📖 Daily Rambam (1 Chapter) Chametz U’Matzah – Chapter 6: Chametz U’Matzah: The Mitzvah of Matzah and How It Is Fulfilled

 

This chapter shifts from avoiding chametz to the positive mitzvah of eating matzah. The Rambam explains:

• When matzah is obligatory
• What kind of matzah qualifies
• Who is obligated
• The concept of Lechem Oni (“poor man’s bread”)
• Why we do not eat matzah before the Seder

 

Halachah 1 – The Mitzvah of Eating Matzah

The Torah commands:

“In the evening, you shall eat matzot.”

This refers to the night of the 15th of Nissan (the Seder night).

Key Principles

• This mitzvah applies everywhere, even without the Temple.
• It is independent of the Korban Pesach.
• The mitzvah may be fulfilled anytime during the night.

The Rest of Pesach

Unlike the first night:

• Eating matzah during the remaining days is optional.
• One may instead eat other permitted foods.

Minimum Amount

The obligation is fulfilled by eating:

A kezayit (olive-sized portion) of matzah.

 

Halachah 2 – How the Matzah Must Be Eaten

Swallowing Matzah

A person who swallows matzah without chewing:

✅ Fulfills the mitzvah.

Swallowing Maror

A person who swallows maror whole:

❌ Does not fulfill the mitzvah of maror.

The bitterness must be experienced.

Swallowing Both Together

• Matzah obligation: fulfilled.
• Maror obligation: not fulfilled.

Wrapped Matzah

If wrapped in fibers or another barrier and swallowed:

❌ The mitzvah is not fulfilled.

 

Halachah 3 – Intention

An important ruling:

If someone is forced to eat matzah:

✅ He still fulfills the mitzvah.

The physical act of eating is sufficient.

Exception

Someone who ate while legally exempt from mitzvot (such as during a severe mental episode) must eat again after recovering.

 

Halachah 4 – What Matzah Qualifies?

Only matzah made from one of the five grains qualifies:

1. Wheat
2. Spelt
3. Barley
4. Oats
5. Rye

These qualify because they are capable of becoming chametz.

Kitniyot

Rice, millet, beans, and similar foods:

❌ Cannot be used.

 

Halachah 5 – Additional Requirements

Wheat Mixed With Rice

If the grain taste remains dominant:

✅ The matzah may be used.

Dough Made for Dogs

If people also eat it:

✅ Valid.

If intended exclusively for animals:

❌ Invalid.

Matzah Made With Fruit Juice

The Rambam holds that such matzah may technically be matzah.

However:

❌ It cannot be used for the mitzvah of the Seder.

Reason:

The Torah requires:

Lechem Oni — “poor man’s bread.”

Rich dough containing wine, oil, milk, or honey does not qualify.

 

Bran and Fine Flour

Bran Alone

❌ Cannot be used.

Flour With Its Bran

✅ May be used.

Fine White Flour

✅ Also may be used.

The Rambam does not consider quality alone to contradict Lechem Oni.

 

Halachah 6 – Valid Ways of Baking

The mitzvah may be fulfilled with matzah:

• Baked in an oven
• Baked in a roasting vessel
• Even baked in the ground

Undercooked Matzah

If it is sufficiently baked that dough strands no longer stretch when broken:

✅ It qualifies.

Soaked Matzah

If still intact:

✅ It qualifies.

Cooked Matzah

❌ Does not qualify.

It no longer possesses the character of bread.

 

Halachah 7 – Matzah Must Be Permitted

One cannot fulfill the mitzvah using prohibited matzah.

Examples:

• Tevel
• Untithed produce
• Stolen matzah

General Rule

If one may recite Birkat HaMazon over it:

✅ It may be used for the mitzvah.

If not:

❌ It may not.

 

Halachah 8 – Special Sacred Foods

Priests

May fulfill the mitzvah using:

• Terumah matzah
• Challah matzah

because they are permitted to eat them.

Ma’aser Sheni

May be used in Jerusalem.

Bikkurim

Cannot be used to fulfill the mitzvah.

The Rambam derives this from the requirement that qualifying matzah be potentially usable throughout Jewish settlements.

 

Halachah 9 – Matzah Guarded for the Mitzvah

The Torah says:

“You shall guard the matzot.”

The matzah should be watched specifically for the mitzvah.

Thanksgiving and Nazir Offerings

Matzot prepared specifically for sacrificial purposes:

❌ Cannot be used.

They were guarded for a different purpose.

Commercial Production

If produced for sale:

✅ They may be used.

The seller intends that, if unsold, he may eat them himself.

 

Halachah 10 – Who Is Obligated?

The obligation applies to:

• Men
• Women
• Slaves

Children

Children capable of eating bread should be trained to eat matzah.

Sick or Elderly Individuals

Matzah may be softened in water (without dissolving).

 

Halachah 11 – Nothing After the Afikoman

The Sages decreed:

Nothing should be eaten after the final matzah.

Not even:

• Nuts
• Seeds
• Snacks

The taste of the mitzvah should remain in one’s mouth.

This is the basis of the Afikoman.

 

Halachah 12 – No Matzah on Erev Pesach

The Sages forbade eating matzah on the day before Pesach.

Reason:

So that eating matzah at the Seder will feel like a special mitzvah.

Also Forbidden

Eating a substantial meal late on Erev Pesach.

Reason:

One should arrive at the Seder hungry and eager to fulfill the mitzvah.

The Rambam notes that earlier sages would deliberately eat very little that day so they could eat the matzah with great appreciation.