Chametz, also
Chometz, ,
Ḥameṣ and other spellings
transliterated from , are
leavened foods that are forbidden on the
Jewish holiday of
Passover. According to
Jewish law, Jews may not own, eat or benefit from
chametz during Passover. This law appears several times in the
Torah; the punishment for eating
chametz on Passover is the
divine punishment of
kareth ("spiritual excision"), one of the severest levels of punishment in Judaism. For non-Jews, this punishment would be understood as the equivalent of eternal damnation.