Comments on: All That’s Missing Is The Sun To Bake It On My Back

By: Bowman

Bowman — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:09:24 +0000

I suspect you're right that it's a coincidence. I spent a little time on google to see if I could figure out when it became common to think of 18 year olds as adults.

Considering how it used to be so common for people to get married in their early teens(I.E. Romeo and Juliet being 13 or 14) I think it's a pretty recent phenomenon, but I could be wrong.

By: joshua

joshua — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:45:50 +0000

Yeah, it's an interesting coincidence, to be sure, but I don't think it's related, since Jews become adults at 12 (for girls) and 13 (for boys).

I'd be interested in pre-Jewish interpretations of the number, too, but a search for "Middle East 18" just gives me pages of 18+ shows at the Middle East club in Boston. Nice club. But not relevant. Do you have a source?

By: Bowman

Bowman — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 04:48:25 +0000

Hey, Josh! Thanks for the info, I was wondering if it was because the number 18 had some mystical significance, because I think that was true of most of the religions from the Middle East.

For example, in Islam, the number 72 is associated with martyrdom supposedly because that was the number of Imam Hussein's party that was killed, but a friend who's a Middle Eastern specialist says that the number was associated with martyrdom long before Hussein or even Muhammad.

I wonder if it's just a coincidence that 18 means "life" and that 18 is considered when people reach adulthood. I doubt there's a link, but it would be interesting.

By: joshua

joshua — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:11:26 +0000

Hey, Bowman! It's a magic number that means "life". Here's a little explanation.

By: Bowman

Bowman — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:48:21 +0000

Why does it have to be 18 minutes as opposed to say 22 minutes to be halachically acceptable?

By: Carrie

Carrie — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 01:03:54 +0000

Oh, and your matzah is so good, it makes me say “so THIS is the bread of affliction?”

By: Carrie

Carrie — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 01:03:10 +0000

I like it when people on internet fora randomly affirm what I have previously asserted. Saves me so much extra breath.

By: joshua

joshua — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:07:38 +0000

OK, people, you gotta read what other people have written first. That’s how it works in Internet fora.

By: JaniceG

JaniceG — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:18:56 +0000

For halachically acceptable matzo for Passover, the entire matzah baking process — from adding the water to the flour until the matzos are done baking — has to take place in less than 18 minutes

By: joshua

joshua — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:29:56 +0000

My research has said that it has to be in the oven in 18 minutes. That said, it would be better baked hotter. I'm going to try it at 400° and see how long it takes. When I made more today, one of the "loaves" was clearly done in 15 minutes or so (though I kept baking to get both matzot baked) at 350° and it tasted much better sorta toasty like that.

Next time, I'll see if the whole thing can be done in 18 minutes. I bet it will work fine.