In Israel, the really big issues are at stake: saving democracy, preventing a civil war – and the leaven. In the midst of the turmoil surrounding the planned “judicial reform,” the right-wing religious government still found the strength to get a very special project through parliament. The “Chametz Law” will authorize the country’s hospitals to ban all leavened foods from their facilities during the upcoming Passover holiday.
What may sound like a farce or petitesse is actually a highly explosive issue that has been brewing for ages. It is about the identity of the Jewish state. The battle for everything leavened, “chametz” in Hebrew, has become a symbol in the culture war between the devout and the secular Israelis.
The focus is on observing the strict dietary regulations for Passover, which begins on the evening of April 5 this year. It commemorates the exodus from Egypt, when, according to biblical tradition, God’s chosen people were in such a hurry that there was no time to let the bread rise. Flour and water could only be quickly mixed and baked – and believing Jews remember that they do not eat leavened food. It’s not just bread that counts, but many other things, from pasta to beer. Instead, according to the recipe of the ancestors, matzoh are served, rather bland flatbreads made from water and flour.
A 1986 law also banned leavened foods from being sold publicly during Passover week. The bakeries are therefore closing, the goods are being imposed in the supermarkets. The ban on chametz is taken so seriously in many households that the last bits of bread are also removed from the apartments during the big Passover cleaning. The new law now aims to ensure that hospitals are no longer exposed to any crumb contamination.
The driving force behind this law has been the ruling ultra-Orthodox party, United Torah Judaism. The new regulation is intended to overturn a verdict by the Supreme Court, which the government believes is responsible for all evil anyway. In 2020, he prohibited a general ban on chametz in clinics – with reference to freedom of religion and the patient’s right to self-determination. In a first version, the new law should also allow bag checks. Now it is left with the fact that the hospitals themselves should pronounce the ban and make it known on their websites and on warning signs.
This then applies to all patients and visitors, including Muslims, Christians and secular Jews. Critics from the opposition see this not only as an attack on religious freedom, but also as the first steps towards a Jewish theocracy promoted by the pious in government. So it’s all over the place again in Israel, and a few activists have already announced a special protest action for Passover: a pizza party in front of a hospital.