Something I never understood about Pesach dietary laws

[figmo]

The whole point of the dietary change during Passover, as I understood it, was to eliminate leavening (yeast) from the diet because they didn't have it when going through the desert.

Why, then, do we eliminate whole grains, which have nothing direct to do with the leavening? Why is it okay to make matzoh with whole grains, but only okay to eat foods made with crushed matzoh as a "grain" instead of the same types of grains used to make the matzoh?

This never made sense to me, and nobody has ever explained it.

Comments

[figmo.livejournal.com]

There's nothing offensive or stupid about your question.

Popcorn is forbidden during Pesach if you're an Ashkenazic Jew but Kosher if you're Sephardic.

[trinsf.livejournal.com]

What she said. I actually don't know as much about this as most folks, because I'm just a theologian with a background in biblical Hebrew and a few friends who are hard core Talmudic scholars.