Q: Are tortillas ok to eat during passover since they are not leavened? And can I drink beer? What alcohol can I drink during passover?
A: If one of the five species of grain (wheat, oats, rye, barley, spelt) comes into contact with water after the stalks have been cut off the ground; if they become fermented, they become chametz. According to our Rabbinic authorities, this fermentation takes 18 minutes. Therefore, in order to be kosher l'pesach, matzoh must take less than 18 minutes to prepare from the time the water and flour are first mixed to the time the matzoh comes out of the oven. The term chametz is applied not only to foodstuffs, but also to dishes and utensils in which foods that are chametz have been prepared during the year. Beans, rice, corn, and peas are not among the grains that can become chametz, yet they are also forbidden during Pesach.This prohibition stems from the fact that flour can be made from these foods and it might be confusing. The rabbis felt that people might be tempted to use regular flour if they were allowed to use, for example, rice flour. To avoid such confusion, the rabbis decided that these foods (known as kitniot) not be used at all during Pesach. These additional foods are prohibited only by Ashkenazic Jews whose ancestors come from Eastern Europe. Sephardic Jews, whose ancestry is Middle Eastern, permit these foods during Pesach. I'm sephard, but my husband is Ashkenaz, so I won't eat rice and tortillas for PESSACH.... At Beit HaChatulim, removing chametz means getting out of our possession all flour, cereal, pasta, legumes, cookies, crackers, tofu and tofu products (soybeans are legumes!), rice and rice products, breads, brownie and pancake mixes, dry beans and peas, anything with corn sweeteners, baking powder, yeast, grain alcohol (not just the rum, the vanilla extract, too), popcorn, tortillas, and so on. It is a massive undertaking. We generally list all the food in the house and assign each item to one of the following categories: * Use up or discard * Give away to a food pantry (applies primarily to unopened packages of food) * Sell for the duration of Pesach through a rabbinnical agreement called mechirat chametz. On a more spiritual note, chametz can stand for other things in our lives that we would like to get rid of. Leaven symbolizes the impurity that causes grains to "puff up" and change. The removal of impurities in ourselves can keep us from "puffing up" and moving away from G-d. * alcohol make sure it's kosher for pessach...Beer is chametz.