Two Jewish Jokes:
Q: What’s the best cheese for making matzah pizza?
A: Matza-rella
A Jewish aerospace engineer designed a new plane, but when he took it out for a test flight the wings fell off. He redesigned it, and the same thing happened. When he went home for Passover, he was feeling discouraged. At synagogue, the rabbi saw him down in the dumps and asked him what was wrong. The engineer didn’t think that the rabbi could help, but explained the situation anyway. The rabbi suggested drilling a set of holes along the lines where the wings met the body of the plane. The aerospace engineer didn’t think it could help, but didn’t have any other ideas, so he tried it. Amazingly, the wings stayed on! The engineer asked the rabbi how he knew this would work. The rabbi responded: “In all my years of running a seder, not once has the matzah broken on the perforation.”
Matzah in the Torah
Context: This is from the Biblical Book of Genesis, when messengers arrive in Sodom to rescue Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family before the city is destroyed.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
Context: This is from the Biblical Book of Exodus. The Tenth Plague, Death of the Firstborn, has not yet happened. Here, G-d is telling Moses to tell the Israelites what they should eat that night before the Angel of Death strikes down the firstborn of Egypt. The flesh is that of the lamb whose blood is on their doorposts. Note that this combination of meat, matzah, and maror will reappear in the Four Questions, in Rabban Gamliel’s statement (we’ll meet that later, no pun intended), and in the Koreich step.
Leavened bread was an invention of Ancient Egypt. All other societies at the time ate unleavened bread, but bread that rose was a uniquely Egyptian invention. Perhaps the reason for the unleavened bread was a rejection of Egypt and its values, like the stratification of society (kippah tip to Rabbi Michael Siegel of Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago).
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
Context: Same source, a few verses later (after more instructions about how to eat the lamb, what to do with its blood, and why to put the blood on the doorposts). This is part of the Torah reading on the first day of Passover.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
(לג) וַתֶּחֱזַ֤ק מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ עַל־הָעָ֔ם לְמַהֵ֖ר לְשַׁלְּחָ֣ם מִן־הָאָ֑רֶץ כִּ֥י אָמְר֖וּ כֻּלָּ֥נוּ מֵתִֽים׃ (לד) וַיִּשָּׂ֥א הָעָ֛ם אֶת־בְּצֵק֖וֹ טֶ֣רֶם יֶחְמָ֑ץ מִשְׁאֲרֹתָ֛ם צְרֻרֹ֥ת בְּשִׂמְלֹתָ֖ם עַל־שִׁכְמָֽם׃ ...(לט) וַיֹּאפ֨וּ אֶת־הַבָּצֵ֜ק אֲשֶׁ֨ר הוֹצִ֧יאוּ מִמִּצְרַ֛יִם עֻגֹ֥ת מַצּ֖וֹת כִּ֣י לֹ֣א חָמֵ֑ץ כִּֽי־גֹרְשׁ֣וּ מִמִּצְרַ֗יִם וְלֹ֤א יָֽכְלוּ֙ לְהִתְמַהְמֵ֔הַּ וְגַם־צֵדָ֖ה לֹא־עָשׂ֥וּ לָהֶֽם׃
(33) The Egyptians urged the people on, impatient to have them leave the country, for they said, “We shall all be dead.” (34) So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls wrapped in their cloaks upon their shoulders.... (39) And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had taken out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, since they had been driven out of Egypt and could not delay; nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
Context: Same source, a few verses later (after the Egyptian firstborn are killed). This is also part of the Torah reading on the first day of Passover. Note that the reason the Israelites are leaving in haste is not because they are concerned about Pharaoh changing his mind (though that was a real issue) but because the Egyptians are expelling them and urging them to leave quickly.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
Context: This is from the same source, next chapter (after some instructions about the Passover sacrifice in future years). This is part of the Torah reading on the first day of Chol HaMo’ed (in the middle of) Passover.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
(יח) אֶת־חַ֣ג הַמַּצּוֹת֮ תִּשְׁמֹר֒ שִׁבְעַ֨ת יָמִ֜ים תֹּאכַ֤ל מַצּוֹת֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוִּיתִ֔ךָ לְמוֹעֵ֖ד חֹ֣דֶשׁ הָאָבִ֑יב כִּ֚י בְּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָֽאָבִ֔יב יָצָ֖אתָ מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃
(18) You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread—eating unleavened bread for seven days, as I have commanded you—at the set time of the month of Aviv, for in the month of Aviv you went forth from Egypt.
Context: This is from the Biblical Book of Exodus, from a recap of the Festivals after the Golden Calf incident. “Aviv” means “spring”, and this verse is the origin of the extra month in a leap year, thus ensuring that Passover stays in the spring (unless you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, in which case it’s in the fall). This is part of the Torah reading on the Shabbat during Chol HaMo’ed (in the middle) of Passover / Sukkot, and the third day of Chol HaMo’ed Passover.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
Context: This is from the Biblical Book of Leviticus, from a description of the sacrifices. This verse is the origin of the theory that the Four Questions, while written down in the Mishnah after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, may date to the time of the Temple because they refer to leavened and unleaded bread being eaten together. There are also references to “unleavened bread” in Leviticus 2:11 (only unleavened bread can be turned into smoke for G-d, not leavened bread) and 6:9-10 (the priests get to eat unleavened bread and it is most holy).
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
Context: This is from the Biblical Book of Leviticus, from a description of the holidays. This is part of the Torah reading on the second day of Passover and the first two days of Sukkot.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
(א) שָׁמוֹר֙ אֶת־חֹ֣דֶשׁ הָאָבִ֔יב וְעָשִׂ֣יתָ פֶּ֔סַח לַיהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ כִּ֞י בְּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָֽאָבִ֗יב הוֹצִ֨יאֲךָ֜ יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ מִמִּצְרַ֖יִם לָֽיְלָה׃ (ב) וְזָבַ֥חְתָּ פֶּ֛סַח לַיהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ צֹ֣אן וּבָקָ֑ר בַּמָּקוֹם֙ אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה לְשַׁכֵּ֥ן שְׁמ֖וֹ שָֽׁם׃ (ג) לֹא־תֹאכַ֤ל עָלָיו֙ חָמֵ֔ץ שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֛ים תֹּֽאכַל־עָלָ֥יו מַצּ֖וֹת לֶ֣חֶם עֹ֑נִי כִּ֣י בְחִפָּז֗וֹן יָצָ֙אתָ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לְמַ֣עַן תִּזְכֹּ֗ר אֶת־י֤וֹם צֵֽאתְךָ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֥י חַיֶּֽיךָ׃ (ד) וְלֹֽא־יֵרָאֶ֨ה לְךָ֥ שְׂאֹ֛ר בְּכׇל־גְּבֻלְךָ֖ שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִ֑ים וְלֹא־יָלִ֣ין מִן־הַבָּשָׂ֗ר אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּזְבַּ֥ח בָּעֶ֛רֶב בַּיּ֥וֹם הָרִאשׁ֖וֹן לַבֹּֽקֶר׃ (ה) לֹ֥א תוּכַ֖ל לִזְבֹּ֣חַ אֶת־הַפָּ֑סַח בְּאַחַ֣ד שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁר־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לָֽךְ׃ (ו) כִּ֠י אִֽם־אֶל־הַמָּק֞וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַ֨ר יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ לְשַׁכֵּ֣ן שְׁמ֔וֹ שָׁ֛ם תִּזְבַּ֥ח אֶת־הַפֶּ֖סַח בָּעָ֑רֶב כְּב֣וֹא הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ מוֹעֵ֖ד צֵֽאתְךָ֥ מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃ (ז) וּבִשַּׁלְתָּ֙ וְאָ֣כַלְתָּ֔ בַּמָּק֕וֹם אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִבְחַ֛ר יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ בּ֑וֹ וּפָנִ֣יתָ בַבֹּ֔קֶר וְהָלַכְתָּ֖ לְאֹהָלֶֽיךָ׃ (ח) שֵׁ֥שֶׁת יָמִ֖ים תֹּאכַ֣ל מַצּ֑וֹת וּבַיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י עֲצֶ֙רֶת֙ לַיהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ לֹ֥א תַעֲשֶׂ֖ה מְלָאכָֽה׃ {ס}
(1) Observe the month of Aviv and offer a passover sacrifice to your God יהוה, for it was in the month of Aviv, at night, that your God יהוה freed you from Egypt. (2) You shall slaughter the passover sacrifice for your God יהוה, from the flock and the herd, in the place where יהוה will choose to establish the divine name. (3) You shall not eat anything leavened with it; for seven days thereafter you shall eat unleavened bread, bread of distress—for you departed from the land of Egypt hurriedly—so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live. (4) For seven days no leaven shall be found with you in all your territory, and none of the flesh of what you slaughter on the evening of the first day shall be left until morning. (5) You are not permitted to slaughter the passover sacrifice in any of the settlements that your God יהוה is giving you; (6) but at the place where your God יהוה will choose to establish the divine name, there alone shall you slaughter the passover sacrifice, in the evening, at sundown, the time of day when you departed from Egypt. (7) You shall cook and eat it at the place that your God יהוה will choose; and in the morning you may start back on your journey home. (8) After eating unleavened bread six days, you shall hold a solemn gathering for your God יהוה on the seventh day: you shall do no work.
Context: This is from the Biblical Book of Deuteronomy, from a description of the holidays. This is part of the Torah reading at the end of every holiday (Sh’mini Atzeret, the last day of Passover, and the last day of Shavuot). The term “lechem oni”, which in context here suggests “bread of distress”, is also translated as “bread of affliction” and “bread of poverty”.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
(ה) רבי שמעון אומר למה נקרא לחם עוני אלא על שם עינוי שנתענו במצרים.
(5) Rabbi Shimon says: Why is it called "bread of affliction"? Because of the affliction that they suffered in Egypt.
Context: Sifrei Devarim is a Rabbinic discussion expounding on the Book of Deuteronomy. It dates to around 200 CE in the Land of Israel, making it contemporaneous with the Mishnah. This is a discussion about the phrase “lechem oni”, “bread of distress”.
A Recap of What We Have Learned About Matzah from the Torah
Genesis - It’s a quick bread that can be served to unexpected guests.
Exodus - It was eaten before we left, alongside meat and bitter herbs. It was also eaten as we were leaving, since there wasn’t time to let the bread rise. We should eat unleavened bread for 7 days in the spring, and this will help us remember leaving Egypt.
Leviticus - It’s part of the sacrifices year-round, and it also should be eaten for 7 days following the day when you offer the Passover sacrifice.
Numbers - Nothing
Deuteronomy - It is the bread of distress that we eat so we remember leaving Egypt quickly.
Baking Bread in Ancient Egypt
Making bread in ancient Egypt involved grinding emmer wheat into flour, then mixing it with water into a pita, and letting it sit out in the air for a week so that the natural yeast in the air would let it ferment and rise. Next they used the byproducts of beer production to capture the yeast that would make the bread rise; eventually they learned to use effectively the equivalent of sourdough starter. All of these methods required time for the rising to happen.
Bread-making in Ancient Egypt: https://africame.factsanddetails.com/article/entry-1132.html; https://ancientegyptalive.com/2022/06/01/bread-in-ancient-egypt/; https://anthropologyreview.org/history/ancient-egypt/ancient-egyptian-bread/;
History of Yeast: https://www.anchor.co.za/knowledge-centre/history-of-yeast/; https://www.exploreyeast.com/what-is-yeast/yeast-one-of-humankinds-oldest-ingredients/; https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/02/28/588969884/the-rise-of-yeast-how-civilization-was-shaped-by-sugar-fungi
Why Passover is the Holiday of Matzah
In the agricultural life of biblical Israel, the spring holiday was the time in which the leaven — the sourdough starter — was removed from the house, anticipating the new starter to be made from the fresh harvest. Because there was as yet no bread starter, flatbread was eaten and the holiday was called the Festival of Matzot. Flatbread was the bread the poor people, who could not afford to save grain for a bread starter, consumed year-round. As with the agricultural basis of every festival, this ritual too was given a historical elaboration: the matzot recall the bread of affliction that was eaten in Egypt, as well as the quick bread that was eaten in the hurried exodus from there. Thus this time of the beginning of the spring harvest became a time to remember our own historical poverty and enslavement and our rising to freedom.
Siddur Lev Shalem, p. 304
Matzah in the Mishnah
(ה) אֵלּוּ דְבָרִים שֶׁאָדָם יוֹצֵא בָהֶן יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ בְּפֶסַח, בְּחִטִּים, בִּשְׂעוֹרִים, בְּכֻסְּמִין וּבְשִׁיפוֹן וּבְשִׁבֹּלֶת שׁוּעָל. וְיוֹצְאִין בִּדְמַאי וּבְמַעֲשֵׂר רִאשׁוֹן שֶׁנִּטְּלָה תְרוּמָתוֹ, וּבְמַעֲשֵׂר שֵׁנִי וְהֶקְדֵּשׁ שֶׁנִּפְדּוּ, וְהַכֹּהֲנִים בְּחַלָּה וּבִתְרוּמָה. אֲבָל לֹא בְטֶבֶל, וְלֹא בְמַעֲשֵׂר רִאשׁוֹן שֶׁלֹּא נִטְּלָה תְרוּמָתוֹ, וְלֹא בְמַעֲשֵׂר שֵׁנִי וְהֶקְדֵּשׁ שֶׁלֹּא נִפְדּוּ. חַלּוֹת תּוֹדָה וּרְקִיקֵי נָזִיר, עֲשָׂאָן לְעַצְמוֹ, אֵין יוֹצְאִין בָּהֶן. עֲשָׂאָן לִמְכֹּר בַּשּׁוּק, יוֹצְאִין בָּהֶן:
(5) These are the types of grain with which a person fulfills his obligation to eat matza on the first night of Passover: With wheat, with barley, with spelt [kusmin], with rye [shifon], and with oats [shibbolet shu’al]. And one fulfills his obligation by eating not only matza made from properly tithed grains, but even with matza made from doubtfully tithed produce, and matza made with first tithe from which its teruma was already taken, or second tithe and consecrated food that were redeemed. And priests may eat matza prepared from ḥalla, the portion of dough that is given to priests, or with teruma, as priests are permitted to eat these portions. However, one may not fulfill one’s obligation to eat matza made with untithed produce, nor with matza made from the first tithe from which its teruma was not separated, nor with matza made either from the second tithe, nor from consecrated grain that was not redeemed. With regard to one who prepared loaves of matza that are brought with a thanks-offering, or to the wafers brought by a nazirite, the Sages drew the following distinction: If he prepared them for himself, then he does not fulfill his obligation to eat matza with them. However, if he prepared them to sell them in the market to those who require these loaves or wafers, one fulfills the obligation to eat matza with them.
Context: This is from the Mishnah, Masechet (Tractate) Pesachim, which is about Passover. The Torah does not specify which grains can be used to make matzah, so the rabbis come to some conclusions. Additionally, during the time of the Temple there was a rule about tithing so that the priests had food, so the rabbis discussed whether eating matzah counted if the wheat hadn’t been tithed properly.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
(ה) רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל הָיָה אוֹמֵר, כָּל שֶׁלֹּא אָמַר שְׁלֹשָׁה דְבָרִים אֵלּוּ בְּפֶסַח, לֹא יָצָא יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ, וְאֵלּוּ הֵן, פֶּסַח, מַצָּה, וּמָרוֹר. … מַצָּה, עַל שׁוּם שֶׁנִּגְאֲלוּ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְמִצְרַיִם. ….
(5) Rabban Gamliel would say: Anyone who did not say these three matters on Passover has not fulfilled his obligation: The Paschal lamb, matza, and bitter herbs. When one mentions these matters, he must elaborate and explain them: …The reason for matza is because our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt, as it is stated: “And they baked the dough that they took out of Egypt as cakes of matzot, for it was not leavened, as they were thrust out of Egypt and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual” (Exodus 12:39). …
Context: This is from the same part of the Mishnah, from the 10th chapter (which is about the modern seder). This text is now in the modern Haggadah that is used at the seder. The general idea is that no matter how long your seder goes, if you don’t talk about 3 things then it doesn’t matter, and matzah is one of those three things.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
(ב) כָּל הַמְּנָחוֹת נִלּוֹשׁוֹת בְּפוֹשְׁרִין, וּמְשַׁמְּרָן שֶׁלֹּא יַחֲמִיצוּ. וְאִם הֶחֱמִיצוּ שְׁיָרֶיהָ, עוֹבֵר בְּלֹא תַעֲשֶׂה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ויקרא ב), כָּל הַמִּנְחָה אֲשֶׁר תַּקְרִיבוּ לַה' לֹא תֵעָשֶׂה חָמֵץ. וְחַיָּבִים עַל לִישָׁתָהּ, וְעַל עֲרִיכָתָהּ, וְעַל אֲפִיָּתָהּ:
(2) All the meal-offerings that come as matza are to be kneaded with lukewarm water so that the dough will bake well, as only a small amount of oil is added. And one must watch over them to ensure that they do not become leaven while kneading and shaping them, and if a meal offering or even only its remainder becomes leaven, one violates a prohibition, as it is stated: “No meal offering that you shall bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven; as you shall burn no leaven nor any honey as an offering made by fire to the Lord” (Leviticus 2:11). And one is liable to be flogged for kneading the meal offering, and for shaping it, and for baking it, if the meal offering becomes leaven.
Context: This is from the Mishnah, Masechet (Tractate) Menachot, which is about the flour-based sacrifices in the Temple (as well as the oil and wine libations). There were some offerings that weren’t allowed to leaven, so this clarified some of the questions around that rule.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
A Recap of What We Have Learned About Matzah from the Mishnah
1. Matzah can only be made from the BROWS grains (barley, rye, oats, wheat, spelt). (These are the same grains that people who eat gluten-free diets avoid.)
2. Matzah only counts if it is properly tithed.
3. You have to talk about matzah at the seder or you didn’t do it right.
4. If you are preparing a sacrifice that isn’t supposed to be leavened, make sure it doesn’t leaven or you could get flogged for messing up the kneading of the unleavened sacrifice and for messing up the shaping of the unleavened sacrifice and for messing up the baking of the unleavened sacrifice.
Matzah in the Jerusalem Talmud
אָמַר רִבִּי לֵוִי. הָאוֹכֵל מַצָּה בָּעֶרֶב הַפֶּסַח כְּבָא עַל אֲרוּסָתוֹ בְּבֵית חָמִיו. וְהַבָּא עַל אֲרוּסָתוֹ בְּבֵית חָמִיו לוֹקֶה. תַּנֵּי. רִבִּי יוּדָה בֶּן בָּתִירָה אוֹמֵר. בֵּין חָמֵץ בֵּין מַצָּה אָסוּר. רִבִּי סִימוֹן בְּשֵׁם רִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי. רִבִּי לֹא הָיָה אוֹכֵל לֹא חָמֵץ וְלֹא מַצָּה. לֹא מַצָּה מִן הָדָא דְרִבִּי לֵוִי. וְלֹא חָמֵץ מִן הָדָא דְרִבִּי יוּדָה בֶּן בָּתִירָה.
Rebbi Levi said, he who eats matzah on Passover Eve is like one who sleeps with his betrothed in his father-in-law’s house [After the preliminary but before the definitive marriage, when she is forbidden to him.], and he who sleeps with his betrothed in his father-in-law’s house is flogged. It was stated: Rebbi Yehudah ben Batira says, both bread and matzah are forbidden [On the entire 14th of Nisan, even in the morning when leavened matter still is permitted..] Rebbi Simon in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi: Rebbi ate neither bread nor matzah. No matzah because of that of Rebbi Levi, and no bread because of that of Rebbi Yehudah ben Batira.
Context: This is from the Jerusalem Talmud, Masechet (Tractate) Pesachim, which is about Passover. The rabbis are trying to understand what the Mishnah says about not eating until nightfall.
The Jerusalem Talmud also talks about matzah in Pesachim 2:4:2-3, 2:7:4, and Shabbat 13:3:4.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
Matzah in the Babylonian Talmud
מַצָּה וְכׇל מַכְשִׁירֶיהָ דּוֹחִין אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר. מְנָא לֵיהּ לְרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר הָא? אִי מֵעוֹמֶר וּשְׁתֵּי הַלֶּחֶם — שֶׁכֵּן צוֹרֶךְ גָּבוֹהַּ. אִי מִלּוּלָב — שֶׁכֵּן טָעוּן אַרְבָּעָה מִינִים. אִי מִסּוּכָּה — שֶׁכֵּן נוֹהֶגֶת בַּלֵּילוֹת כְּבַיָּמִים. אֶלָּא גָּמַר ״חֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר״ ״חֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר״ מֵחַג הַסּוּכּוֹת: מַה לְּהַלָּן, מַכְשִׁירֶיהָ דּוֹחִין אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת, אַף כָּאן מַכְשִׁירֶיהָ דּוֹחִין אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת.
Earlier it was taught in a baraita: The mitzva of matza and all its facilitators override Shabbat; this is the statement of Rabbi Eliezer. The Gemara asks: From where does Rabbi Eliezer derive this matter? If you say he derives it from the halakha with regard to the omer and the two loaves, this can be refuted, as these are the necessities of Temple service to God on High. If you say he derives it from the halakha with regard to lulav, this too can be refuted, as it requires four species. If you say he derives it from the precedent of sukka, this too can be refuted, as it applies during the nights just as it applies during the days. Rather, Rabbi Eliezer derived it by means of a verbal analogy based upon the word fifteenth stated with regard to the mitzva of matza, and the word fifteenth stated with regard to the festival of Sukkot: Just as below, with regard to the mitzva to dwell in a sukka on the festival of Sukkot, which is on the fifteenth of the month, its facilitators override Shabbat, so too here, with regard to the mitzva to eat matza on the fifteenth of the month, its facilitators override Shabbat.
Context: This is from the Babylonian Talmud, Masechet (Tractate) Shabbat, which is about Shabbat (as you would expect). The question under discussion is which holiday practices override Shabbat restrictions, and how do you know.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
Context: This is from the Babylonian Talmud, Masechet (Tractate) Pesachim, which is about Passover. Here the Rabbis are discussing the text from the Mishnah about which grains can be used to make matzah. Since you can make flour from other grains also, the question is why those don’t count for matzah.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
Context: This is from the same source, a few pages later. Here, the Rabbis are discussing the part of the Mishnah that says that a matzah that was prepared for a Nazirite and not for Passover doesn’t count. When pressed for a proof verse, they cite “And you shall guard the matzot”, and then give an extra level of meaning to the text.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
הָכִי לָא הֲדַר בֵּיהּ רָבָא. דְּאָמַר לְהוּ לְהָנְהוּ דִּמְהַפְּכִי כֵּיפֵי: כִּי מְהַפְּכִיתוּ — הַפִּיכוּ לְשׁוּם מִצְוָה, אַלְמָא קָסָבַר: שִׁימּוּר מֵעִיקָּרָא מִתְּחִלָּתוֹ וְעַד סוֹפוֹ בָּעֵינַן.
Rava did not retract his statement that guarding grain must begin before kneading. For he would say to those who cut and tied the stalks [kifei] of grain in the field: When you cut the grain, cut it for the purpose of the mitzva. Apparently, Rava maintains that it is necessary to guard the grain from the outset, i.e., from the beginning of its preparation until its end.
Context: Same source, a few pages later. The discussion about guarding the matzah has continued. The Talmud concludes that all matzah must be “guarded” from the time the flour meets the water, but Rava thinks it should be watched from the time the wheat is harvested. This becomes “shmura matzah” today (“guarded matzah”).
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
מַאן תַּנָּא דְּשָׁמְעַתְּ לֵיהּ מִצְוֹת אֵין מְבַטְּלוֹת זוֹ אֶת זוֹ? הִלֵּל הִיא. דְּתַנְיָא, אָמְרוּ עָלָיו עַל הִלֵּל שֶׁהָיָה כּוֹרְכָן בְּבַת אַחַת וְאוֹכְלָן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״עַל מַצּוֹת וּמְרוֹרִים יֹאכְלוּהוּ״. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: חוֹלְקִין עָלָיו חֲבֵירָיו עַל הִלֵּל. דְּתַנְיָא: יָכוֹל יְהֵא כּוֹרְכָן בְּבַת אַחַת וְאוֹכְלָן כְּדֶרֶךְ שֶׁהִלֵּל אוֹכְלָן, תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: ״עַל מַצּוֹת וּמְרוֹרִים יֹאכְלוּהוּ״, אֲפִילּוּ זֶה בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ וְזֶה בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ. מַתְקֵיף לַהּ רַב אָשֵׁי: אִי הָכִי, מַאי אֲפִילּוּ? אֶלָּא אָמַר רַב אָשֵׁי, הַאי תַּנָּא הָכִי קָתָנֵי: יָכוֹל לֹא יָצָא בְּהוּ יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן כּוֹרְכָן בְּבַת אַחַת וְאוֹכְלָן כְּדֶרֶךְ שֶׁהִלֵּל אוֹכְלָן — תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: ״עַל מַצּוֹת וּמְרוֹרִים יֹאכְלוּהוּ״ — אֲפִילּוּ זֶה בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ וְזֶה בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ. הַשְׁתָּא דְּלָא אִיתְּמַר הִלְכְתָא לָא כְּהִלֵּל וְלָא כְּרַבָּנַן, מְבָרֵךְ ״עַל אֲכִילַת מַצָּה״ וְאָכֵיל, וַהֲדַר מְבָרֵךְ ״עַל אֲכִילַת מָרוֹר״ וְאָכֵיל, וַהֲדַר אָכֵיל מַצָּה וְחַסָּא בַּהֲדֵי הֲדָדֵי בְּלֹא בְּרָכָה זֵכֶר לַמִּקְדָּשׁ, כְּהִלֵּל.
The Gemara asks: Who is the tanna that you heard say that mitzvot do not nullify each other? It is Hillel, as it was taught in a baraita: They said about Hillel that he would wrap matza and bitter herbs together and eat them, as it is stated: “They shall eat it with matzot and bitter herbs” (Numbers 9:11), which indicates that these two foods should be consumed together. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Hillel’s colleagues disagree with him, as it was taught in another baraita: I might have thought that one should wrap matzot and bitter herbs together and eat them in the manner that Hillel eats them; therefore the verse states: “They shall eat it with matzot and bitter herbs,” meaning that one may eat even this, the matza, by itself, and that, the bitter herbs, by themselves. Rav Ashi strongly objects to this proof: If so, if the Sages disagree with Hillel and maintain that mitzvot nullify each other, what is the meaning of the word even in this baraita? This wording indicates that Hillel’s opinion is not rejected entirely, but that one fulfills his obligation even if he eats the items without combining them. Rather, Rav Ashi said: This is what this tanna is teaching: I might have thought that one fulfills his obligation with them only if he wraps matzot and bitter herbs together and eats them in the manner that Hillel eats them. Therefore, the verse states: “They shall eat it with matzot and bitter herbs,” i.e., one fulfills his obligation even if he eats the matza by itself and the bitter herbs by themselves. The Gemara comments: Now that the halakha was stated neither in accordance with the opinion of Hillel nor in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis, one recites the blessing: Commanded us over eating matza, and eats matza to fulfill his obligation. And then he recites the blessing: Commanded us over eating bitter herbs, and eats the lettuce as bitter herbs. And then he eats matza and lettuce together without a blessing in remembrance of the Temple, in the manner of Hillel in the days of the Temple, who ate matza and bitter herbs together with the Paschal lamb.
Context: This is from the same source, much later on. The question is about whether you can combine the matzah and maror to fulfill your obligation. Note that Hillel was using a “soft matzah” in the style of modern Sephardic Jews, since one can not wrap anything in a dry square matzah (this sort of matzah has to made fresh each day, since it doesn’t stay good).
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
Shmuel said that the phrase: “The bread of affliction [leḥem oni]” (Deuteronomy 16:3) means bread over which one answers [onim] matters, i.e., one recites the Haggadah over matza. That was also taught in a baraita: Leḥem oni is bread over which one answers many matters. Alternatively, in the verse, “leḥem oni” is actually written without a vav, which means a poor person. Just as it is the manner of a poor person to eat a piece of bread, for lack of a whole loaf, so too here he should eat a piece of matzah.
Context: This from the same source, shortly after a discussion about asking questions on Passover. This refers to the text from Deuteronomy about “lechem oni”, the “bread of distress / poverty / affliction”, which could also be translated as “the bread of answers”.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
Other mentions of matzah in the Babylonian Talmud
Pesachim 28b:3, 35b:10, 36a:4-7, 36a:18-36b:13, 43b:2, 119b:13-120a:7, Kedushin 37b:12, Chullin 4a:11-12
Matzah in the Mishneh Torah
Maimonides has an extra book of the Mishneh Torah about matzah - Laws of Leavened and Unleavened Bread. Matzah is discussed in Chapters 5 and 6. Here are a few excerpts.
(כ) וּבַיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן אָסוּר לָלוּשׁ וּלְקַטֵּף אֶלָּא בְּמַיִם בִּלְבַד. לֹא מִשּׁוּם חָמֵץ אֶלָּא כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּהְיֶה (דברים טז ג) "לֶחֶם עֹנִי". וּבַיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן בִּלְבַד הוּא שֶׁצָּרִיךְ לִהְיוֹת זִכְרוֹן לֶחֶם עֹנִי:
(20) On the first day, [more particularly, for the matzah used to fulfill the commandment of eating matzah on Pesach night]; it is forbidden to knead or baste [the matzot] with any other substance besides water; not because of the prohibition against chametz, but rather so [the matzah] will be "poor man's bread." [Deuteronomy 16:3 states "For seven days eat matzah, poor man's bread." In contrast, dough mixed with these liquids is considered matzah ashirah, "rich matzah." ]. It is only on the first day that the "poor man's bread" must be commemorated. [to recall the "poor man's bread" eaten by our ancestors when they were slaves in Egypt.]
Context: This is from the Mishneh Torah, written by Maimonides (1138-1204, a little less than half an hour). He reorganized the Talmud and took out the discussion so that only the bottom line remained of what to do. This interpretation of Deuteronomy’s phrase “lechem oni” (“the bread of distress/affliction/poverty”) is the origin of the custom to not have “egg matzah” for the seder.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
(א) מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה מִן הַתּוֹרָה לֶאֱכל מַצָּה בְּלֵיל חֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות יב יח) "בָּעֶרֶב תֹּאכְלוּ מַצֹּת". בְּכָל מָקוֹם וּבְכָל זְמַן. וְלֹא תָּלָה אֲכִילָה זוֹ בְּקָרְבַּן הַפֶּסַח אֶלָּא זוֹ מִצְוָה בִּפְנֵי עַצְמָהּ וּמִצְוָתָהּ כָּל הַלַּיְלָה. אֲבָל בִּשְׁאָר הָרֶגֶל אֲכִילַת מַצָּה רְשׁוּת רָצָה אוֹכֵל מַצָּה רָצָה אוֹכֵל אֹרֶז אוֹ דֹּחַן אוֹ קְלָיוֹת אוֹ פֵּרוֹת. אֲבָל בְּלֵיל חֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בִּלְבַד חוֹבָה. וּמִשֶּׁאָכַל כְּזַיִת יָצָא יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ:
(1) It is a positive commandment of the Torah to eat matzah on the night of the fifteenth [of Nisan], as [Exodus 12:18] states: "In the evening, you shall eat matzot." This applies in every place and at every time. Eating [matzah] is not dependent on the Paschal sacrifice. Rather, it is a mitzvah in its own right. The mitzvah may be fulfilled throughout the entire night.
Throughout the other days of the festival, eating matzah is left to one's choice: If one desires, one may eat matzah. If one desires, one may eat rice, millet, roasted seeds, or fruit. Nevertheless, on the night of the fifteenth alone, [eating matzah] is an obligation. Once one eats the size of an olive, he has fulfilled his obligation.
Context: This is from the same source, later on. The commandment to eat matzah follows the commandment to offer the Passover sacrifice the day before Passover, leading to a question about whether matzah was still a requirement after the Passover sacrifice could no longer be offered post-Temple destruction. The answer is “Yes”, but you only have to eat it on the first night of Passover, and only an olive-sized amount. The rest of the days you just have to avoid chametz. For those who are gluten-free, there is now gluten-free matzah available.
What do we learn about matzah from this text?
Matzah in the Shulchan Aruch
The relevant sections are Orach Chayim, 453-462. Here are a few excerpts.
(ד) החטים שעושים בהם מצת מצוה טוב לשמרן שלא יפלו עליהם מים משעת קצירה ולפחות משעת טחינה ובשעת הדחק מותר ליקח קמח מן השוק:
(4) It is good to make the mitzvah-matzah from wheat that has been guarded so that no water has fallen on it from the time of harvest, or at least from the time since it was ground [into flour]. But in times of duress, it is permitted to buy flour from the marketplace.
(ד) אין אדם יוצא ידי חובתו במצה גזולה
(4) A person cannot fulfill his obligation with stolen Matzah.
(ה) נוהגין שלא ליתן מלח במצה ונכון הדבר: ואפי' בדיעבד יש לאסור (מרדכי וד"ע):
(5) It is customary to not place salt in the Matzah and this is the proper thing and even subsequently one should forbid it (Mordechai and also his own words)
(ד) אין עושין סריקין המצויירין דהיינו לצייר בפת כמין חיה ועוף אבל כל מה שעושים אותו במסרק כדי שלא יתפח וכן מה שמנקבין המצות מותר ומ"מ טוב למהר לעשותם שלא להשהות בהן: הגה ויש לעשות המצות רקיקין ולא פת עבה כשאר לחם כי אין הרקיקין ממהרים להחמיץ:
(4) One should not make shaped cakes of dough, which is shaping the bread like a species of animal or bird. Rather, all that one does with a comb so that it will not inflate or poking holes in the Matzot is permitted. Nevertheless, ideally one should expedite doing these things so as not to delay them [Matzot]. REMA: there are those who make the Matzot wafer-thin and not a thick loaf like other breads, for wafers do not leaven as quickly.
Context: These are all from the Shulchan Aruch, Rabbi Joseph Caro’s 1563 text codifying Jewish law up to that point. He wrote it from a Sephardic perspective, so Rabbi Moses Isserles, who lost the race to publish this law code, published an Ashkenazi gloss noted as “REMA”. There are four sections, and our texts are all from the Orach Chayim, which deals with ritual matters.
What do we learn about matzah from these texts?
The Traditional Process for Making Matzah
Here are the steps that go into making matzah without a machine.
1. Wheat is grown.
2. The wheat is harvested. Supervision begins here for "shmorah matzah".
3. The wheat is brought to a mill and ground into flour. Supervision begins here for other matzah.
4. The flour is brought to a matzah bakery.
5. The flour is mixed with water. From this point until the end of baking, only 18 minutes can elapse.
6. The dough is rolled out into circles/ovals.
7. The dough is poked with a spiky roller, called a "reidel" in Yiddish.
8. The dough is baked.
This is Maxine Handelman, the Young Family Educator at Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago, telling the story of The Mouse in the Matzah Factory, by Francine Medoff. It recaps the traditional process of making matzah.
Machine-Made Matzah
Starting in the 1830s and taking off in the 1850s, machines were invented to make matzah. These were originally very controversial. On the one hand, they took away jobs from people making matzah. On the other hand, they made matzah more affordable for more people. Additionally, the machines at first made round matzah, but in order to do that, it would make square matzah and cut off the corners. This was problematic because there was a concern that the extra bits of dough would get stuck in the machine and become leavened. Eventually, people innovated with having square matzah. This packed more easily into boxes, resulting in fewer broken pieces as they got shipped across the country by early companies like Manischevitz.
For a deeper look into this topic, see: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/479462?lang=bi
Matzah in the Modern Haggadah
יַחַץ
חותך את המצה האמצעית לשתים, ומצפין את הנתח הגדול לאפיקומן
YAHATZ / SPLITTING
The middle matza is broken in two.
The bigger portion is then hidden away to serve as the afikoman
with which the meal is later concluded.
The smaller portion is placed between the two whole matzot.
The custom of wrapping the half of the middle matzah in a napkin goes back to our text of Exodus 12:34, when the Israelites wrapped the dough as they were leaving.
מַגִּיד
מגלה את המצות, מגביה את הקערה ואומר בקול רם:
הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא דִּי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְּאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם. כָּל דִכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵיכֹל, כָּל דִצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח. הָשַּׁתָּא הָכָא, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּאַרְעָא דְיִשְׂרָאֵל. הָשַּׁתָּא עַבְדֵי, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּנֵי חוֹרִין.
MAGGID / TELLING
During the recital of this paragraph
the seder plate is held up
and the middle matza is displayed to the company.
הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא THIS
IS THE BREAD OF OPPRESSION
our fathers ate
in the land of Egypt.
Let all who are hungry
come in and eat;
let all who are in need
come and join us for the Pesaḥ.
Now we are here;
next year in the land of Israel.
Now – slaves;
next year we shall be free.
This refers to the phrase “lechem oni” that has come up repeatedly. “Lachma Anya” is the Aramaic version of the phrase.
רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל הָיָה אוֹמֵר: כָּל שֶׁלֹּא אָמַר שְׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים אֵלּוּ בַּפֶּסַח, לֹא יָצָא יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ, וְאֵלּוּ הֵן: פֶּסַח, מַצָּה, וּמָרוֹר.
רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל Rabban Gamliel would say:
Anyone who does not say these three things on Pesaḥ
has not fulfilled his obligation, and these are they:
PESAḤ, MATZA, AND BITTER HERBS.
אוחז המצה בידו ומראה אותה למסובין:
מַצָּה זוֹ שֶׁאָנוּ אוֹכְלִים, עַל שׁוּם מַה? עַל שׁוּם שֶׁלֹּא הִסְפִּיק בְּצֵקָם שֶׁל אֲבוֹתֵינוּ לְהַחֲמִיץ עַד שֶׁנִּגְלָה עֲלֵיהֶם מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים, הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, וּגְאָלָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיֹּאפוּ אֶת־הַבָּצֵק אֲשֶׁר הוֹצִיאוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם עֻגֹת מַצּוֹת, כִּי לֹא חָמֵץ, כִּי גֹרְשׁוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם וְלֹא יָכְלוּ לְהִתְמַהְמֵהַּ, וְגַם-צֵדָה לֹא-עָשׂוּ לָהֶם.
He holds the matzah in his hand and shows it to the others there.
This matzah that we are eating, for the sake of what [is it]? For the sake [to commemorate] that our ancestors' dough was not yet able to rise, before the Sovereign of the sovereign of sovereigns, the Holy One, blessed be God, revealed [the Divine Self] to them and redeemed them, as it is stated (Exodus 12:39); "And they baked the dough which they brought out of Egypt into matzah cakes, since it did not rise; because they were expelled from Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they made for themselves provisions."
This comes straight from the Mishnah, Pesachim 10:5.
מוֹצִיא מַצָּה
יקח המצות בסדר שהניחן, הפרוסה בין שתי השלמות, יאחז שלשתן בידו ויברך "המוציא" בכוונה עַל העליונה, ו"על אכילת מַצָּה" בכוונה על הפרוסה. אחר כך יבצע כזית מן העליונה השלמה וכזית שני מן הפרוסה, ויטבלם במלח, ויאכל בהסבה שני הזיתים:
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, הַמּוֹצִיא לֶחֶם מִן הָאָרֶץ.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל אֲכִילַת מַצָּה.
MOTZI MATZA
The leader holds all three matzot and recites:
בָּרוּךְ Blessed are You, LORD our God,
King of the Universe,
who brings forth bread from the earth.
The lowermost matza is replaced.
The leader recites the following blessing while holding
the uppermost and middle matzot:
בָּרוּךְ Blessed are You, LORD our God,
King of the Universe,
who has made us holy
through His commandments,
and has commanded us to eat matza.
A piece of the uppermost matza, together with a piece of the middle matza,
is given to each member of the company.
Eat while reclining to the left.
This comes from the Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 115a:8.
כּוֹרֵךְ
כל אחד מהמסבים לוקח כזית מן המצה השְלישית עם כזית מרור, כורכים יחד, אוכלים בהסבה ובלי ברכה. לפני אכלו אומר.
זֵכֶר לַמִּקְדָּשׁ כְּהִלֵּל. כֵּן עָשָׂה הִלֵּל בִּזְמַן שֶׁבֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ הָיָה קַיָּם:
הָיָה כּוֹרֵךְ מַצָּה וּמָרוֹר וְאוֹכֵל בְּיַחַד, לְקַיֵּם מַה שֶּׁנֶּאֱמַר: עַל מַצּוֹת וּמְרוֹרִים יֹאכְלֻהוּ.
KOREKH / WRAPPING
Bitter herbs are sandwiched between two pieces of matza
taken from the lowermost matza.
זֵֽכֶר In memory of the Temple, in the tradition of Hillel.
This is what Hillel would do when the Temple still stood:
he would wrap [the Pesaḥ offering] up
with matza and bitter herbs
and eat them together,
to fulfill what is said:
“You shall eat it with matza and bitter herbs.”
Eat while reclining to the left.
This comes from the Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 115a:8. Today charoset is used in place of the meat. For more about the story of charoset, see: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/556788?lang=bi
Thצָפוּן
אחר גמר הסעודה לוקח כל אחד מהמסבים כזית מהמצה שהייתה צפונה לאפיקומן ואוכל ממנה כזית בהסבה. וצריך לאוכלה קודם חצות הלילה.
לפני אכילת האפיקומן יאמר: זֵכֶר לְקָרְבָּן פֶּסַח הָנֶאֱכַל עַל הָשוֹׁבַע.
TZAFUN / HIDDEN
At the end of the meal, the remaining piece
of the middle matza which had been hidden earlier (the afikoman),
is eaten.
---
The afikomen goes back to another part of the Babylonian Talmud about matzah being the last thing that one should eat at the seder. To learn more about the story of the afikomen, see: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/393798?lang=bi
Reasons for Eating Matzah, from A Sweet Passover (2012)
Matzah is a reminder that:
1. We left Egypt so quickly the bread didn’t have time to rise.
2. The plainest food eaten in freedom tastes better than the sweetest food eaten in slavery.
3. We should be humble and not puff ourselves up.
4. We should be in a hurry to do a mitzvah
5. We should get along with everybody like matzah goes with everything.
This is A Sweet Passover, by Leslea Newman, written in 2012. It describes different ways of eating matzah, and also different reasons why we eat matzah.
This 2008 video by Michelle Citrin and William Levin has suggestions of 20 things you can do with matzah. Ten years later, they made a sequel: https://youtu.be/zpXSroQ2P74?si=S2Kzg9-MLYSfVKCJ
Bedouin Matzah
I [Joan Nathan, a famous Jewish cookbook author] was in a Bedouin village where, to this day, when they slaughter a lamb or goat, they rub their tent post with the blood to keep away the evil spirits. The Bedouins also made bread for us as visitors — from flour and water, no leavening. Why not? They explained— through the Bedouin expert Clinton Bailey, our translator, and the person who had brought us to this village — that they wanted to give guests nothing but pure food, and yeast was a contamination, of civilization and of cities. Therefore, they mixed the flour and water, quickly rolled out what became a very thin round dough, and slapped it onto the sides of a taboun oven (which looked like an upside-down wok) to bake. It was delicious, and similar in shape to what we know as shmura matzo.
Nathan, Joan. My Life in Recipes: Food Family, and Memories. 2024, p. 235-236.
Matzah according to the Beatles, Farbessered (improved) by Rutgers’ Kol Halailah
Why is this night different,
From all other nights?
I don’t have all the answers,
But I have one just right.
G-d said, no bread.
G-d said, no bread.
I ain’t got nothing but matzah,
Eight days this week.
Love to eat charoset,
And drink four cups of wine.
Gefilte fish is delicious,
But no challah this time.
G-d said, no bread.
G-d said, no bread.
I ain’t got nothing but matzah,
Eight days this week.
Eight days this week,
I’m kosher for Pesach.
Eight days this week,
I’ll have my milk with
Crispy-O’s.
I love to eat that matzah
At Pesach every year.
The Coke has no corn syrup,
And who needs chips or beer?
G-d said, no bread.
G-d said, no bread.
I ain’t got nothing but matzah,
Eight days this week.
Eight days this week,
I’m kosher for Pesach.
Eight days this week,
I go for lotsa matzah brei.
Today is known as yuntif,
Tomorrow Pesach’s through.
Tonight is Dunkin Donuts,
Tomorrow barbecue.
G-d said, no bread.
G-d said, no bread.
I ain’t got nothing but matzah,
Eight days this week,
Eight days this week,
Eight days this week.
This 2008 video is a parody of “Macho-man”.
The Jewish duo of “Simon and Garfunkel” wrote “The Song of Silence”, an excellent niggun after handwashing before Motzi. In 2020, “The Title Trackers” rewrote it as “The Taste of Matzah”.
With appreciation to Rabbi Goldie Guy and Hadar Chicago
Appendix A: The Secrets of Matzah
By: Rabbi Mordechai Rackover
I am a big fan of Anthony Bourdain, the punk chef who made it big as an author and then television travel show host. I appreciate his honesty, use of metaphor, and vicariously exploring places and tastes through his work that I never would myself. In particular, I am grateful to him for his trip to Egypt.
Season 4, episode 15 (available on Max and other streaming services) of “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” finds Tony in Egypt. After time in Cairo, he is hosted on a farm in a rural community. It is from this episode that I learned one of matzah’s secrets. The hosts on the farm made bread – really, matzah – the same way it could have been made 3,000 years ago.
Dinner on that farm consisted of duck stew, mallow (a green herb) made into a dip, and flatbread. The flatbread looks identical to handmade round shemurah matzah. While Bourdain calls it “bateo bread,” I have only found it referred to as ‘bataw’ bread. This is ‘bread bread,’ the fundamental bread of the community.
The secret those farmer-cooks shared – this is the bread that was and is common in Egypt. While matzah is ancient, it is not as unusual today as we might think it to be.
Another reason the show helped me understand matzah was the research I was inspired to do after watching it. There is another ancient Egyptian bread still made today, called ‘Eish Shamsy’ –`ayš, in this context, is an Arabic word for ‘bread’ and shamsy, is etymologically like the Hebrew word shemesh – sun. This is bread baked without an oven, directly on a hot stone, left out in the elements, and baked in the sun.
One more piece. In a different episode, Anthony is out in a rural environment in North Africa, and he learns that women have been baking bread in outdoor ovens using natural fermentation like sourdough for thousands of years. While I cannot speak to the historicity of his claim, it sure seems likely.
Stepping away from the TV, let’s look at biblical texts about matzah. We find a few different tales of where it is served, and several reasons are given for why it is flat and the bread of choice. The first mention of matzah in the Torah is in the story of Lot (Bereishit 19:3) when he entertains the mystery guests before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is here that we can put on two different interpretation hats:
- the Midrashic hat, which says it must have been Passover – that’s what some ancient rabbis suggested and
- the foodie hat, which says matzah is just the simplest, quickest bread, and when guests show up unexpectedly that’s what they get.
Most Ashkenazim maintain the custom of having the thinnest possible matzot baked within eighteen minutes from the moment the water comes into contact with the flour. This turns out breads that are nearly identical to bataw. Eighteen isn’t an arbitrary number; some rabbinic observational science combined with folk wisdom gives us the number that we keep to this day.
What many people have yet to encounter is soft matzah. Soft matzah follows the same rules – eighteen minutes and super-hot baking – but it is not as thin. Soft matzah is common in some Sephardic communities and has made headway in recent years. It is easier to eat – more like a laffa, a pocketless pita – and most likely, much closer to the matzot that the Torah mentions.
Considering this soft matzah allows us to understand the Hillel Sandwich better. Making a sandwich with cracker-thin matzot has always seemed to be a slapstick joke added to the seder: you get all your stuff into a couple of matzot and then bite it while leaning, and it explodes on your holiday clothing. But, if you have soft matzah, suddenly, it makes a lot more sense. If we had the Passover Lamb, this sandwich would be like a shawarma, doner, or taco—ancient fast food.
After Lot, matzah isn’t mentioned again until the Torah instructs the Israelites regarding the first Pesach (Shemot 12:8), Pesach Mitzrayim, the soon-to-be-liberated slaves, are instructed to eat their Paschal Lamb on matzah with bitter herbs. A meal not very different from the one that Anthony Bourdain had on the Egyptian farm.
So, secret number two – the food hasn’t changed all that much in thousands of years.
The second instruction regarding matzah comes in the context of what should be called ‘Chag haMatzot’ – the Festival of Unleavened Bread. During the week that follows Pesach, i.e., the 15th to 22nd of Nissan, the Israelites are commanded to abstain from seor and hametz. ‘Seor’ is usually translated as ‘leavening’ and ‘hametz’ as ‘leavened bread.’ But in the Schocken Bible (1995), Everett Fox chose two words – leavening and fermented. I think the distinction is important as it helps us focus on the varieties of leavened products: starters, breads, liquors, and more that existed in the ancient world.
When the Israelites finally get up and leave, their bread is mentioned twice. In Exodus 12:34, we learn that they had to depart in such a hurry that their bread did not have enough time to rise. They wrapped up their kneading bowls and hung them over their shoulders with the dough still inside. Five verses later, in 12:39,
And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough they had taken out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, since they had been driven out of Egypt and could not delay; nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
On the surface, one may think that they packed up and left with the dough in the bowl without thinking of the dough – but really, they packed up and left with the dough in the bowl, knowing that it would bake in the sun’s heat as they walked out of Egypt. It is mentioned explicitly that they baked; they knew they would be walking for a while and certainly would not have thought that they would have ovens soon. Baking bread in the sun was and is something that one does in that part of the world.
Secret number three – the dough on their backs baked into bread
In modern Egypt, we find two different breads: bataw – a matzo-like flatbread, and eish shamsy – a bread baked in the sun. These match up well with the two different breads mentioned in the Exodus narrative.
With current technology, baking bread can be as easy as grabbing some leavening, flour, salt, and water and dumping it all in a machine. Some people turn the difficulty level up by using a starter – a living, fermenting, leavening mass of flour, water, and yeast. In the ancient world, baking bread was work, and it was mysterious. People relied on leaving their flour and water mixture out and waiting for it to leaven without human intervention. They did not know there was yeast in the air. It must have seemed like an unnatural process, miraculous.
A final secret of matzah, is brought out by reading a short passage in the Zohar.
The text refers to matzah as ‘the Bread of Faith’ (2:183b), I think it refers back to what the Israelites left behind: their tried-and-true method of making bread. Bread was the most fundamental food – it made up most of the calories in their diet. When the Israelites left Egypt, they left behind the assurance that their bread would rise.
The miraculous unseen yeasts would not travel with them, and there must have been tremendous anxiety and food insecurity. That was an act of immense faith – the belief in God that they would be able to eat, that there was a future where they would again have bread. They left the culture, pun intended, of Egypt.
When you buy your matzot this year, try and set aside a little money to help those who need food. Yes, Passover is expensive, but one of the ways to make it taste and feel better is by helping others escape slavery, hunger, and affliction. Matzah is so commonplace, so easy, that it is the butt of many derisive jokes. I implore us to remember how much meaning is in every simple unleavened bite.
The deepest secret – God is saying, “Leave behind the culture, the yeast, the taste, the certainty, of Mitzrayim/Egypt. Leave behind the narrowness of knowing that even though we are slaves, at least we will eat.”
Rabbi Mordechai Rackover serves as Editor in Chief of Exploring Judaism and Director of Publications and Digital Engagement at The Rabbinical Assembly. He has a background in education, campus work, and the pulpit. Mordechai studied for nearly a decade in a number of Yeshivot in Israel and has a BA in Jewish Studies from McGill University and an MA in Jewish Communal Leadership from Brandeis University. When not working he can be found reading or cooking and occasionally catering. Check out his Instagram for mouthwatering shots.
https://www.exploringjudaism.org/holidays/passover/passover-reflections/the-secrets-of-matzah/