Home › Forums › Decaffeinated Coffee › Israeli vs. American hand shmura matzo › Reply To: Israeli vs. American hand shmura matzo
mods, this my third attempt to weigh in on this. This not to sneer at Israel made matzot but caveat emptor. I am eye witness to a scene where commercialism trumped halacha on the watch of a Badat’z.
This is a bakery where multiple doughs are worked under heavy crushing pins while the rollers roll in succession and have two tables to alternate. I understand this is a common process here. I was standing there when the 18 minute timer expired. The first table was stripped down and repapered, while the rollers wiped their stainless rolling pins with rags from a trough sink. They did not wash their hands and went to work at the next table ! This is in distinction to what I saw in NY where the cleaning of everything is done by others while the rollers wash their hands and present their 500 fingernails to a mashgiach. I personally regard the former as chometz , while I did not avoid hand matzot (I am home baker for 30 yrs) having seen what I did, I no longer use commercial hand matzoh.
Halacha quotes many deos telling baale nesfesh to be present and/or involved in the production of ones own matzas \mitzva, this is difficult or worse if you are OOT and certainly if OOC (ON OTHER CONTINENT). Keep it local rabosai, and for anyone contemplating the jump to home baked, I have nearly given tutorials in other thread.
Thank you for that which was omitted