After the dust settles, there are four different minhagim throughout Klal Yisrael regarding how to address machine matzos, and everyone should go according to the minhag of his family and his rebbeim.
Minhag #1 - Only Hand Matzah
The minhag of most chassidic communities, especially Sanz, Chabad and Ger, is to eat only hand matzos, based on the Divrei Chaim and Chiddushei HaRim who referred to machine matzos as “chometz gamur” [complete chometz].
When the Divrei Chaim came out against machine matzos, he said that he doesn’t want to reveal the reason why. HaGaon HaKadosh Rabbeinu Yoel of Satmar zt”l (Shu”t Divrei Yoel, Vol. 1, Yoreh Deah 35, ois 5) explains that when it came to tzitzis (Shu”t Divrei Chaim, Tinyona, Orach Chaim 1) the Divrei Chaim explained himself, as he writes that it is known that machines change and are updated every day, and if he would write what was wrong with a specific type of machine, people would create a machine which gets around these problems. Then a new machine will be invented which will have some of the original problems, and people will say since the previous machine was good this one is too and forget to realize that this new machine actually has some of the original problems.
The Divrei Yoel quotes a Sdei Chemed who says a similar thing, and says: שהיתר הנעשה על ידי תיקון, כעבור זמן התיקון מתבטל וההיתר נשאר – “A heter which came about via making various improvements, after a while these improvements may no longer take place, and the heter will still remain.”
According to HaRav Moshe Aryeh Freund zt”l (Haggadah Shel Pesach, Ateres Yehoshua, pg. 88, ois 113) in the name of HaRav Moshe of Shinava zt”l, one who follows the custom of the Divrei Chaim who holds that machine matzos are chometz gomur, if one has such matzos in his house over Pesach, they are considered חמץ שעבר עליו הפסח – chometz that has had Pesach pass over it, in spite of all the stringencies and adaptions they have come up with, and he refused to sign the eidah chareidis kashrus certificate for machine matzos. However, he writes that one may buy such matzos after Pesach from a Yid who holds that they are permissible on Pesach.
The Nitei Gavriel (Pesach, Vol. 1, Perek 60, sif 16) brings from the Klausenberger Rebbe, that even for those that are stringent like the Divrei Chaim, machine matzos are not considered חמץ שעבר עליו הפסח.
New Ovens
Rav Moshe Sternbuch shlita writes in Teshuvos V’Hanhagos (4:100; Haggadah Shel Pesach, Ta’am V’Da’as pg. 15) that the old problems and concerns of those who forbade machine matzos due to the concern that they are chometz, no longer apply with today’s sophisticated machinery.
For several years now, Rav Menachem Mendel Eisenberg shlita, (in his kuntros ‘Matzos Mechunah HaChadeishos’) has pointed out that new issues have arisen with the way machine matzos have been made for over fifty years now, due to the length of the opening of the ovens, and the crispiness of the matzos. See pg. 32 of the kuntros where he brings a long letter from R’ Ben Tzion HaLevi Wosner shlita, where he writes that we need to be worried about the issue of proper chometz, due to the changes that are being made with ovens used for machine matzos.
In Teshuvos V’Hanhagos (4:100) R’ Moshe references these concerns; however, he concludes that he isn’t coming to forbid such matzos, and meikar hadin [according to strict halachah] they are kosher. He is simply coming to bring to people’s attention these concerns and advising that it is better to eat hand matzos, like what our ancestors ate.
It should be noted that the HaRav Yaakov Blau zt”l, examined and investigated all the claims against the new matzah bakeries, and gave a hechsher to the machine matzos made under the supervision of Badatz, and he labeled such matzos as “mehadrin min hamehadrin” without any doubt.
Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l related that his father the Steipler zt”l once brought for his children machine matzah, and when the Chazon Ish saw this, he screamed and said: האם אתם מחזיקים חמץ - “Do you keep chometz?”, and from then on his father made sure not to have such matzos in his house over Pesach. (Ma’aseh Ish, Vol. 5, pg. 19; Kuntros Sha’arei Ish pg. 28).
They also bring in the name of the Chazon Ish (Kovetz Igros, Vol. 1, letter 185, ois 19) that the entire matzah process should be carried out with manpower and not with machines. R’ Nissim Karelitz zt”l (Chut Shoni, Hilchos Pesach pg. 148) explains that although in regard to tzitzis the Chazon Ish held that a machine is considered lishmah (like we mentioned above), when it came to matzos he was worried that machines are no good and that the matzos may end up becoming chometz.
On the other hand, it is said over that the Chazon Ish brought for his wife machine matzos with a good hechsher, and that when the Chazon Ish was in Kosova (קוסובא) he ate machine matzos together with his family and the only reason he expressed that machine matzos were chometz, was because they came from a certain bakery in Tel Aviv, which didn’t watch the matzos properly to ensure they didn’t become chometz.
In the sefer Kol Mishaloisecha it’s written in the name of R’ Chaim Kanievsky that nowadays machines have become more sophisticated and there is no fear of the matzos becoming chometz.
As is known, the Brisker Rav (Haggadah Shel Pesach, MiBeis HaLevi pg. 9) was particular to eat only hand matzos and not machine. Some explain that his reasoning was, that on hand matzos we have a mesorah, since this is exactly how our ancestors and forefathers baked their matzos when coming out of Mitzrayim and until today (די אכלו אבהתנא בארעא דמצרים ), however, on the new machine matzos we have no mesorah. Without a source, we can’t innovate new things, חדש אסור מן התורה – “new things if forbidden from the Torah” and although some argue that machine matzos are more mehudar:אנחנו לא צריכים להחמיר יותר ממשה רבינו – “there is no need for us to be more stringent than Moshe Rabbeinu.”
Minhag #2 - Only Machine Matzah
The minhag Yerushalayim dating back many years has been to use machine matzos. R’ Dovid Baron zt”l and his brother R’ Shlomah Zalman Baron zt”l; R’ Yisrael Yaakov Fisher zt”l; R’ Isser Zalman Meltzer zt”l and R’ Moshe Mordechai Epstein zt”l all used machine matzos. Likewise, kehillos of German ascent and many Hungarian kehillos also use machine matzos on Seder night. They argue that machine matzos are made lishmah lemehadrin. Those that eat only machine matzos argue that machine matzos are more mehudar than hand matzos and there is less of a concern of chometz when matzos are made by machine. R’ Dovid Baron zt”l was careful not to allow any hand matzos into his home over Pesach, as he was concerned that they may be chometz (Arach Dovid, pg. 99).
The sefer Arach Dovid (pg. 101, see inside for four different versions of the story) describes a terrible incident that once happened. A certain mechutzaf [brazen person] on motzei Pesach asked R’ Zalman Baron zt”l for some machine matzah as he wanted to fulfill the minhag of eating chometz on motzei Pesach. R’ Baron gave him some matzah, and he chocked and died immediately after eating it. R’ Zalman Baron attened the levayah and asked from him mechilah [forgiveness].
R’ Sroya Davlitsky zt”l writes that the machine matzos in Yerushalayim in the days of old were manual and not run with electricity (in those days there was no electricity in Yerushalayim). Additionaly, some of the operations were done manually without the help of a machine, and therefore they were considered lishmah. However, with modern machines that operate electrically from the beginning of the process to the end of the baking, there is no proof that this is considered lishmah.
Minhag #3 - Hand Matzos for Seder Night and Machine for the Rest of Pesach
The common custom throughout Klal Yisrael is to eat hand matzos for the obligatory kezaysim on Seder night, and machine matzos for the rest of Pesach. The reason for this is, when it comes to the mitzvah de’O’raisa on Seder night we are more stringent and worried that perhaps machine matzos are not considered lishmah. For the rest of Pesach, however, even for those that want to fulfill the opinion of the Gaon that there is a mitzvah kiyumis to eat matzah the entire Pesach, for this we can rely on the opinions who hold that machine matzah is considered lishmah, and the worst thing that can happen is it will be considered like eating vegetables on Pesach which is not a problem.
Minhag #4 - Hand Matzos as a Chumrah [Stringency]
The Brisker Rav zt”l relates that his father R’ Chaim was lenient even on Seder night to use machine matzos, as in those times the kneading of the dough was done by hand, and the Rash (Challah, Perek 3) writes: שמהלישה יש עליה שם עיסה – “from the time of kneading the dough already has a name of ‘dough’” and once the dough is started off lishmah, it doesn’t matter that the rest of the work is carried out by a machine. However, this is not the case nowadays, when the kneading is also done by machine, and the chumrah returns that now machine matzos are no longer considered lishmah. See Uvdos V’Hanhagos L’Beis Brisk (R’ Shimon Meller, Vol. 2, pg. 71) quoting R’ Dovid Soloveitchik zt”l.
Members of R’ Elyashiv’s household (Mishnas Ish, Leil Seder) recount that he held that machine matzos are considered lishmah, and originally when there were no mehudar hand matzos available he ate machine matzos on Seder night, as he held meikar hadin that they are considered lishmah. However, when R’ Chaim Kanievsky zt”l married his daughter Batshevah Esther, the Steipler starting sending to his mechuton mehudardika hand matzos, and from then on, R’ Elyashiv started to eat hand matzos by the Seder to be mehadar in lishmah. As the years went on he started eating hand matzos throughout the entire Pesach, to gain the opinion of the Gaon.
R’ Shlomah Zalman Auerbach zt”l (Halichos Shlomah, Perek 7, Orchos Halachah 46) had a similar mode of conduct, originally he only ate machine matzos as they were more mehudar, and over the years, after the Chazon Ish and Brisker Rav introduced hiddurim into hand matzah chaburos, he started to use hand matzos for Seder night, due to the advantage of lishmah.
[I heard in a shiur a novel reason for only eating hand matzos. Although machine matzos nowadays may be 100% mehudar, however, there have been many shailos that have come up over the years and machine matzos are considered דבר שנעשה בו שאלת חכם – something which had a halachic question asked about it, and there is a chumrah in Yoreh Deah not to eat something which has had a shailah asked about it.
However, some argue and say, today’s machine matzos are completely different to the one’s that led to great controversy and today’s matzos are not the same ones that had a shailah asked on them.]
Something To Think About
Unfortunately, we don’t have time to go into this issue, but I will leave you with something to think about. If one is machmir to eat only machine matzos on Pesach and he ends up at a meal with someone who eats only hand matzos or vice versa, can they join together to make a zimmun? What do you think.... For Teshuvos that discuss this, see Shu”t Divrei Yatziv, Orach Chaim, siman 201; Shu”t Shevet HaLevi, Orach Chaim 8:117; Ratz K’Tzvi, Pesach, siman 24.
