Categories: Halacha & Hashkafa / Torah
Daf Yomi
A Matter of Inflation
“Since It Is Baked, It Expands”
(Menachos 94a)
A novel halachic ruling, not ignored by any important posek, was the decision of Rema, citing Maharil (Orach Chayyim 461:5) to forbid a matzah that came out of the oven inflated in the middle (see Chok Yaakov, s.k. 9). Many poskim did not agree with this chiddush. The Taz testified that his father-in-law and mentor, the Bach, discussed this halacha at length but “never forbade it” (see Magen Avraham, ibid, s.k. 13). The sages of Venice also never understood why inflated matzah should be forbidden (Chok Yaakov, ibid., noting that real chametz is only when dough was left to rise before baking).
The Show-Bread, Which Was Matzah, Also Expanded
One of the questions concerning this halacha is indicated in our sugya. Our Gemara explains that when the show-bread was taken out of the oven in the Mishkan and Beis HaMikdash, it was not returned to the container used to form the dough, as during the baking, the volume of the dough increased. “As soon as it was baked, it expanded,” and so had to be placed in a larger container. We thus see that the show-bread, which was not chametz but matzah, expanded during its baking and there was no defect therein. The Ramaz also mentioned this question (Responsa, 52) and disagreed with this halacha. He specifically cites our sugya, saying, “and another clear proof, as we learn in Menachos (94a): ‘as soon as it was baked, it expanded’ – if so, we see that the show-bread was inflated.” He therefore ruled that inflated matzah is kosher.Two Possibilities of Inflated Matzah
One of the poskim who tried to reconcile the Maharil’s opinion was Rabbi Shmuel Abuhav, zt”l, who deals with the question in his Responsa Dvar Shmuel (234 and 374). He explains: “Raised matzah can come about in either of two ways. Sometimes the dough divides in half during baking and a hollow appears between the halves, and yet other times the entire dough expands uniformly (see Bach and Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 33).” Therefore, says Rabbi Abuhav, our Gemara concerns the show-bread matzah which expanded [uniformly] but did not divide in half, and this matzah is allowed. However, as to that which the Maharil forbade, in that instance the matzah divided in half and as such his fear was that it might have become chametz.A Third Possibility for Inflated Matzah
Such was also the view of the Maharam of Lublin – that raised matzah would be permitted – however, where the matzah divided in half, he forbade it. The Taz (Magen Avraham, s.k. 13), on the other hand, maintains that not only matzah with a hollow is allowed but even matzah that expanded should be allowed; it is only matzah which rose like a mountain [unevenly] that is forbidden because of the suspicion that it became chametz at the point where it rose. Uniform expansion, in his view, is a natural phenomenon that does not arouse any suspicion of chametz (see Pri Megadim in Mishbetzos Zahav, s.k. 6, and Shaarei Teshuvah at the end of the siman). According to this opinion, our Gemara discusses matzah which expanded naturally and evenly, whereas the Maharil postulates regarding matzah which rose only partially. However, we encounter a great difficulty in understanding this distinction. The difficulty with the Maharil’s opinion is its contrast to our Gemara, which recounts that the show-bread expanded. How can the Maharil disqualify inflated matzah? We must therefore understand the Gemara clearly. Do we know that the Gemara means matzah that expanded upwards? Maybe it means that it expanded to its sides. The Gemara’s meaning may possibly be that after baking, the bread could not be returned to its original container as it had expanded. If it expanded upwards, why is it so hard to return it to the same container? We must say that the Gemara means that it expanded to its sides, and therefore there is no difficulty in understanding the Maharil. Indeed, Shaarei Teshuvah (s.k. 5) discusses this question at length but concludes that Rabbi Abuhav understood the Gemara to mean that the matzah expanded [uniformly] in all directions. The Ramaz (ibid.) helps us to understand the matter. He indicates that the show-bread [only] expanded upwards and to such an extent that there was a need to put it in containers with higher sides, as it was soft, and without proper support, its unique form could be ruined.Well, is it Kosher?
In practice, the custom for many generations is to forbid all sorts of inflated matzah, both matzah which expanded uniformly and matzah divided lengthwise (Magen Avraham and Chok Yaakov, ibid; Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 33). Some, however, wanted to maintain this custom in countries where matzos were very thick, but not in places with thin matzos (Responsa Dvar Shmuel, ibid; Shaarei Teshuvah, s.k. 6; Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 35).Perforating Matzos
Indeed, the Aruch HaShulchan (461:12) testifies: “We never forbade inflated matzah. Thin matzos that become inflated are known to usually occur because of insufficient perforation or due to the strength of the fire [the very high temperature]” The Mishnah Berurah cites this opinion in the name of “some Acharonim” but does not decide the issue (see Piskei Teshuvos there). Indeed, the reason we perforate the dough before baking is also because of these suspicions.An Inflated Matzah in a Pack of Matzos
Another question is if an inflated matzah becomes mixed in a pack of matzos. Does it forbid the entire package as well as hot utensils that it touches? The Mishnah Berurah (ibid) writes: “It seems that, at any rate, we should behave leniently if the inflated matzah is mixed in a majority of 60, especially with thin matzos such as ours; even if one wants to behave strictly, at any rate one should not be strict concerning mixtures.”
