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April 22, 2005/Nisan 13 5765, Volume 57, No. 34
Making matzo: A time-honored tradition BATSHEVA POMERANTZ
Israel Press Service
A young boy snacks on shmura matzo during preparations for Passover at the Belz Yeshiva in Jerusalem. Shmura matzo is prepared by hand and great care is taken that less than 18 minutes pass in the process.
Photo by Brian Hendler/JTA
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Matzo is such a central component of Passover that one of the names the holiday goes by is Chag HaMatzot (holiday of the matzot). Matzo, or unleavened bread, is a reminder of the food hastily prepared and eaten by the Jews leaving Egypt during the Exodus and is made only of water and flour. Also known as "bread of affliction" (lechem oni), its cost reflects its scrupulous preparation and the importance of the mitzvah of eating matzo at the seder.
According to the Torah, one is both obligated to eat matzo and prohibited from eating chametz (leaven), derived from the fermenting of five types of grain: wheat, barley, oats, rye and spelt. Many Jews shop for processed foods and food products that have a proper rabbinical endorsement (hechsher) specifically for Passover.
Throughout the rapid process of making kosher matzo, bakers repeat the words, "Leshsem mitzvat matzo" ("For the sake of the mitzvah of making matzo"). In order to prevent the dough's fermentation - which occurs from exposure to high temperatures, humidity and an extended kneading and baking time - the bakers constantly clean off the dough clinging to their equipment and keep a fierce eye on the clock, as according to the Talmud the leavening process begins after water and flour have been in contact for 18 minutes. Therefore from the moment water is added to flour until the matzo is taken out of the oven, not more than 18 minutes can pass.
Until about 150 years ago, all matzo was handmade and usually rounded. With the advent of machine-produced matzo, the shape became square and techniques were developed to ensure the constant cleaning of the machinery used to provide matzo for the masses.
The Yehuda Matzos factory in Jerusalem, founded in 1949, is owned and managed by the Ludmir family, who started baking matzos in Safed in 1921. "We start the special production line for Passover at the beginning of November," says owner and manager Mordechai Ludmir. "The process from the kneading until the matzo is completely baked takes five minutes."
Although the kneading, the rolling out of the dough six times, perforation, slicing and baking are automated, it is labor-intensive to guarantee meticulous prevention of chametz. Three mashgichim (kashrut supervisors) stand by the two machines, which are used consecutively - one mixer kneads the dough while employees scour the other one so that no dough adheres to its blades. Every 18 minutes the mixers are switched.
Yehuda Matzos produces both regular and shmura (guarded) matzos. Shmura matzo is guarded from when the grain is harvested as a precaution to assure that rain or dampness does not cause fermentation. Shmura matzo is usually eaten by observant Jews throughout the entire festival, as well as by many others at the seder when the obligation to eat matzo is most relevant.
"This year, we are producing 3,000 tons of matzo for Israel and for Jewish communities in the United States, Canada and South America," says Ludmir, whose factory also produces matzo flour, a staple of many Passover recipes.
Handmade matzos are still preferred by some Jews for the seder and are made with mayim shelanu (literally "waters that rested") - water placed in a bucket overnight to cool, thereby preventing fermentation.
The Handmade Shmura Matzah Bakery in Kfar Chabad, the hub of Israel's Lubavitch Jews, starts work a month after the Succot holiday season ends.
"We have plenty of mashgichim," says manager Yossele Raskin. "Before the 18 minutes are up, the utensils and tables where we roll out the dough are changed to clean ones and the workers inspect their already clipped fingernails and wash their hands well."
Raskin relates that some of his clients eat this type of matzo throughout the Passover holiday; others buy three boxes (each matzo comes in its own box) especially for the seder, which requires that three pieces of matzo, representing the three biblical classes of Jews - Priest, Levite and Israelite - be placed on the seder plate.
The middle matzo is removed during the seder and broken in half by the person leading the seder. The larger half, the afikomen, is then hidden, and at the appropriate time the children present, filled with anticipation, rush off to look for it. The child who finds it often receives a gift. The afikomen is the last item to be eaten, and its indelible flavor is a reminder of the importance of matzo and the main reason for the Passover seder - the celebration of the Jewish people's deliverance from slavery to freedom.
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