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Behind the scenes of the thick Matzah discussion and its unlikely relation to some of the well-known Pessah stringencies / By Rabbi Ariel Ovadia
Preface
In our previous article we cited the opinion of the Bet Yosef that a Matzah may be baked as thick as a Tefah [appx. 3-4 inches]. Some Aharonim, such as the Bet Hillel, peg the limit at an Etzba [appx. ½ inch]. Our thick Matzot do not generally run that thick, and are surely not thicker than the limit of the Bet Yosef. Although the Rama rules the Matzot must be made thin with no specific measure, many understand he is talking only about specific cases, or only about the Matzot Mitzva, eaten at Lel HaSeder. Some even contend that the Rama would consider our present day thick Matzot to be thin as well.
Whereas there is an advantage to using thick Matzot as it facilitates the eating of the proper measure of Matzah, nevertheless one should ensure that they are baked with the proper meticulousness and under the proper supervision. We will now discuss some of the historical background and context of the use of thick and thin Matzot.
The Contreversial ‘Reib[1]’ Matzot
Further research into the sources dealing with baking thin matzos, reveals quite an astonishing testimony of the Ramaz[2] in his Teshuvot[3]:
“מצות הנעשות לספרדים ובני איטאלייא, הם קשות ויבשות עד שראויות להטחן מחמת החום השולט בהם במהרה כאשר עין כל תחזה. וגם כי האשכנזים אינם עושים פת עבה שלא כדין ח”ו וחלילה, מ”מ עיני ראו בק”ק פולנייא שהם עבות ממצות שמורות שלנו שיכול אדם לחותכם בסכין”
“[The] Matzot that are baked for the Sefaradim and Italian Jews, are hard and dry to the point that they can be ground, [this is] due to the heat which bakes them speedily, as is clearly evident. And although the Ashkenazim do not make a Halachically unacceptable “thick” loaf, G-d forbid, however, I have seen with my own eyes in the community of Poland that they are thicker than our Matzot Shemurot, to the point that one can slice them with a knife.”
Ironically, it seems that many generations ago, it was a practice particularly among the Ashkenazim to bake thick Matzot, while the Sefaradim[4] were the ones who made their Matzot thin and hard.
This practice is also mentioned in Sefer Adne Paz, written by the Dayan in the Three Kehillot[5], Rav Efrayim Hekshir[6]:
“Being that the thicker the Matzah is, the more heat is necessary to properly bake it, it is better to first bake the thick Matzot which are called ‘Reib–Matzot’ because they require a very high level of heat due to the possibility of leavening, and this was the accepted custom from earlier times. However, now, new customs have recently been introduced, and the bakers first bake the thin ones and then the thick. This is improper, because the oven has already lost much of its heat.”
While the Adne Paz seems to have no problem with baking these Reib–Matzot, as long as one is careful to heat the oven properly, it seems that later authorities were very displeased with it and were determined to abolish the practice.
The famed Hatam Sofer[7] discusses the making of Matzot out of Turkish wheat (טירקשע ווייץ)[8] and concludes that since it is unclear whether it is acceptable flour for the preparation of the Matzot, therefore they should be baked a bit thicker so people will not mistake it for actual Matzah. Thus, he writes, “we will also gain [by making the thick loaves out of Turkish wheat instead of wheat flour] because the Reib-Matzot that are made of wheat flour can create a great stumbling block, for they are so thick that they do not bake well, and in most of the communities of Ashkenaz they have decreed with a Herem not to make them”[9].
Similarly, the Teshuvot Yehuda Ya’ale[10] (Mahari Aszad of Hungary) writes in one of his responsa: “And you have also done well by not bringing thick Matzot, referred to in Yiddish as ‘Reib-Matzot’ to your home, G-d forbid”. He writes further in Teshuvot Zichron Yehuda[11]: “I have no control whatsoever over the Matzot which are baked here [in this city] to export to other towns, and I have heard [of the baking] of these ‘Reib-Matzot’, and it sounds like in the nearby towns these are also used, apparently also in your (the inquirer’s) town there are customers for this. I am sure that this is done without your knowledge, for you and I surely know from what the latter Poskim hold, and the great sages of the previous generations have made a great tumult about these, and also in this generation there are those [Halachic authorities], may Hashem guard them, who absolutely forbid the Reib-Matzot.” Hence, it seems that although the practice was common in earlier generations, later Poskim have vehemently tried to abolish the practice.
Were these Reib-Matzot used for the Seder? It would seem so from the testimony of the Ramaz, who does not mention that the Ashkenazim would mass-manufacture these Matzot, and further contrasts them with the Sefaradim’s Matzah Shemura, that he witnessed that they were used for the Seder. However, it may very well be, that these Matzot were only used as material for Matzah-meal or for general Pessah consumption, not for the Seder. This is apparent from the Adne Paz which we mentioned, who writes that they would bake both thin and thick Matzot. One can assume that the thin ones were baked for the Seder night, and the thick ones were baked for the rest of Pessah. A most interesting Sha’are Teshuva[12] makes this point even more probable, as we shall see.
Kitniyot, Thick Matzah & Matzah-Sheruya (Gebrokts): The Surprising Connection
The Sha’are Teshuva mentions the practice of baking very thick Matzot in a very interesting context. After quoting the various opinions regarding the stringency of not eating Matzah-Sheruya (soaked Matzah), commonly known as “Gebrokts”, the Sha’are Teshuva adds:
“וגם נראה שהתחלת חומר זה יצא ממה שהיו נוהגים מקדם לעשות על פסח מצות עבות הרבה, אף שלא היה כשיעור טפח מ”מ היו עבות הרבה, ומהם היו עושים הקמח לפסח על ידי גרירה ברי”ב אייז”ן, והוא מילתא דשכיחא טובא שימצאו מהם מה שלא נאפה יפה באמצע כפי הצורך כו’ לכן החלו אנשים יראי ה’ לפרוש מלאכול מה שנעשו מקמח מצה אפויה כו’ אבל האידנא אתכשר דרא ורובא דאינשי אין אופין מצות עבות כלל רק רקיקים דקים כו’.”
“And it also seems, that this stringency (Gebrokts) originally started because the practice in earlier times was to make for Pessah very thick matzos. Even though these were not a Tefah thick, nevertheless they were very thick, and from these Matzot they would make the flour for Pessah (Matzah-meal) by grating it with the ‘Reib-Eizen’ (grater), and it was very common that some of them were not baked fully on the inside as is required … that is why some G-d fearing individuals have begun to stay away from eating [food] that was made of matzah-meal … however today the generations have improved and most people do not bake thick matzos whatsoever, only thin-breads”…
The Sha’are Teshuva then continues to assert that one does not need to be so stringent with Gebrokts with regards to thin Matzah, because we do not have reason to assume it has any unbaked areas. The discussion of Gebrokts is obviously beyond the scope of this article; however, this Sha’are Teshuva does shed a lot of light on the topic of thick Matzot and their use. The following assumptions can be safely made based on his words:
- ‘Reib-Matzot’ were not really used for the Seder, only as material for Matzah-meal.
- ‘Reib-Matzot’ were thus called because they were meant for the purpose of being grated into Matzah-meal with the Reib-Eizen (grater). One can assume that they were just thick Matzah chunks, which were easily mass-baked and could have been grated at home, just as one would grate potatoes or carrots.
- The Sha’are Teshuva was also critical of the practice of baking these extremely thick Reib-Matzos, even though they were thinner than a Tefah. Indeed, he testifies that in his generation, the practice waned as the generation improved.
- The Sha’are Teshuva believes that the stringency of Gebrokts stemmed from the practice of baking thick Matzot.
We can now take this further and make a fascinating connection between Gebrokts and the ancient Ashkenazi Minhag of not eating Kitniyot.
The She’elat Ya’avetz[13] (Rav Yaakov Emden) writes – in the name of his father the Hacham Tzvi – that had he had the proper authority, he would have abolished the custom to abstain from eating Kitniyot, because it is extremely difficult for the community to follow. In his work, Mor U’Ketzia, Rav Emden adds that as a result of the prohibition of Kitniyot, people are forced to make large quantities of Matzah and “they make very thick dough and do not bake it with sufficient speed, and this matter comes very close to prohibitions of Karet, G-d forbid”.
Based on this, we may suggest that the prohibition of Kitniyot led to the creation of the “Reib-Matzot” and Matzah-meal in all of their various forms, thus creating a new problem of Hashash Hametz (a suspicion of Hametz) in these mass-produced Matzot, as is evident from the She’elat Ya’avetz. This new laxity had to be addressed by the Gedolei Yisra’el. Some responded by prohibiting Reib-Matzot, as we mentioned in the name of the Hattam Sofer and Mahari Aszad. While others responded by prohibiting Gebrokts, as the Sha’are Teshuvah notes. This is an intriguing example of a stringency which led to a leniency which led back to another stringency . Indeed, the Sefaradim who did not forbid the consumption of Kitniyot on Pessah, were not faced with the endemic baking of thick Matzot[14].
In Conclusion:
- There are three main opinions regarding the maximum thickness of a Matza: a) The Shulhan Aruch and Rabbenu Yeruham hold the limit is a Tefah, b) The Magen Avraham holds that as long as it is absolutely not Hametz there is no limit, c) The Ritva, Rashba, Ohr Zarua and Rama hold that the Matzot used for the Seder must be thinner than a Tefah.
- There are two main reasons for having thin Matzot, quoted by the Darche Moshe: a) Ra’avad in Derashot and Abudarham write that thin Matzot are more similar to Lehem Oni – a poor man’s bread, b) Mahari Weil writes that there is a concern of Hametz.
- As long as the Matzah is thinner than a fingerbreadth [appx. ½ an inch] it is considered to be thin, as is the opinion of the Bet Hillel. Therefore, although the Poskim, such as the Hattam Sofer and Mahari Aszad, have condemned the practice of baking very thick Matzot (formerly known as Reib-Matzot), none of today’s Matzot fall into this category. There are benefits both to having thick Matzot and to having thin Matzot. Therefore, one should generally follow their Minhag.
Sources:
[1] ‘Reib’ literally means to rub or to grate, we will show why these irregularly thick Matzot were called by this name.
[2] Rav Moshe Zaccuta of Italy, 17th century. A Sephardic Posek and Mekubal who spent many years living in Poland and Germany and eventually lived in Italy
[3] סי’ נג
[4] The Ramaz was most probably referring to the Sefaradim who originated from Spain itself. The Sefaradim who come from the Edot HaMizrah, i.e. Syria, Iraq, Egypt etc. may have used softer Matzot (I have heard a definite testimony that in Turkey they used softer Matzot).
[5] Altona, Hamburg and Vozinbek. Many prominent Torah giants served as Rabbanim of this old and established Ashkenazi community, such as Rav Yehonatan Eibshitz and Rav Yechezkel Katzenelbogen.
[6] או”ח סי’ תנט
[7] שו”ת או”ח סי’ קכא
[8] In today’s Yiddish this translates as “corn”. I don’t know if it is accepted L’Halacha amongst Ashkenazim to eat Matzah made of Kitniyot.
[9] ע”ע לקמיה סי’ קכב
[10] שו”ת או”ח סי’ קנז
[11] או”ח ח”א סי’ קנ
[12] או”ח סי’ תס סק”י
[13] ח”ב סי’ קמז
[14] Some Sefaradim do refrain from Kitniyot, such as Moroccans and others. It would be interesting to investigate whether or not they developed a problem of baking very thick Matzot for the purpose of making Matzah-meal.