Now let us turn to Rabbi Hoffman’s claim that “it would be proper, if possible to fulfill this Mitzvah in the manner that our forefathers have done and in a manner acceptable to most authorities.” Let us first deal with the first part of his claim. Rabbi Hoffman’s recommendation that a person should do what his forefathers have done appears to be recommending that people ignore family custom in favor of earlier historical practice. But is it not very problematic to tell people to ignore family minhag? And if he is recommending that people should do what our forefathers did in antiquity, does this mean that everyone should also eat soft matzah, and lettuce rather than horseradish for maror? (And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!)
As for the notion of fulfilling a mitzvah “in a manner acceptable to most authorities” – this is really something that needs to be dealt with in a post on its own, analyzing whether halachah is about dealing with a metaphysical reality or following a correct decision-making process. For now, I will just note the following. If one does not have a particular family custom, or a rav to follow, then following the majority is one option – but another is to research the issue and form one’s own conclusion. It’s not as though hand made matzah is necessarily advantageous – as discussed above, some authorities feel that machine matzah is superior, while others feels that it is, at the very least, perfectly acceptable.
Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, who was considered one of the most significant halachic authorities of the generation, used machine matzos! And if one has a particular family minhag in this area, one should surely not abandon this merely in order to follow a majority of authorities (if it even is a majority of authorities), nor should one abandon it in order to adopt the historical practice of those who lived before machines had been invented. As I noted in my post Seder Historical Realities vs. Seder “Traditions,” the living tradition is very significant, especially on Pesach. Dissuading people from following their traditions is not something to be done lightly.
(And while we’re on the topic of doing mitzvos in the best possible way… the best way of giving tzedakah is to help people towards not needing tzedakah any more. Lemaan Achai is a local charity that excels at this. You can also fulfill the mitzvah of kimche d’Pischa with Lemaan Achai, via scrolling down at this link.)
Sources: Meir Hildesheimer and Yehoshua Liebermann, “The Controversy Surrounding Machine-made Matzot: Halakhic, Social, and Economic Repercussions,” HUCA Vol. 75 (2004), pp. 193-262
Originally published at Rationalist Judaism.