Footnote
c In the 1971 edition of Encyclopædia Judaica, Volume 7, we find, in columns 1235-1237, an article entitled “Hamez . . . ‘fermented dough’.” In column 1237, under the heading “Leaven in Jewish Thought,” we read the following:
“Leaven is regarded as the symbol of corruption and impurity. The ‘yeast in the dough’ is one of the things which ‘prevents us from performing the will of God’ (Ber. 17a). The idea was greatly developed in the Kabbalah. The New Testament also refers to ‘the leaven of malice and wickedness’ which is contrasted with ‘the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth’ (1 Cor. 5:8). Similarly the word is applied to what was regarded as the corrupt doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matt. 16:12; Mark 8:15).
“It was applied particularly to the admixture of elements of impure descent in a family. (Fermented) ‘dough’ was contrasted in this context with ‘pure sifted flour.’ . . .”