'72 Friday, April 21, 1918
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
- The Changing Passover Matza Through the Ages
By THOMAS STAICAR
(Editor's note: Staicar,
31, is a graduate of Wayne
State University and
supervisor of the Inter-
library Loan Office at the
University of Michigan
Graduate Library. He is a
freelance writer and en-
- joys matza all year.)
Matza, the unleavened
bread of Passover, has an
important place in the his-
tory of Judaism. At one time
`• Passover and the Feast of
Unleavened Bread were two
distinct festivals. The ear-
lier Passover grew out of the
desert nomadic period of
Jewish history. Little is
known of its earliest de-
velopment.
The Feast of Unleavened
Bread was part of the later
agricultural life of the Jews
in Palestine. The two festi-
xals came to be celebrated
at the same time and mod-
ern Passover blends aspects
of both.
New generations of Jews
tended to find little rele-
vance in the agricultural
and nature festivals. New
symbolism evolved which
commemorated the flight
from Egypt.
No one is certain what the
9riginal meaning of
Pesach" was. Skipping or
"passing over" the step of
adding leaven to bread
dough was already part of
the ritual.
Pesach was later
thought of as referring to
the passing over of the
first-born in Egypt and
the hasty baking of matza
during the flight from
Egypt, when no time
could be spared for the
dough to rise. This sym-
bolism allows Jews to
keep the memory alive of
important events in
Jewish history.
Scholars argue over the
origin of the word "matza."
A similar word which
means "press or squeeze"
was thought to be the root
but this ignores the fact that
matza is not pressed, it is
merely not allowed to rise or
swell in baking.
Matza is known as the
bread of the desert. To this
day Bedouins heat un-
leavened bread dough over
glowing coals to bake it.
Some scholars believe that
matza symbolizes the desert
life period of the Jews.
The Seder is a ritual meal
which serves the purpose of
bringing people together. In
many cultures throughout
history a meal, especially
one which features bread,
has been used to establish or
re-cement ties of kinship or
mutual agreement. The
word "companion" grew out
of the expression "one who
shares bread with another."
The term "breaking bread
together" is similar.
In the book of Joshua
(9:14) the princes of Israel
were said to have entered
into a convenant with the
Gibeonites by eating with
them. The prophet
Obadiah (verse 7) uses
"men of thy bread" and
"men of thy confederacy"
to mean the same thing.
Matza serves this func-
tion at the Seder as well
as fulfilling the biblical
commands in Exodus.
eaten sweets after eating
part of the sacrificial ani-
mal. Although sacrifices no
longer took place, the Seder
prohibition remained but in
an erroneous form, accord-
ing to Elijah Levita, the
famous Hebrew gramma-
rian of the 16th Century.
The Mishna actually
said: Men should not leave
the meal to go revelling.
The Greek word epikomoi
was used. This became
known as: Men should not
omit afikoman (from the
Greek word epikomion, or
dessert) after the meal. A
small peice of matza thus
was used as the dessert after
the meal.
Ancient peoples took
superstitions seriously.
Leavening was once be-
lieved to be the source of bad
luck, corruption and decay.
Leavening in the form of
One theory about hid-
sour dough was used to ing the afikoman is that
make bread rise.
this practice keeps chil-
The Jews destroyed all dren awake at the Seder.
sour dough from the past A more serious one is that
year in order to guard it grew out of the prac-
against an unproductive tices of the Jews of the
agricultural year in the fu- Middle Ages who took
ture. The last sheaf of corn seriously the precept
was also left standing after "And ye shall guard the
the harvest so that the spirit matzot."
of the corn could live on to
Some through history
renew itself in the next crop. have believed that the
The avoidance of leavening afikoman has talismatic
was part of the farm life of properties. A custom arose
Jews long before modern in Eastern Europe of boring
Passover.
a hole in a piece of the
The bitter herbs eaten afikoman and hanging it in
with matza in accordance a home or synagogue, either
with Exodus 12:8 may be a as a charm or as a reminder
carryover from an ancient of the Exodus. Some Moroc-
practice. Bitter herbs were can Jews were reported to
often used as a cathartic and carry pieces of the afikoman
as a means of protection as a safeguard during ocean
against some forms of food voyages. During storms at
poisoning. The ancient sea they would throw a
Greeks chewed such herbs piece into the water, claim-
as laurel and bay in order to ing it had powers to calm
ward off ghosts at their an- the sea.
Most modern matzot are
nual Feast of the Dead (An-
thesteria.)
Regardless of these in-
fluences, modern Jews
continue to put bitter
herbs between two pieces
of matza to honor the
memory of Hillel. He
created this practice in
order to fulfill the com-
mand of Exodus to the
letter. It is said that this
was the invention of the
sandwich, since it pre-
dated the Earl of
Sandwich by many cen-
turies.
A non-religious use of
matza made another kind of
history according to "The
Jewish Connection" by M.
Hirsh Goldberg. He states
that Roman soldiers over
2,000 years ago added olive
oil and cheese to matzot.
This created the first pizza
in history.
The middle matza at the
Seder, the afikoman, is the
last thing eaten. This grew
out of a misinterpretation.
The Greeks used to end
their feasts with revelling.
Sweets for dessert were fol-
lowed by songs, dance and
games. Jews had never
square since that turned out
to be the most practical
shape for machines to bake
them. Round matzot used to
be the most common al-
though medieval illustra-
tions'show triangular ones
and other shapes. During
World War II there were
even V-shaped matzot as
part of the v-for-victory
movement.
Rows of parallel holes are
used to keep the matzot
from rising. Uniform rows
have not always been the
rule. Various designs have
been used throughout the
years such as animals or
flowers. Perforating tools
created these individual ef-
fects.
Everyone did not approve
of this practice, however.
Some Jews contended that a
delay in baking could allow
fermentation to begin. Mat-
zot baked in haste were the
only proper ones, according
to this reasoning.
Cold water allows less
chance of fermentation
and is thus considered
most suitable for baking
matzot. An ancient tradi-
tion has been to draw
water before baking and
store it in a utensil over-
night. This grew out of
the old belief that the Sun
goes under the Earth
after it sets and this
causes the water deep in
wells to warm up.
The home has been the
place where most matzot
were baked until the past
century although commun-
ity ovens were also found as,
early as the Middle Ages.
Professional bakers have
taken orders for individuals
for hundreds of years.
In the time of the Talmud
matzot were very thick. The
breadth of four fingers was
the upper limit. Such mat-
zot has to be baked fresh
daily. The question arose as
to when to bake it if the day
before Passover was a Sab-
bath. This was solved by the
introduction of thin, crisp
matzot which could be
baked in advance for the en-
tire festival period.
By the Middle Ages, the
thickness of matza was li-
mited to the breadth of one
finger. Modern matza, of
course, is a thin cracker.
At one time Jews heated
the matza ovens with the
willow branches used at the
previous Sukkot festival.
This allowed something
which had been hallowed to
be used in the production of
matza for Passover.
In early America,
synagogues controlled
matza production. The
shammash was sent to
independent bakers to be
certain of the kashrut of
production. Matzot for
the poor was paid for by
the synagogues.
The matza baking
machine was invented in
England. The first one used
in America was in the early
1850's. Although at first
only hand-made matza was
accepted as proper,
machine-baked matza be-
came the rule for all but a
handful of Jews by the early
1900's.
In 1855, there were five
known bakers of the product
in New York City.In 1859 it
was recorded that they
baked 374,000 pounds, of
which 100,000 pounds were
shipped to other areas. The
oldest matza factory in con-
tinuous operation was
founded by A. Goodman in
1865.
In 1888, Rabbi Dov Ber
Manischewitz began his
business which to this day
produces a variety of wines
and foods for Passover. The
introduction of machines
began an era in which qual-
ity could be standardized
and shipments of packaged
matza could be made for dis-
tribution in areas all over
the country.
Early matza was made
of barley flour. In later
centuries wheat matza
was accepted although
some pious Jews held to
the idea that the coarser
barley type was the true
"bread of. affliction."
Matza made with eggs,
honey or cider cannot be
eaten the first night of
Passover but is widely
used at other times.
The day before Passover,
or even longer, matza
should not be eaten. This al-
lows a full enjoyment of
Passover once it begins.
The fact that matza is not
merely eaten during Pas-
sover or even by Jews alone
is shown by the fact that re-
cords of polar expeditions
have noted that special
supplies of matza were
taken along since matza
does not deteriorate over
long periods of time.
Remembering the Birth of a State
By Dr. ISRAEL
GOLDSTEIN
(Editor's note: Dr.
Goldstein is a former
president of Karen
Hayesod, Jewish Na-
tional Fund and the
Zionist Organization of
America.)
As Israel and the Jewish
people prepare to celebrate
the 30th anniversary of Is-
rael's Independence, the
forthcoming celebration is
especially meaningful to
those who were privileged
to play some part in the de-
cisive stages of the drama of
194748.
The period between the
United Nations Resolution
of Nov_ 29, 1947, and the
Proclamation of Medinat Is-
rael on May 14,1948, was a
period fraught with uncer-
tainty and danger. It is
worth recalling it as a "pre-
face and sequel" to the ob-
servance of Israel Indepen-
dence Day.
Fierce Arab attacks upon
all parts of the Yishuv fol-
lowed immediately upon
the adoption of the UN re-
solution. U.S. Secretary of
State, General George C.
Marshall, with the approval
of President Truman, prop-
osed to the Zionist leader-
ship that the implementa-
tion of the UN resolution be
delayed until conditions in
Palestine would quiet down.
The proposal came before
the political advisory com-
mittee which had been ap-
pointed by the governing
Dr. Israel Goldstein is shown at the head table, top
council of the World Zionist
Organization. It was sitting center, with Golda Meir during a 1947 meeting in Lake
at Lake Success and it kept Success, N.Y. of the political advisory committee of
in touch with our leading the World Zionist Organization.
spokesmen at the United Wolfsberg, and Baruch tacks, the short distance
Nations. Zuckerman. from the airport to Tel Aviv
This committee was com- It was my privilege to had to be negotiated either
posed of more than 30 mem- serve as chairman of the by armored cars or by Piper
bers , from Palestine, political advisory commit- planes. -
Europe and the United tee.
Our committee voted to
States, representing the
A substantial majority of
recommend to the Yishuv
various Zionist parties. It the committee voted
to proceed with the proc-
included among others, against the acceptance of
lamation of the. Jewish
Bankover, P. Cruso, Judith Gen. Marshall's proposal.
state. The resolution was
Epstein, Edward Gelber,
The definitive meeting drafted by Zalman
Leon Gellman, Bert Golds- of the Zionist.Governing Rubashow, later known
tein, Greenberg, Mrs. Mar- Council was to be held in as Shazar, third Presi-
ion Greenberg, Meir Tel Aviv a week before dent of Israel. It was pre-
Grossman, Zvi Herman, Passover, 1948. Its main seated at midnight of the
Joseph Klarman, Dr. S. purpose was to decide closing session when
Margoshes, Rabbi Irving whether to advise the everybody, especially the
Miller, Dr. Siegfried Moses, Yishuv to go ahead with rabbis, were in a hurry to
Emanuel Neumann, Rabbi the proclamation of the return home for Pas-
Mordecai Nurock, Jacob Jewish Commonwealth. sover. It was adopted by
Riftin, Hadassah Samuel, I. When we arrived at the
a large majority.
Schwartzbart, Louis Segal, Lydda Airport for the meet- A month later, Medinat
Mrs. Rebeccah Shulman, ing in Tel Aviv, we found Israel was proclaimed by
Mrs. Denise Turover, Dr. that because of the Arab at- the Yishuv.