Transcript
Did the ancient rabbis give good scientific advice when they advised us to only lean to the left while eating and drinking on Passover? Because of a danger? Maybe yes, but not quite for the reason that they said. The Pesach Seder is tomorrow night, so let's spend 90 seconds analyzing it with our scientific lens on life. The Mishnah canonized around 200 CE says that at the Passover Seder, even the poorest person should not eat until he reclines. Like a rich, free man. a leaning direction. That only comes later in the Talmud, canonized closer to 600 CE, when it says, lying back is not considered leaning, and leaning to the right is not considered leaning. And not only that, but Elashima Yaqdim Konovetshet, the Yovoli de Sakana. Perhaps the windpipe will precede the esophagus, and you will come to danger of choking. I grew up being told this and just sort of took it for granted. But if you look at the anatomical drawings, it's more of a front-back situation, not right-left. doesn't rely much on gravity. Food moves to the back of the throat, the larynx rises, and the epiglottis closes off the airway so that food can go down your esophagus. But farther down, there are some left-right asymmetries that may be part of what their advice were basing things on. First, when your windpipe splits to your lungs, the left bronchus has to make way for your heart, so it's narrower and branches off at a steeper angle. Meanwhile, the right bronchus is wider, shorter, and a more vertical angle, making it more prone to aspiration. That's when food are liquid good. down the wrong pipe and gets into the lungs. So if someone died from choking or from a subsequent lung infection, it will be more likely to see it on the right side. Reason two. Your stomach sits on the left side of your abdomen, but the esophagus empties into it on the right side. So when you lean on your right, that can actually bring your stomach acid closer to that esophageal sphincter, which can lead to acid reflux and even sometimes micro-aspirations where little bits of food and acid go up the esophagus and down into your lungs. for patients with GERD, research shows that their symptoms are usually better when they sleep on their left side rather than the right, which is the clinical recommendation. So I give the rabbi's partial science credit.
Additional notes
What’s a funny passover tradition that your family has? Other potential Passover Science videos: Why Horseradish Burns [Your Nose] and Does Matzah Really Cause Constipation? Note: it is also possible that the primary instruction to lean was more just about behaving like a free man of the time, lounging around on cushions and pillows. Because the majority of people were right-handed, the common protocol may have been to lean towards the left. References: Pesachim, 108a Nata SC, Launico MV. Anatomy, Airway. 2026 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i30.7329 #science #passover #scienceexplained #tiktoklearningcampaign #creatorsearchinsights
References
- Pesachim, 108a.
- Nata SC, Launico MV. Anatomy, Airway. 2026. DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i30.7329. Source: https://doi.org/10.12998/wjcc.v11.i30.7329