Final answer:
Chametz are leavened products forbidden during Passover, including bread, pasta, and beer. Jewish law prohibits eating or benefiting from chametz to remember the haste of the Israelites' exodus from Egypt.
Step-by-step explanation:
Chametz refers to leavened products that are forbidden during the Jewish festival of Passover. According to Jewish law, these are foods made from wheat, barley, rye, oats, or spelt that have been allowed to ferment and rise. During Passover, observant Jews do not eat, own, or benefit from chametz in remembrance of the haste with which the Israelites left Egypt, not having time to let their bread rise.
Examples of chametz include bread, pasta, pastries, and beer. As part of the Passover preparations, depicted in historical texts and images such as the Golden Haggadah, Jewish families traditionally clean their homes meticulously to remove any traces of chametz, a process known as bedikat chametz, or the search for chametz. Furthermore, symbolic foods like matzoh (unleavened bread) are eaten to honor the simplicity and speed of the Israelites' exodus.