Sefer HaChinuch suggests a moral lesson concerning man’s service to G-d, to be derived from the prohibition against offering leaven and fruit honey. The process of leavening is slow until the dough begins to rise. Honey symbolizes sweet pleasures, the allure of physical satisfaction. Man should neither be sluggish, slothful, nor should he be obsessed with the pursuit of the sweet forbidden pleasures. Se’or, leavening, has other offensive characteristics, including being sour, acrimonious, grudging, and discontented – and are all aspects related to se’or. Someone who has an angry countenance reflects a “sour” attitude towards people in particular and life…
