WHAT IS MATZA
|
The Same Dough Matza and bread/Chamets are almost identical, both can be baked from the same dough. Bread/Chamets dough however is altered by the action of yeast. Yeast Yeast is a microscopic living organism found all over the world. It is blown about by winds and carried upon our person, clothes, buses and aeroplanes. The only places free of yeast organisms are the super filtered ‘clean rooms’ used for manufacturing computer chips where any speck of dust or a single yeast organism will wreck the integrity of the chips. Yeast makes dough rise as it consumes sugars and produces carbon dioxide gas. It also produces alcohol and converts grape juice to wine and apple/pear juice to cider. Dough is sticky and elastic, it captures this gas which forms little bubbles. These thousands of bubbles make dough rise, which makes bread spongy. Yeast also produces this gas in juice where it floats to the surface and escapes. However, if the bottle is sealed, the pressure builds up [that is why champagne bottles are sturdier than wine bottles] which prevents the gas escaping from the liquid. When the bottle is opened the pressure is released and the gas escapes from the liquid. The yeast is neutralised with the heat of baking or the alcohol it produces. So, all flour and water already has yeast in it, but not enough to make the dough rise rapidly. However, with time, moisture and warmth, it will multiply and make the dough rise. Nevertheless, halacha considers 18 minutes to be enough time to arouse suspicion that dough may begin becoming Chamets. Halacha also determines various circumstances that can accelerate the process and create the Chamets risk in even less than 18 minutes. These days even with added yeast, bread requires far more than 18 minutes to fully rise. Risky Chamets Halachah warns that to avoid the Chamets risk, the dough must be processed very quickly and kept cool; sunlight may not shine directly upon the dough. Aside from the command to eat Matza and not eat Chamets, the Torah imposes a special obligation to ‘guard’, ensure, that Matza not become Chamets. [OCh 453:4; preferably from the time of harvest; or at a minimum, from milling; or in extenuating circumstances, from kneading. This is ‘Shemurah’ Matza, it has been purposefully ‘guarded’ to ensure it not become Chamets, as opposed to Matza that was produced in the same manner from the same ingredients but was not specifically monitored to ensure it not become Chamets. Non Shemurah Matza may be consumed during Pesach, it is not Chamets [554:2 and MBerrurah] but only Shemurah Matza can be used for the Mitzvah of eating Matza at the Seder.] Moisture & Milling The fact is though, that all wheat has some moisture in it; at harvest 15 to 22%, [and significantly more for wheat harvested for Shemurah Matza which is still ‘in the green’ [MBerrurah 467:17] before it has fully ripened – this to avoid the risk of it possibly becoming Chamets if it gets wet [rained on] once it is fully ripened [MBerrurah [467:18] ‘light’ rain poses no problem]. Prior to full ripening it cannot become Chamets, [OCh 467:5]. Once harvested it can become Chamets if it becomes wet, even when green]. Harvested wheat will also absorb moisture especially in humid climates. That is why, wheat being purchased by weight, has its price adjusted according to its moisture level. Wheat is often tempered or conditioned [dampened] in order to facilitate producing clean white flour. A certain level of moisture helps remove the outer, brown coloured, bran shell and produce bright white flour, free of the dark bran, ‘ash’. This is best accomplished by breaking the bran into a couple of large fragments which are easily separated. If not removed, the flour looks dirty. [Shemurah Matza and more noticeably its meal is invariably heavily speckled whereas the regular KLP Matza and its meal is much whiter] Tempering barely makes them damp [an OU representative writes that he personally verified this. link] Besides, the moisture is quickly absorbed. Tempering usually establishes 15-16%, significantly less than the moisture level at harvest. [After harvest the farmers dry the wheat to prevent mould growth and make transport more economical] Before milling the tempered wheat rests for 8-32 hours. Aside from the moisture, tempering presents an additional Chamets risk as sometimes the grain is warmed [23-27°C] to optimise absorption. The friction of milling also warms the flour. [as does kneading, especially the high speed machines. Furthermore, the less water in the dough, as is the norm with Matza, especially hand Matza, the greater the warming via friction. To counter this, commercial bread bakeries add crushed ice when kneading.] Halacha however, identifies the moisture naturally found in wheat [OCh 463:1] not as water but as ‘juice’ which cannot make Chamets – מֻתָּר לַחְרֹךְ שְׁנֵי שִׁבֳּלִים בְּיַחַד, וְלֹא חַיְישִׁינָן שֶׁמָּא יֵצְאוּ מַיִם מֵאַחַת לַחֲבֶרְתָּהּ, שֶׁהֵם מֵי פֵּרוֹת וְאֵינָם מַחְמִיצִים. Gebrochts Heat decommissions and permanently prevents wheat and flour becoming Chamets. However, we no longer possess the skills to accomplish this by plunging it into boiling water [454:3]. Nevertheless, after baking, Matza cannot become Chamets – and that is why we use Matza Mehl [meal] during Pesach in lieu of flour, it cannot become Chamets. The tradition to not eat Gebrochts [Matza that has been soaked] emerges from the time when soft and spongy Matza was baked fresh daily, at home, during Pesach [MBerrurah 486:3] Such Matza may not have been fully baked [when torn apart threads of dough stretch between the two pieces]. In order to make MMehl this Matsa was not crushed but abraded on a grater, a ‘rib ayzen’ [Pischei Teshuvah ???:?]. As home baking became an undesireable chore and more and more were obtaining their bread form the neighbourhood bakery business, those skills became eroded, and with it the confidence to produce Matsa during Pesach which may become Chamets. The risk, even though small, that some non-fully baked Matza which would very likely be Chamets, and may have been inadvertently processed into MMehl where it could not be detected, was enough to discourage/ban producing it from soft Matsa. So even whilst soft spongy Matsa was baked during Pesach it was used only for eating. MMehl was crushed from Matsa baked hard and crisp. This probably cast a pall on using MMehl which eventually morphed into an accepted community standard to not use any MMehl for cooking/baking during Pesach. As average households continued to lose confidence in their baking skills, Matsa baking proceeded to transition from being a domestic soft spongy pita Matsa process, to a commercial operation which in order to meet demand, produced well in advance of Pesach leaving them no option but to bake Matsa crisp and hard in order to prevent it becoming mouldy. Nevertheless, the Gebrochts custom persisted. |
