Pesachim 44 – Infusions

In discussing infusions, Abaye asked the following question, “Is it true that eating chametz mixed with other foods is forbidden by the Torah?” Rav Dimi answered him, “Yes.” Abaye started attacking this statement.

Take, for example, the Babylonian sour dip we discussed above, which was not prohibited by the Torah and was only removed as a precaution? Rav Dimi answered, “Forget Babylonian sour dip, where the concentration of bread is not sufficient to reach an olive's bulk in normal eating.”

This dip is meant to be eaten as a condiment.     When one eats it, he does not reach the olive's bulk of bread in the normal eating period, and he is not liable from the Torah point of view. On the other hand, if he decides to gulp the dip, he is not eating like people normally eat. This is not considered an act of eating either – and Torah only prohibits eating chametz by swallowing it normally.

Abaye asked more questions, comparing this to the laws of a Nazirite who decides to soak his bread in wine, to meat cooked in milk, and to milk in which meat was cooked, but Rav Dimi was able to answer all of them, so in the end, one cannot mix bread into his food and eat it on Passover.

Art: A piece of meat, a glass of wine, and a plate of olives on a partly draped table by (after) Juan Van Der Hamen