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The Rama in 460:4 writes that one should make thin matzos and the Mishna Brurah 16 writes it should be thin. Rav Nebontzol (in his notes on the Mishna Brurah) points out the Be'er Heitiv 8 which writes the custom is to make it an etzbah thick, yet Rav Nebontzol writes further that such is not our custom; he adds that Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach held the custom of the Ashkenazim is to make the matzah as thin as possible.

Which Ashkenazic Poskim allow the soft* type of matzah for Pesach? Even though it may fit the requirement of the Rama, does one need a special mesorah to eat the this soft type of matza?

I know many people who would not eat it on Pesach, and certainly not for the mitzvah.

*Definition of the soft matzah: it is around a half inch thick and is soft.

Double AA
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sam
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  • Related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/27356 – Fred Mar 24 '14 at 02:23
  • My suspicion is that poskim who are medayik about gebruchts are going to forbid or at least frown on soft matzoh while those who are unconcerned with gebruchts are going to permit it. – Tatpurusha Mar 24 '14 at 03:10
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    @Tatpurusha I would guess that those poskim who think wearing the clothes that happened to be popular in Poland constitutes a minhag will also think that baking the matza the way they happened to do it in Poland would constitute a minhag. – Double AA Mar 24 '14 at 03:36
  • Soft matzah for everyone! And kitniyos too...Really... – Yehoshua Apr 22 '16 at 01:30
  • @Tatpurusha I've talked to a rov who doesn't personally eat gebrokts (although it's because of family minhag, not medayikdus) and who is lenient on soft matzah – SAH May 10 '16 at 08:30
  • I second that,I know of a great Posek Hador who eats gebrokts but doesn't allow eating the soft matzah – sam May 12 '16 at 12:44
  • http://www.havabooks.co.il/smsSearch.asp?q=%D7%9E%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%AA%20%D7%A8%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%AA&page=1 R Aviner says it's Mutar – Double AA Sep 22 '16 at 04:12
  • http://www.zomet.org.il/?CategoryID=160&ArticleID=8812 quotes R Nachum Rabinovich and R Shmuel Eliyahu as permitting – Double AA Mar 28 '18 at 18:39
  • Off topic, but how do they do it? Do they make a thinner batter so that the heat can reach the inside? How do they knead it and roll it if it is all sticky? – MichoelR Apr 24 '23 at 14:41

1 Answers1

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Rav Herschel Schachter wrote a Teshuvah several years ago that Ashkenazim may eat soft Matzah, which made some waves. There was controversy not from the Teshuvah, but from some individuals claiming that he was endorsing something specific, which he clarified later he was not doing. See here* for a discussion of the issues, including his Teshuvah presented and explained a bit near the end, along with some other, related opinions about it.

Seth J
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