Editing Passover (section)

==== Interpretations for abstinence from leaven or yeast ====
Some scholars suggest that the command to abstain from leavened food or yeast suggests that sacrifices offered to God involve the offering of objects in "their least altered state", that would be nearest to the way in which they were initially made by God.<ref name="Bokser">Bokser, Baruch M. (1992) "Unleavened Bread and Passover, Feasts of" in ''The Anchor Bible Dictionary'', ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday), 6:755–765</ref><ref name="Greenberg">Greenberg, Moshe (1974) "Lessons on Exodus". New York</ref> According to other scholars the absence of leaven or yeast means that leaven or yeast symbolizes corruption and spoiling.<ref name="Bokser"/><ref name="Sarna">Sarna, Nahum M. (1986) "Exploring Exodus". New York</ref>

There are also variations with restrictions on eating matzah before Passover so that there will be an increased appetite for it during Passover itself. Primarily among [[Chabad]] Chassidim, there is a custom of not eating matzah (flat unleavened bread) in the 30 days before Passover begins.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/260800/jewish/The-Laws-Concerning-the-Thirty-Days-before-Passover.htm|title=The Laws Concerning the Thirty Days before Passover|website=www.chabad.org|access-date=April 1, 2020|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806062740/https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/260800/jewish/The-Laws-Concerning-the-Thirty-Days-before-Passover.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Others have a custom to refrain from eating matzah from Rosh Chodesh Nissan, while the [[halacha]] merely restricts one from eating matzah on the day before Passover.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishpress.com/judaism/halacha-hashkafa/eating-matzah-before-pesach/2012/03/29/|title=Eating Matzah Before Pesach|first=Rabbi J. Simcha|last=Cohen|date=March 29, 2012 |access-date=April 1, 2020|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108120339/https://www.jewishpress.com/judaism/halacha-hashkafa/eating-matzah-before-pesach/2012/03/29/|url-status=live}}</ref>