I haven’t eaten bread for a week plus but I’ve definitely had matzah ball soup and the like. Here’s a very basic matzah lasagna recipe I like, for what it’s worth. — Dan

Today, Jews around the world — but not everywhere, as you’ll see — are celebrating the eighth and final day of Passover. The holiday commemorates the ancient Jewish exodus from Egypt, and one of the hallmarks of the holiday is matzah — the unleavened bread pictured above. As the story goes, the fleeing Jews didn’t have time for their bread to rise, so today, Jews celebrate the holiday by abstaining from eating leavened bread — and eat matzah instead.

As a result, Jews celebrating Passover eat a lot of foods that have matzah in them. And chief on that list is often matzah ball soup — chicken soup with dumplings made primarily from matzah meal, or ground up matzahs, as seen below. That image comes from Wikipedia, and the tradition of eating matzah ball soup on the holiday runs so deep that the caption of the photo on Wikipedia reads “Bowl of matzah ball soup served on Passover.”

For most Jews, it’s hard to imagine Passover without matzah ball soup. But in some communities, it’s off-limits for most of the holiday — except for today.

The Passover rule around leavened bread is simple and straightforward: Jews observing the holiday refrain from eating wheat and some other grains if they’ve been exposed to water and given enough time to rise (typically 18 minutes). Once these wet grains are baked, the clock stops, and the resulting cracker-like “bread” (that is, matzah) is unleavened and — importantly — incapable of rising any further. Most Jews, therefore, will take the matzah and use it in all sorts of recipes, the vast majority of which require the matzah to exposed to water again. Certainly, matzah ball soup is on that list.

That’s not an issue for most. But for some, it’s that water-plus-matzah combination is a dealbreaker. Some Jews, especially in certain Hasidic communities, follow a rule called “gebrokts” — matzah that has come in contact with water. The issue comes from the underlying process to make matzah. As the Orthodox Union (a leading kosher certification agency) explains, “in the haste to knead the dough within the eighteen-minute limit, some of the flour may not be fully mixed with the water and does not become matzah. Though this flour is baked, there is concern that if subjected to water afterwards, the [leavening] process will then commence.” To be on the safe side, Jews who only eat non-gebrokts food don’t eat wettened matzah — including matzah ball soup — on Passover.

Except for today.

Passover, biblically, is a seven-day long holiday, and in Israel, it’s only celebrated for seven days. But outside of Israel, Jews typically celebrate the holiday for eight days, to account for a historic ambiguity around when a month starts. (It has to do with moon phases and beacon fires — yes, like how Gondor called Rohan for aide in Lord of the Rings — and if you want to learn more about that, here’s a great resource.)

The gebrokts ban and the eighth day of Passover are rules that are based more in custom than in biblical law. Therefore, most of the non-gebrokts followers outside of Israel have adopted an additional custom: on the eighth day of Passover, it’s okay — and in some cases celebrated — to eat wetted matzah. In those communities, you’ll see a lot of matzah-based dishes that you wouldn’t have seen for the seven days prior. So if you’re with one of those communities today, enjoy the matzah ball soup.

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Today’s Bonus fact: If you’ve noticed that some of your Coca-Cola bottles have yellow caps this time of year, that’s because of Passover. Many Jews also abstain from eating corn, rice, soy, and other foods on Passover — which include corn syrup, a common sweetener. So, as Food and Wine explains, “Coca-Cola produces an alternate Coke recipe for the holiday, substituting high-fructose corn syrup with cane sugar to sweeten the drink.”

From the Archives: Nothing to Carp About: A story about gefilte fish, kind of.

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And thanks! — Dan