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I've seen some people (notably Sefardim) who sell "soft" Shmura Matzos (they are flimsy like a wrap).

What is the difference in how they are made?

ertert3terte
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1 Answers1

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See this handy Hebrew/English Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 460

Matzah can be any unleavened bread, up to a tefach thick.

From the time that the flour gets wet, until the final product is baked, one has 18 minutes to bake the matzah. (see Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 442)

Some sefardim have a custom to make a matzah that is soft, like a wrap. It is a little thicker than hard ashkenazi cracker-matzah (but still much less than a tefach).

Sephardic Matzahs use a shorter 15 minute cycle, because these matzahs take up to 2 minutes to bake, compared to Ashkenazi Matzah that bakes only 15-20 seconds in the oven. From here

Note the Rema's comment on 460:4:

"Rema: The matzos should be crackers, and not thick like other bread, because crackers do not rise quickly."

Because of that, Ashkenazi practice is to make matzos like the hard crackers to which many of us are accustomed.

However, see Rabbi Hershel Shachter's opinon, which allows Ashkenazim to eat Sefardi matzah, because "rekikin" doesn't mean cracker specifically, but simply a matzah much thinner than the halachic maximum of tefach.

It should be noted that, even among the majority of Ashkenazi poskim who prefer that Ashkenazim maintain their cracker-matzah minhag, all agree that sefardi matzah is kosher l'pesach, and certainly there is no halachic violation of any kind for an Ashkenazi to eat Sefardi matzah on Pesach.

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    The only paragraph that answered the question was not sourced. (That's paragraph 4) – Double AA Mar 20 '12 at 18:18
  • The question was why some matzah is hard, and some is soft. I sourced why Ashkenazi matzah is hard. By deduction, sefardi matzah doesn't have to be hard. –  Mar 20 '12 at 18:19
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    I think the question was: "What is the difference in how they are made?" It's a baking question. I realize that from the title that may have been unclear, but that's why questions also have bodies, right? – Double AA Mar 20 '12 at 18:21
  • @DoubleAA and Will, I think you both make good points. I think Shmuel should edit the title to clear up his question. I tend to side with DoubleAA (Shmuel? :-P) at the moment. – Seth J Mar 20 '12 at 18:31
  • My original source for the information in question is a shiur I heard in person. However, I stuck in a website that gave more specific cooking time information as well. –  Mar 20 '12 at 18:39
  • Will, the basic law is that the 18 minutes starts from the time the kneading ends. – YDK Mar 21 '12 at 01:12
  • @YDK but in normative practice, ashkenazi matzos get baked MUCH quicker than that, and the sefardi matzos are done within 15 minutes, not 18 - and I'm only going on what I've heard from matzah bakeries, but both Sefardi and Ashkenazi bakeries seem to start the clock from when the flour gets wet. –  Mar 21 '12 at 07:06
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    True. Plus you are technically correct if there is no kneading, so I hereby make a literal retraction of my comment. – YDK Mar 21 '12 at 19:17