Pesachim 49 – Like a man whose hair stands on end

If three women have to bake matzot in one oven, they can do it in the normal way – so says Rabban Gamliel: they will all be fast and careful enough and won’t let the dough rise. However, the Sages disagree and say that the first one begins to knead; then, when she begins to form the loaf, the other begins to knead; when the first one puts the loaf in the oven, the third one begins to knead, and so on. They disagree on how much you can trust the average person on Passover. Rabbi Akiva claims that not all women and not all ovens are the same, so there seems to be no way to decide the law. However, a general rule is simply this: if she notices that the dough begins to leaven, she dips her hands in cold water, and that’s enough.

The dough that began to leaven must be burned, but one is still not liable for eating it; however, if it is beyond the first leavening stage, it still must be burned, and one how eats it is liable. What is the sign of the first stage above? – Cracks like the antennae of locusts. And of the second? – When the cracks interlace. These signs are given by Rabbi Yehudah. However, Rabbi Meir disagrees and says that there are many more cracks inside once you have any surface cracks, and the dough has already leavened. What then is the first stage? When the dough is pale like the face of a person whose hair stands on end because of fright.

The Talmud also discusses the deplorable state of unlearned people.

Art: Three Women by Theophile Alexandre Steinlen