Five species of grain
{{Short description|Category of plants in Jewish law}}
{{About|the five grain crops of special significance in Judaism|the five grain crops important to China|Five Grains}}
In Judaism, the five species of grain ({{langx|he|חמשת מיני דגן|hameshet minei dagan}}) refer to five varieties of grain which have special status for a number of rituals. These species are commonly considered to be wheat, barley, oats, rye and spelt. However, some of these identifications are disputed.{{Cite web |date=2016-10-28 |title=487. The Five Species of Grain - HaShoneh Halachos 2: Mishneh Torah |url=https://outorah.org/p/31975/ |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=OU Torah}}
Identity
The five species, with their Mishnaic Hebrew names, are as follows:Mishnah Challah 1:1–2; Pesachim 2:5; Menachot 10:7
- {{lang|he-Latn|Hitah}} ({{lang|he|חִיטָּה}} {{lang|he-Latn|ḥīṭṭā}}) – wheat
- {{lang|he-Latn|Kusmin}} ({{lang|he|כּוּסְמִין}} {{lang|he-Latn|kūsmīn}}) – spelt, but modernly taken to refer to emmer wheat
- {{lang|he-Latn|Seorah}} ({{lang|he|שְׂעוֹרָה}} {{lang|he-Latn|śəʿōrā}}) – barley
- {{lang|he-Latn|Shibolet shual}} ({{lang|he|שִׁיבּוֹלֶת שׁוּעָל}} {{lang|he-Latn|šībōleṯ šūʿāl}}) – oats or two-rowed barley.[https://www.torahmusings.com/2011/08/oat-matzah/ Oat Matzah] The name literally means "fox ear". Rashi holds this to be oats, and Maimonides holds it to be a type of "wild barley," while Rabbi Nathan ben Abraham called it by its Arabic name {{lang|ar-Latn|sunbulat al-tha'alib}} (Fox's spike).Zohar Amar and El'ad Kapah, The Yemenite Commentary of Rabbi Nathan, President of the Academy, on the Identification of Flora in the Mishnah, pub. in: Mittuv Yosef – Yosef Tobi Jubilee Volume, The Jews of Yemen: History and Culture (vol. 2), Haifa 2011, p. 13 (note 24)
- {{lang|he-Latn|Shifon}} ({{lang|he|שִׁיפוֹן}} {{lang|he-Latn|šīfōn}}) – rye, oats, or spelt. Its Arabic cognate, {{lang|ar-Latn|šūfān}} ({{lang|ar|شُوفَان}}) refers to oats. Rabbi Nathan ben Abraham I translated {{lang|he-Latn|shifon}} into Judeo-Arabic as {{lang|jrb-Latn|sāʾfeh}} ({{lang|jrb|סאפה}}),Commentary of Rabbi Nathan to Mishnah Menahot 10:7 which Zohar Amar claimed is synonymous with an archaic Arabic word for oat, {{lang|ar-Latn|dowsir}} ({{lang|ar|دوسر}}). Rashi translated {{lang|he-Latn|shifon}} as {{lang|jrb-Latn|seigle}} ({{lang|jrb|שיגלא}}),Rashi, commentary to Babylonian Talmud, Pesahim 35a indicating rye (Secale cereale), which is not endemic to Israel, but was grown nearby. According to Dr Yehudah Felix, {{lang|he-Latn|shifon}} is spelt.
The Talmud groups them into two varieties of wheat ({{lang|he-Latn|hitah}}, {{lang|he-Latn|kusmin}}) and three varieties of barley ({{lang|he-Latn|seorah}}, {{lang|he-Latn|shibolet shual}}, {{lang|he-Latn|shifon}}).Pesachim 35a
Since European medieval times, Ashkenazi Orthodox Jewry accepts the five grains as wheat, barley, oats, rye and spelt.{{cite web |url=http://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/1686/jewish/More-on-Chametz.htm |title=More on Chametz |work=Chabad |first=Eliyahu |last=Kitov |date=31 March 2000 |access-date=27 September 2022 }}
Other than the traditional translation, some researchers today propose that only the grain species native to the Land of Israel can become chametz. This would rule out not only oats, but also rye (Secale) which grows in colder, wetter climates. They offer other translations to the 5 grains.[https://www.angelfire.com/pa2/passover/passoverpreparation.html How To Prepare For Passover / Pesach]{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ojc4Uker_V0C&q=chametz+species |title=Encyclopedia of Jewish Food |author=Gil Marks |isbn=9780470943540 |date=2010-11-17|publisher=Wiley }}{{cite web |last1=Bar-Hayim |first1=David |title=Interview of Rabbi David Bar-Hayim Shlitta about Five Grains |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGtmVuwTY0Y |publisher=TagMehirTzedek |access-date=20 April 2016}}
Laws
A number of laws apply only to these five grains:
- Only bread made with these grains requires the blessing of hamotzi before eating, and birkat hamazon after eating.Brachot 37a
- Only bread made from these grains is obligated in challah.Mishnah Challah 1:1-2
- Matzah can only be made from these grains, and conversely only these grains can become chametz and seor (sourdough).Mishnah Pesachim 2:5; Talmud Pesachim 35a
- The prohibitions of eating and harvesting chadash only apply to these grains.Mishnah Menachot 10:7
=Oat matza=
Oats are generally accepted in Ashkenazi Jewish tradition as one of the five species, but modern research suggests that what has been traditionally translated as "oats" is in fact a wild species of barley or other grains. This debate is practically significant because of the candidates for the five species, oats are the only one which is gluten-free. Although there have been no changes to normative Jewish law to reflect the debate,{{cite web |url=http://www.the-daf.com/talmud-conceptual/are-oats-really-one-of-the-5-species-of-grain |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110630020925/http://www.the-daf.com/talmud-conceptual/are-oats-really-one-of-the-5-species-of-grain |archive-date=30 June 2011 |title=Are Oats Really one of the 5 Species of Grain? – When Science and Halakha Collide |date=20 May 2011 |last=Linzer |first=Dov |website=The Daily Daf}} some rabbis take a stringent view and discourage the use of oat matzo to fulfill the biblical obligation of eating matzo at the Passover Seder.
Additional species
According to Rabbi Johanan ben Nuri, rice and millet are also included among the "species of grain", and thus can become chametz and matza and are obligated in challah. This opinion was not accepted as halacha.Pesachim 114b