Aromatic herbs & pungent spices (Today – sold in bulk -and- used in quantity As Ingredients) were traditional Medicinals – taken modestly sparingly minimally; thus not inducing strange Visceral-Mental-Emotional drug-overdose symptoms → unique post-modern ailments – from chronic excessive ‘seasoning’ consumption. Behold: long before our ‘Age of Abundance’ – Edibles had Measured minimums & Seasonal maximums; were mindfully Anticipated, and respectfully Acknowledged. Likewise, eating a Biblical olive’s bulk gives sufficient mental/emotional [not visceral] Satisfaction to anticipate NOT dying of hunger before the next meal; shockingly proven by Shoah ‘Death Factory Slaves’ surviving horrific Starvation – amidst psychotic Brutality & ‘institutional’ Anti-Hygiene Epidemics. 

More ‘Gastronomic’ Calibration reminders: 

Historically, our Challah ‘ritual’ had strictly practical aspects. Today’s ‘most popular’ Workshops & Classes (For Women) elaborate & glorify Ritual appreciation (spiritual benefits) of ‘minimal’ sample separation from a large mass of bread dough; notwithstanding Private Discussions (of resonant emotional importance) permeating these feminine forums for Torah Enlightenment via Mitzvah Actualization. [Merging here with https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/physical-judaism-appreciated-introduction/]

Facts: Freeze dried yeast was invented ~1940s and first commercialized ~1970s; while developing compressed yeast only started about 100 years earlier. Thousands of years ago (Early Bronze Age), Yeasts (micro-organisms) were unknowingly used in bread & beer making; sometimes by adapting ‘barm’ from beer brewing or young wine. Quality & flavor were inconsistent; thus – just like luxury cheese-makers, skillful artisans introduced trace-amounts of quasi-edible molds – into slowly fermenting doughs – to enhance taste-spectrum complexity & distinctiveness. 

Following pragmatic Risk Avoidance (Halacha) → our Yeasting Grain Technologies protocol includes: carefully saving dough-separation ‘challah’ for presentation to any Traveling Ultra-sensitive Human ‘Laboratory’ (cohen); for his certification: as -either- ‘healthy’ – thus the traditional head matron is maintaining a superior level of domestic hygiene -or- ‘somewhat toxic’ – thus the worthy local establishment deserves a NEW sourdough starter – along with Kashering their (typically wooden) Kneading Trough (by rigorous cleaning, a non-use interval, scalding with boiling water – followed by adequate drying & resanding) ⇒ Albeit Preferably & Happily by acquiring a New vessel. (Artisan ‘yeast-starter’ details in my Haggadah ‘fragment’ https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/not-four-questions/)

INSIGHT: Dr. Joseph D. Levinson A”H explained, elaborated, enlightened in The Celebration of Bread – A Commentary on the Passover Haggadah → …of course everyone bakes/baked ONE loaf of fresh bread every day (Exactly enough for their family), except TWO ‘extra’ special-loaves are baked on Friday (To Honor Shabbat), and THREE awe inspiring matzot are baked for Seder Pesach → thus, every guest, upon seeing the 2-Shabbat-loaves or 3-matzot, understands: tonight ⇒ there is no limit upon modest feasting -THEN- after post-Shabbat Havdalah, we consume what remnants of those special-loaves at Melaveh Malkah’s mini-meal -WHILE- after Pesach, we begin ‘a new’ sourdough yeast-starter culture for our daily breads – therewith – being Renewed every year – just as we........

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