.
Answer
The Gemara in Pesachim 46a (brought in the Rambam Laws of Chametz 5:13 and the Shulchan Aruch OC 459:2) says that if one leaves dough for the length of time that it takes to walk 1 "mil" (a Talmudic unit of distance) then it becomes Chametz. Opinions regarding the time it takes to walk a mil vary from 18-24 minutes, and here we are strict to take the shorter time.
No comments:
Post a Comment