Meanwhile, a source in Australia managed to get me a copy of a letter sent to the Australian Jewish News early Friday morning Australia time by the rabbi who supervises Australia's soft matzoh production:
Dear Sir,
I submit the following for publication in response to Zeddy Lawrence's article, "Going soft on Matza" April 8, 2011
Hillel, who is celebrated in our Hagadah for making a sandwich, in fact did no such thing. Hillel ate a wrap not a sandwich. The word Korech means to roll up. Hillel rolled up his Matza and ate Marror and meat of the Paschal lamb inside his Matza.
There is no question that the great-grandparents of our great-grandparents were eating soft Matza. At that time there was no other Matza but soft Matza. It was baked daily or every other day as a soft pita type of bread. Soft Matza is a living tradition widely maintained by the Sefaradi communities.
Our greatest Halachic Authorities of the Ashkenasi traditions, the Mishneh Berurah, the BaAl HaTanya and the Aruch HaShulchan all speak of soft Matza as a perfectly acceptable and normal product.
Rabbi Schachter, head of Yeshivah University and consulting authority for OU Kashrut, has written that Jews of all backgrounds may eat soft Matza.
HaRav Elyashiv has inspected samples of Exodus soft Matza and approved them for Jews of all traditions. This was relayed to me in writing by HaRav Z Weitman the Rav of Tnuva. This information, facsimiles and more is available on the ExodusMatza website. Unattributed statements circulated in HaRav Elyashiv's name lack credibility.
Matza became a dry hard product in order to give it a prolonged shelf life. My research has found no mention in any Halachic work suggesting that Matza should be dry and hard. I invite comment through my email, [email protected].
I will also affirm that Matza manufactured under my Kosher certificate is made to the highest Kosher-for-Passover standards and is likely to be the most Mehudar Matza available today. It is made with speed that can not be matched by other hand or machine processes; from Kosher for Passover flour that I have supervised from harvest; is baked to the strictest Halachic standards, and contains no Kitniyot.
Rabbi Rabi's website explains the origin of hard matzoh:
Matza according to Halacha and our ancient traditions was soft and thick, resembling a very thick pita. Flour and water were kneaded as a soft dough and placed in a mud oven or on hot bricks. The heat converted the moisture in the dough to steam which inflated the product. Yemenite Jews still bake their soft matza in an oven called a tabun.
Soft Matza is still a widely maintained practice amongst Sefardic communities. This Matza is soft and thick and is delicious when fresh but quickly becomes stale and mouldy. It is not surprising that the Halacha and tradition provide guidance for baking fresh Matza during the festival of Pesach. The Aruch Hashulchan records it thus: “It is known that in the early times, they did not bake all of their matzos before Pesach, but bake them fresh daily.”
Rabbi Moshe Isserlis, the Rama (1520- 1572 CE), suggests that Matza should no longer be made as thick as one Tefach, about 5cm. He says, “Matza should be made like ‘rekikin’ since rekikin become Chametz less quickly”
Rama was not referring to what we today call Rekikin, wafers. The Rekikin referred to by the Rama were as thick as an Etzba,12 mm thick (BaEr Heitev quoting the Beis Hillel). It is impossible that Matzos of that thickness were baked hard and dry.
It appears that the Rama is following the remarkable ruling of Rashi from Pesachim (37a DH Osin Serikin) that thin dough does not become Chamets as quickly as thick dough.
The trend towards hard dry Matza was prompted by the preference not to bake fresh Matza during Pesach and that in order to provide an extended shelf life it was made dry and hard. It is likely though, that the first move was to make it hard and dry in order to guarantee its shelf life. Following this it was made thinner in order to make it easier to chew. This occurred well after the Rama wrote his comment about Rekikin.
As long as ordinary people were baking bread at home all year round, they were familiar with and competent at handling dough. They could easily follow instructions and make Matza on Pesach without risk of making Chamets. One must keep in mind that Chametz produced during Pesach is a far more severe prohibition than Chametz produced before and somehow found in our food or property during Pesach. However, as the communities became more sophisticated, they stopped baking their own bread at home and lost those skills. It now became uncomfortably risky to bake Matza daily during Pesach at home. This prompted the gradual move away from baking Matza during Pesach and having it all baked in advance of Pesach.
And that is the story of how soft Matza became Hard Matza.
Now lets take another look at what the RCV claims Rabbi Elyashiv said:
Note that if this statement is really from Rabbi Elyashiv, he tells two lies:
1. Ashkenazi Jews have no tradition to eat soft matzoh.
2. They [apparently Ashkenazi rabbinic leaders] have never allowed Ashkenazim to eat soft matzoh.
All Jews, Ashkenazi, Sefardi, Yemenite, Italian, Greek, Mizrachi, Central Asian, and Ethiopian ate soft matzoh until 300 to 500 years ago, and as Rabbi Rabi notes, many of these communities continue to eat soft matzoh today.
Hard cracker-like matzoh appears to have originated in Eastern Europe and its use there apparently became widespread during the middle to late 1600s.
Hard matzoh is an innovation. It is a change from what was the universal Jewish tradition for as long as Passover was celebrated. And any conditions that may have existed that prompted the use of hard matzoh no longer exist today.
Soft matzoh can be frozen after baking and then thawed for use. Even without freezing, plastic bags keep bread products fresh much longer than bread boxes (remember those?) or cloth wraps.
Rabbaynu Gershom ate soft matzoh. Rashi ate soft matzoh. Rabbaynu Tam ate soft matzoh. The Tosofists ate soft matzoh. The Rema ate soft matzoh.
There is no basisi in fact to say Ashkenazim have "no tradition to eat soft matzoh" or that Ashkenazi rabbinic leaders "have never allowed the eating of soft matzoh."
Further, there is no clear halakhic reason or explanation for the use of hard matzoh. It seems to be something that happened bit by bit over a period of years – much like the American consumer's shift from very mild, bland coffee prevalent in the 1950s through 1970s, to the more flavorful darker roast coffees we tend to use today – except the shift did not take place due to taste. Instead, it appears to have taken place due to convenience or out of necessity.
But this shift did not leave an identifiable halakhic trail.
If the RCV is accurately representing Rabbi Elyashiv, it should be clear that Rabbi Elyashiv has made a serious error.
Of course, the error – or lie – could be the fault of the RCV or one of Rabbi Elyashiv's handlers.
And, chances are, we'll never know which it is.
Related Post: Rabbi Hershal Schachter approves soft matzoh for all Jews.
Update 4-10-11 8:37 am CST – Rabbi Rabi has now sent the following message to his email list:
Shalom Friends,
I must convey that it has been reported to me in the name of Rav Dovid Aryeh Morgenstein, that HaRav Elyashiv is opposed to Ashkenasim eating soft Matza on Pesach.
Part of the report to me included the following, "Rav Elyashiv said the person representing Australia wanted to claim that there is no minhag there, to which Rav Elyashiv answered that if they are Ashkenazim they may not eat soft matzos even in Australia." This does not comport with the message I received earlier, see http://www.realmatza.com/harav-elyashiv.html
לרבי מאיר שלום רב,
ביקשתי מחבר לקחת את המצות שהשארת לי לרב יוסף שלום אלישיב שליט"א והרב אלישיב ראה את המצות ואמר שהצורה והרכות שלהן איננה מעכבת ואיננה מפריעה לכשרותן.
בברכה,
זאב וייטמן
I do not understand the reversal but must report this and have similarly updated the website.