Unleavened Deadline

It's just a few days until Purim, so I'm sure you all know what I've been noshing lately, right? Not candy or hamantaschen, of course; that will come after we receive all those wonderful huge baskets of goodies this Tuesday.

Can't guess?

Why matza, of course! What else?

OK, I'll explain. Yes, I know Pesach comes after Purim, and no, this isn't just another one of my contrary behaviors.

It's actually very simple.

We all know that matza is eaten on Pesach, which starts just a month after Purim. In order that the matza eaten at the seder, a key mitzvah of the evening, not feel mundane and over-familiar, Rabbinical law forbids the eating of matza on the day before Pesach. In fact, the Talmud equates eating matza on Pesach eve to sleeping with one's betrothed the night before the wedding - prompting the famous Buddy Hackett quip, "You know, I've done both, and I really don't see the similarity!" :-)

Now, some have the custom to extend the avoidance of matza to not just the day before Pesach but for the entire month before - i.e., from Purim onwards. I happen to have this custom.

I also happen to be unusual in (many ways actually, but the one I'll mention now is...) that I absolutely love matza. I prefer it to any other kind of bread and eat it all year round - except for the month from Purim to Pesach, when I abstain as per custom, in order to build up the desire for matza on seder night.

Therefore, I'm getting my matza fix in for the next few days, while I still can!

Crunch, crunch! Yummy!