Bible Encyclopedias
Ma??ah

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

Bread that is free from leaven or other foreign elements. It is kneaded with water and without yeast or any other chemical effervescent substance, and is hastily prepared to prevent the dough from undergoing the process of spontaneous fermentation, which would make it "?ame?" (leavened bread). The word is derived from the Hebrew root ("to compress" or "to extract"). "Ma??ah," in the singular form, is found only in Leviticus (2:5, 8:26) and Numbers (6:19); elsewhere it occurs in the plural. The ma??ah was the primitive form of bread. The discovery of the leavening process not only resulted in an increase in the mass of the dough, but made the bread more palatable. Ma??ah, however, still remained the poor man's bread, as he could not afford to wait even twenty-four hours for it to leaven; and it was called therefore "le?em'oni" (the bread of the poor; Deuteronomy 16:3). Ma??ah was necessary, also, when a meal was to be prepared at short notice for an unexpected guest; for example, at the reception of the angels by Abraham (Genesis 18:6), or at Sodom by Lot (Genesis 19:3), or for Saul by the witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28:24). The usual form of the plain ma??ah was that of a round cake ("ugah"); this is the usual form of bread eaten today in Syria and Palestine.

The Use of Ma??ah.

The ma??ah offered at sacrifices was of various forms�"le?em" (lit.= "bread"), "?allah" (= "loaf"), "ra?i?" (= "wafer"); the latter two were mixed or spread with oil (Exodus 29:2). Ma??ot were required to be absolutely pure, as neither leaven nor honey was permitted in connection with sacrifices (Leviticus 2:11). The reason assigned is that ma??ah is a symbol of purity, while leaven represents the evil impulse of the heart (Ber. 17a). Ma??ah was partaken of with the lamb on Passover eve (Exodus 12:8) because the lamb was considered an offering to the Lord. The eating of ma??ot during the seven days of the Passover festival is intended to recall the hurried departure from Egypt, which event must be commemorated (Exodus 12:14,17,39; Deuteronomy 16:4) on every anniversary.

A Symbol of Freedom.

The Zohar calls ma??ah "na?ama 'illa'ah" (heavenly bread), an antidote to the Egyptian slavery and corruption and a symbol of freedom and idealism. Ma??ah was to cure Israel and prepare him for the acceptance of the Torah (Zohar, Te?awweh, p. 183b, Wilna, 1882).

Nevertheless, the eating of ma??ah during Passover, unlike the prohibition against eating ?ame?, is not imperative; it is a voluntary act ("reshut"). That is, a Jew may abstain from eating both ?ame? and ma??ah, except on the first eve, when the eating of ma??ah is obligatory ("?obah"). This is deduced from the passage, "Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread" (Deuteronomy 16:8), though the other passages command that ma??ot shall be eaten seven days (Pes. 120a). In accordance with this distinction, the ma??ah of the first night is called "ma??at mi?wah" (= the "precept ma??ah") or "ma??at shemirah" (= the "observance ma??ah," based on Exodus 12:7); it must be specially prepared and preserved for Passover eve (Pes. 38b). The special care of the "shemirah" consists in watching the wheat during harvesting, milling, and baking, that it shall not become leavened, either by rain swelling the grains or dampening the flour, or by too much kneading and slow baking. The shemirah is used principally for the Seder nights, while the more pious use such ma??ot every day of the Passover festival. The ordinary ma??ah is prepared of "?ema? min ha-shu?" (flour purchased at the market), and the bakers are careful only during the process of kneading and baking. The ordinary ma??ah may be used for the first night's meal, when eating ma??ah is obligatory. Yet even the market flour must be made only of wheat, barley, spelt, oats, or rye (Pes. 2:5), rice and a species of millet being excepted (Pes. 35a).

"Mayim She-Lanu."

On the theory that at night the sun underneath the earth warms the wells and rivers below and makes the water tepid (Pes. 94b), R. Judah ordered that the kneading for ma??ah shall be done with "mayim she-lanu" (water that has "lodged" overnight at home and has been exposed to the cold night air). The aim is to have the water for kneading as cold as possible in order to prevent the fermentation of the dough (Shul?an 'Aruk, Ora? ?ayyim, 455, 2). Although not necessarily againstthe Law, it is the custom to omit salt or seasoning from the ma??ah (c. 455, 5).

The size of each mass of dough for ma??ah may not exceed one-tenth of an ephah, equal to 43 15 medium-sized hens' eggs, and the time allowed for preparing it is the time required for a journey of a mile (= 2,000 cubits), that is, about twenty-seven minutes (c. 456, 1; 459, 2). However, a continuous kneading and frequent hand-washings in cold water may extend the time. According to R. Gamaliel, the preparation of the ma??ah was performed by three women: one kneaded the dough, another formed the ma??ah, and the third baked it (Pes. 3:4).

Size and Shape.

The thickness of the ma??ah must not exceed the size of a closed fist, four fingers or four inches, which was the thickness of the show bread. A later custom was to make ma??ah one finger thick ("Bet Hillel," Yoreh De'ah, No. 96). In modern times the ma??ah is much thinner, varying from four to five ma??ot to the inch, and is made in round form about twelve inches in diameter. In about 1875 ma??ah-baking machinery was invented in England, and soon after introduced in America. Some rabbis opposed the innovation, claiming that the corners of the machine-made ma??ah were trimmed round in a subsequent operation, thus prolonging the time and causing fermentation; as a result of their protest the form of the ma??ah was changed to a square. Still, there are a great many, perhaps a majority, who use round, machine-made ma??ot, while there are many pious ones who would use no other than hand-made ma??ot. Eisenberg, at Kiev, Russia, recently invented a ma??ah-machine capable of baking 15 poods (about 541 pounds) of dough in one or two hours ("Der Jud," 1902, No. 9).

The "Reidel."

The perforation of the ma??ah, after being rolled into shape, and before baking, was for the purpose of keeping it from raising and swelling in baking. It appears that in the early centuries the perforation of the ma??ah was quite artistic. In the house of R. Gamaliel the perforations of the ma??ot represented figures. Evidently the perforating was done with an implement that looked like a comb, as the word "seri?in" indicates. The figures were those of animals, flowers, etc. Artistic perforation was later prohibited, as it consumed too much time and caused fermentation. Baytus b. Zonin suggested stamping the ma??ah with ready-made figured plates, but was opposed on the ground that no discrimination must be made in favor of any particular kind of perforation (Pes. 37a). R. Isaac b. Gayyat says the figures represented Greeks, doves, andfishes. Maimonides permits any fancy design if made by a professional baker, as he does it quickly ("Yad," ?ame? u-Ma??ah, 5:15). In later periods the perforating implement was a wheel, called the "reidel," provided with sharp teeth and attached to a handle. The perforator, usually a youth, would run his reidel through the ma??ah in lines crossed at right angles and about one inch apart. The ma??ah-machine has an automatic perforator that makes lines at intervals of a half inch.

The baking of pudding, fillings, or sponge-cake out of ordinary flour is prohibited during Passover for fear of fermentation in consequence of the delays in preparation. But it is permitted to make all kinds of pastry out of ma??ah-flour, as no fermentation is possible after the flour is baked. For baking and cooking with ma??ah-flour see See COOKERY. Ordinary flour may be kneaded with pure fruit-juices, with eggs, or with honey, as no fermentation is possible with them. This is called "rich ma??ah," and may be eaten on Passover, except on the first night, when the regular ma??ah, or le?em'oni, is obligatory (Pes. 36a). In the early centuries ma??ah-baking was done by the wife daily, for the household's use. In the Middle Ages preparations were made to bake ma??ot thirty days before Passover, except the ma??ah shemirah, which was baked in the afternoon of the 14th of Nisan, at the time when the Passover lamb was formerly sacrificed (Ora? ?ayyim, 453, 4). Still later, when the community had a communal oven, it was incumbent on the "lord of the house" to superintend the ma??ah-baking for his family (see "Am. Jew. Hist. Soc." 9:70).

Ma??ah-Baking as an Industry.

In America ma??ah-baking is an important industry. In New York city alone, in 1904, 10,000 barrels of flour were used in making about 1,700,000 pounds of ma??ah, distributed among fifteen bakers, one of them making ma??ah by hand, and one small bakery making ma??ah shemirah. The larger bakeries commence work four or five months before Passover. New York supplies many cities in the United States and Canada with ma??ah. Other large ma??ah-making centers are Chicago, Pittsburg, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Ma??ot have become popular among non-Jews, who use them as tea-biscuits. R. Jacob M�ln (d. 1420), in his "Sefer Maharil," mentions the custom, in baking ma??ot, of starting the fire with the willows used for Hosha'na and for the lulab.

At the Seder.

It is forbidden to eat ma??ah on the day before Passover, in order that it may be more palatable on the evening of Passover. The three ma??ah-cakes used at the Seder service on Passover eve are placed one on the other in a plate or in a threefold cover specially made for the occasion. The three ma??ah-cakes are distinguished as "Kohen," "Levi," and "Israel." The fourth order of the Seder is Ya?az, in which the middle ma??ah ("Levi") is broken into two parts, the larger being put aside as afi?omen, with which the meal is finished; the smaller part isleft between "Kohen" and "Israel." When the Haggadah is recited the ma??ot are uncovered and exposed to view. The eighth order of the Seder is Ma??ah; in it a piece of the "Kohen" and a piece of the "Levi" are eaten after the benedictions "Ha-Mo?i" and "Ma??ah." The "Israel" is eaten during the tenth order, Korek, with the bitter herbs, as practised by Hillel.

An ancient custom, which still prevails in some parts of the Orient and in Europe, is to keep a single ma??ah hanging on the interior wall of the synagogue all the year in strict observance of the passage "That thou mayest remember the day when thou camest out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life" (Deuteronomy 16:3). AFI?OMEN; BLOOD ACCUSATION; LEAVEN; PASSOVER; SEDER.