Making matzah a historical Passover tradition
April 4, 1996
Web posted at: 10:15 p.m. EST (0315 GMT)KFAR HABAD, Israel (CNN) -- Matzah is known to Jews as the "bread of affliction" from ancient times, when their forefathers fled the slavery of Egypt for the freedom of the Promised Land.
It is eaten instead of bread all through the week-long Passover festival.
"The bible tells us, in Exodus, that the Jews were in such a hurry to get out of Egypt after Pharoah finally let them go that they took their kneading troughs and their unrisen dough on their shoulders and they fled Egypt," said Sue Larkey, a culinary historian. "Because they didn't have time to let their bread rise, it was an unleavened, flat bread."
Matzah baking is literally a race against time. The rabbis ruled that to avoid any risk of the dough rising, no more than 18 minutes must elapse from the moment the flour meets the water -- matzah's only ingredients -- until the dough is tossed in the oven.
It can be stressful work. Yosef, a matzah baker, perspires not only from the heat, but because of the need to beat the clock. (875K QuickTIme movie)
The hole puncher has an honored role in the matzah making process. All matzah is pierced to ensure no loose air pockets will let the bread rise even a millimeter.
While centuries-old traditions are intact, matzah has a new shape to fit the box.
"Originally it was round," said Larkey. "Square matzah came into predominance in this century. It was quite a hullabaloo. The rabbis were not sure if it was kosher or not."
Eventually the rabbis approved. But they balked at full automation. Human hand and eye must eliminate imperfect slices.
During Passover, strictly religious Jews will eat only the simple matzah. But these days most Jews will also eat the modern variations -- blended with spices, coated with chocolate, even "light" matzah.
Jewish mystics see a symbolic ingredient in matzah --humility. The simple flat nature of the food reflects the need for human beings, at least once a year, to minimize their own importance, to deflate bloated egos.
"The bible sets up a magnificent tension between leavened and unleavened and the matzah became symbolized with the slavery, the affliction, the hard times," Larkey said. "(Jews) are commanded to pass it on from generation to generation so that the children remember slavery versus freedom."
There is another common attitude toward the special bread.
"By the end of Passover you are up to your neck with it," said Larkey, laughing. "You can't wait to eat the bread of freedom -- you know, real leavened bread," or a modern-day manna.
Manna is the food that miraculously appeared for the wandering Jews after they prayed to God for anything to eat other than unleavened bread.
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