34 | APRIL 2 • 2020 

W

e all know a 
matzah when 
we see one: a 
thin, flat, square cracker, 
punctuated with parallel 
rows of holes. We know 
how a matzah behaves, too. 
Stored properly, a matzah 
never gets stale, never gets 
moldy, never bends (but 
it does break). We know 
matzah; our tribe has eaten 
matzah since biblical times. 
So, it may seem odd to ask, 
“When did a matzah get 
that way?”
Square: The matzah 
got square when Isaac 
Singer invented the matzah 
machine in 1838 in France. 
(Fun fact: T 
his is a different 
Isaac Singer from the one 
who invented a sewing 
machine in 1850 in New 
York.) 
Singer’
s matzah machine 
made a rectangular product; 
before that, matzah was 
round. Some rabbis 
immediately objected to 
the machine-made matzah, 
either because the baker 
must intend to make a 
matzah (and how can a 
machine have intention?) 
or because the machines 
put people out of work. 
But most of the Jewish 
community in Europe 
accepted it.
Thin: Everyone made thin 
matzah — but how thin? 

In the 16th century, Rabbi 
Yosef Karo recommended 
not to make it as thick as a 
handbreadth. In subsequent 
centuries, authorities 
describe matzah as “thick 
as a thumb” — still way 
thicker than machine-made 
matzah. 
Hard and breakable: In 
Talmudic times, the bakers 
would stick the dough to 
the wall of the oven and 
flip it off the wall with a 
peel when the matzah was 
sufficiently baked. 
Lasts forever: Because 
machine-made matzah 
never gets stale, it became 
a valuable product in urban 
Europe. Matzah bakers 
could begin producing it 
months in advance. In more 
rural places, some people 
made ultra-thin matzah 
by hand, but others made 
soft, thick matzah. They 
had to make the softer, 
thicker matzah right before 
the holiday so it would not 
spoil.
More than a century 
has elapsed since many 
communities last saw a 
thick, soft matzah. Now that 
we have freezers, though, 
we can make soft, thick 
matzah long in advance. 

MAKING SOFT MATZAH
Matzah, whether thin or 
thick, has a remarkably 

LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

It doesn’
t have to be hard and square.

Make Your Own 
(Soft?) Matzah

Passover

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34_DJN040220_PO Soft Matzah April2.indd 34
34_DJN040220_PO Soft Matzah April2.indd 34
3/30/20 1:49 PM
3/30/20 1:49 PM