עברית
Halachot and Customs
Kazayit and Kabeitzah
Question
I have heard about all kinds of concepts of a kazayit and a kabeitzah. I would be interested in a fuller explanation, since there are those who hold of different measures for a kazayit and different measures for a kabeitzah.
Answer
Hello and blessings,
A kazayit is the size of a matchbox, and a kabeitzah is double, the size of two matchboxes. Some are stringent and double the measurements, but the main halacha follows the first opinion. It is proper, ideally, to be stringent regarding matzah, which is a mitzvah from the Torah, and to eat the amount of two matchboxes. There are those who hold that the measure of a kazayit is estimated at 27 grams and not by volume, and this is the practice of some Sephardim, while the kabeitzah is double that measure.
With blessings - Binyamin Shmueli
