When I was a kid growing up I knew what a "ke'zayis" was. I looked at the olives sold in the appetizing stores and I knew immediately how big or small an olive was. I could eat a "large" olive in about 30 seconds and that was with no front teeth.
As I grew older and had a family, I suddenly saw "sefarim" being sold that debated how large an olive was?
I learned in very well known yeshivos, my Rosh Yeshiva was a Talmud muvhak of the late Brisker Rav in Europe pre-WW2, and when we learned about "shiurim" no one mentioned how large an olive was. One could just go across the street and see one in a jar in the grocery store.
Let me tell you about the seder my father z"l ran.
My father z"l was a Holocaust survivor from a "heimishe" family and had a "mesorah" going back generations.
We all sat around the Seder Table, my father looked regal in his kittel and recited the haggada in Yiddish! He then took a piece of potato which he dipped into salt water and gave each one of us a piece. He didn't measure how much he gave, he just gave it as he saw by his own father.
Of course when we are dealing with "karpas" the Measurement is a "half an egg" there is no talk of "ke'zayis" here! Why that is, you can ask by the "ma nisthana?
When it came to Matza, my father z"l would not measure but broke a piece of matza, and placed it into each of our hands. He did not use a ruler, he didn't look at the latest "Pesach manuals" which stated that one has to literally choke down two "kzayisim" which they estimated to be a whole matza and a half in 20 seconds or less. He did what he saw by his father who saw it from his father who was a talmud of the Ksav Sofer,
I only found out about these "measurements" when I was a father of many children bl"eh, myself. When I asked my previous classmates what their fathers did, they said that their fathers also used no measurements but estimated what they thought was "ke'zaysim'.
Now the new "talmeidei chachamim" buy these laminated ruler charts, sit around measuring "karpas, Marror, Matza. ..the whole flavor of the seder revolves around how much and how fast one can gulp down and entire kilo of matzah, and the story of Yetzias Metzrayim is now me imagining and picturing my poor grandfather, and grandmother running out of mitzrayim holding on tight to their laminated ruler charts choking down their dry burnt matzos.
So how much is a "kezyis" ... you would think an olive, Right?
No, these new "talmeidei Chachamim" that were manufactured in the litvishe Yeshivos fabricated a new measurement of how large an olive is.They don't really care how large or small an olive really is, because that would be too easy, they suddenly became farmers and they and only they know the measurement of a kzayis.
I have seen large olives, lots of them, thank you, and never saw that the volume of an olive would be larger or equal to 3/4 of a matza? Never!
So I'm glad that I came across an article by RationalistJudaisiam that puts a light on the this whole mess!
The Kezayis Revolution Continues!
The monograph that I wrote on the evolution of the kezayis, from the size of an olive to a matzah ten times that size, seems to be the most popular piece that I have ever published. It's now incorporated in my book Rationalism vs. Mysticism, which you can purchase at this link.
Here is a list of other posts relating to this topic:
Matzah/Maror Chart for Rationalists - so that you, too, can have a chart!
The Popularity of Olives - exploring why this paper is so popular and yet hated by some.
Why On Earth Would One Eat A Kezayis? - discussing the strange notion that one should aim to eat a kezayis of matzah on Seder night.
The Riddle of the Giant Kezayis Defense - wondering why many people would not accept that a kezayis is the size of an olive.
Maniacal Dishonesty About Olives - exposing an error-ridden critique that appeared in the charedi polemical journal Dialogue.
It's Krazy Kezayis Time! - discussing the view that one should eat a huge amount of matzah in a very short time in order to fulfill all opinions.
The Kezayis Revolution - announcing the fabulous sefer by Rabbi Hadar Margolin, which presents the same arguments that I brought but in a more yeshivish manner. He also brings an astonishing array of evidence that many recent charedi gedolim likewise held that a kezayis is very small, including even the Chazon Ish! Best of all, the entire sefer can be freely downloaded.
4 comments:
I am chasidish with a mesorah such as the one you described. In my circles, we still do it the old way. We never bought in to the new way you speak of here. One should know, however, that today's matzos are thinner than those of our fathers and zaides so even by the old way one should be aware of this difference.
It's part of the "Frummer than thou" movement.
Until only a few centuries ago, matzos were soft like burritos. A few centuries ago Jews in Europe had trouble getting ovens to properly bake them and were forced to make the burnt crackers we used today. But ask any good Lubavitcher and they'll tell you the burnt cracker is the only legitimate matzah.
It's the same with k'zayis. The folks who think we have to eat a box of matzoh in 2 minutes are basing themselves on a psak from an authority who never actually saw an olive but guessed on their size based on a description of olives based on a thumb that he also never saw.
Unfortunately there are too many people who fall into the following two categories
1) I gotta pick up every last chumrah or they'll kick my kids out of school for being "modernish"
2) I'm a BT with no tradition so I gotta pick up every last chumrah so the FFB's will take me seriously.
No offense, but i dont know you or your father.
Should i base my matzo eating on an anonymous blog?
Yankel
But you knew YOUR father. Did he Sit around with a ruler during the Seder?
Post a Comment