making-with-matzo-FINAL-4-18

INTRODUCTION
Matzos are thin, crisp wafers frequently found in a square-shaped box at your local grocery store. (You may also find
them spelled as “matzoh,” “matza,” or “matzah,” and plural as “matzos” or “matzot.”) They are the unleavened breads
that play a central role in celebrating Passover and carry a deep symbolic meaning for the Jewish people. Each year
during the week of Passover, observing Jews forgo chametz, or leavened breads, and instead eat matzo, to
commemorate the story of the Exodus of the Jews from slavery as recorded in the Old Testament. Matzo meal
is made by grinding up the crackers into desired consistency, and is used in many recipes as a breading or filler,
especially during Passover as a substitute for leavened grains. Recently, matzo and matzo meal have become
more popular and prevalent in everyday dishes.
Matzo is essentially a mixture of flour and water, sometimes with kosher salt and mild olive oil, that has been kneaded,
rolled out, punctured, and baked before the dough has been given the opportunity to rise. The dough remains flat and
quickly hardens, baking into a flat cracker instead (usually with burnt edges). In order to be truly Kosher for Passover,
the matzo must be baked in 18 minutes or less after combining the flour and water, to ensure the fermentation
process has not begun. This practice, known as shmurah, meaning “guarded” matzo, is highly regarded in the rabbinic
community, and laws are strictly enforced to ensure these standards are being met.
HISTORY
Matzo has a rich history stretching back to pre-biblical times as a staple in Jewish cuisine during the week of Passover.
Matzos were originally eaten by the Jews enslaved in Egypt and were considered the “poor man’s food,” and the “bread
of affliction.” This refers to the suffering endured as a slave in Egypt. It is said later that when Moses spoke to God, God
commanded that the Jews were to be freed, and after unleashing the plagues that brought death to every Egyptian
family’s first-born son, the Egyptian king granted freedom to the Jews in haste. The Israelites were forced to pack all
of their belongings and supplies quickly, without enough time to let the hametz, or flour rise before baking it,
resulting in crisp, hardened crackers we call matzo.
Boxed matzo has become ubiquitous with our notion of matzo, especially in the United States and Europe, which
don’t have a centralized and concentrated Orthodox Jewish community like in Israel. It often goes unconsidered then,
that making matzo was traditionally done by hand, resulting in a more rounded, irregular and imperfect shape.
The mass-produced matzo we are so familiar with today was only introduced in the late 1880’s, when a Lithuanian
immigrant named Rabbi Dov Behr Manischewitz opened up the first matzo factory, Manischewitz, in Cincinnati,
Ohio. There are only 10 matzo factories in operation today worldwide.
SYMBOLISM
Matzo remains an integral part in Judaism and is eaten in place of leavened bread every year during the week of Passover
to commemorate the Exodus of the Jews from slavery. Eating matzo during Passover expresses a symbolic duality
in the psyche and our cultural evolution from being enslaved to being free. In Egypt, the Jews ate matzo with the
understanding that they were slaves and this was the food of the oppressed, but in exile from Egypt eating matzo also
became a symbol of freedom. This duality is a central theme in Judaism, and during Passover, chametz, or leavened
bread, is foregone to remember to remain modest and humble.
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