Australian matzah-baking has a long history

In light of the sorry state of the Australian dollar, the cost of imported kosher goods is a particular communal concern as Pesach approaches. Kosher Australia has long suggested that people buy Australian goods to both reduce costs and support the local economy – and simultaneously let local manufacturers know that there is value in their maintaining certified kosher status. However, even this option has been complicated by the increased tendency for food production to move offshore – so that even if kosher supervision is facilitated it involves increased cost for hashgachah that takes place overseas – even where it is possible to work together with the overseas based certifying bodies.

In the 21st century, even machine matzah for general community use is not being commercially baked in Australia anymore but imported from Israel instead. This really is a turnaround in terms of supply of kosher products for the Australian community.

Other than meat, it is Pesach requisites that have traditionally been the subject of most attention in the kashrut field by  newly established communities. Australian history in this regard is worthy of note. Already in the 1830s a few individuals in Sydney baked their own “motzos” – following basic principles to the best of their knowledge and ability.

The first matzot to be manufactured in Australia on a commercial basis were baked in Sydney. As early as 1844, Melbourne Hebrew Congregation (MHC) made formal arrangements for the import of matzah from Sydney (individuals may already have done so in earlier years). By 1856, matzot were baked in Melbourne under the supervision of the then minister of MHC, Reverend Moses Rintel. The question of their kashrut was taken very seriously; contemporary archival material contains references to aspersions as to their kashrut and defence of manufacturing procedures.

In 1871, there was even a significant local dispute as to whether matzot could be made by machine (paralleling the contemporary dispute among halachic authorities in Europe). The Joint Committee of the Melbourne Hebrew Congregations advised that the chief rabbi of England, Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler, ruled that only handmade matzot could be used. Notices to that effect were placed in the daily paper – and on the door of every Victorian shule (including those in Ballarat, Geelong and Sandhurst, Bendigo). However, the following year, Melbourne bowed to the march of progress, and machine matzot were manufactured under local supervision.
Concerns over Pesach costs are not new; throughout the 19th century, the question of the cost of matzot (six to eight pence a pound) was a point of discussion in the press. The first Mishnah in the tenth chapter of Tractate Pesachim stresses that even those dependent on public kitchens needed to be provided with basic seder needs.

In line with longstanding tradition, communal charitable organisations ensured the availability of matzot for those unable to afford them. During the Depression of the 1890s, Melbourne had a “Charity Funerals and Motzos Distribution Board”; in earlier decades the synagogues would consider applications for funds for Pesach requisites.

By the early 20th century, the Snider firm of matzah bakers (subsequently  Snider Carmel) became the major provider of matzot to the Melbourne community. In the immediate postwar years, its matzot were available under the supervision of the Melbourne Beth Din, but the new Orthodox arrivals sought other arrangements. In the early 1950s, these came to include matzot shmurah under the hechsher of Rabbi Abramson, baked in Sydney. Matzot shmurah (whether baked by hand or machine) are made from flour manufactured from grain supervised from the time of harvesting to ensure no contact with water. Flour for ordinary matzot is only supervised from the time it is milled.

Soon after the arrival of its pioneers, the fledgling Adass community began to manufacture matzah in Melbourne; apparently in 1949 they used flour privately hand-ground with the aid of a coffee mill. Subsequent years also saw the baking of matzot mitzvah on Erev Pesach in Koppel’s bread bakery, where one of the ovens was decommissioned from bread baking some time before Pesach, and thoroughly koshered under Rabbi Bezalel Stern’s supervision. (Matzot mitzvah are those baked on Erev Pesach for use at the seder).

The arrival of the early Chabad families added to the picture. An oven still standing to this day (the testament of the mediaeval kabbalistic sage Reb Yehudah Chassid precludes demolition of such an oven) was constructed about 1955 at the rear of the Yeshivah Centre premises in St Kilda East and handmade matzah was produced there for decades for use by those who assisted with the baking and limited sale within the community. They were initially baked on a series of Sundays prior to Pesach. Key to the baking for decades was the late Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner, who insisted on personally putting the matzah in the oven.

However the increased demand over the years that could not be met by the limited facility necessitated import of handmade shmurah matzah, with local baking limited to matzot mitzvah.

However, even as the baking by the Chabad community was supplanted by imports, baking at the Yeshivah premises was continued by the Adass Israel under the supervision of Rabbi AZ Beck of the Adass. However seeking its own facility, the Adass transferred its matzah baking activity to a purpose-built facility at the rear of its Ripponlea premises. Following departure of Rav Beck his supervisory role was taken over by his successor Rabbi Shlomo Kohn.

Key to the Adass baking arrangement for many years was Erwin Holzer, whose late father Lajos had facilitated the Adass matzah production in the earliest days of that community. Machine made matzah in the early decades of the community was sourced from France or Switzerland; orders had to be placed with treasurer Mr Dov Richtman by Chanukah for collection by Pesach.

Indeed, even in Australia the supply and  baking of matzot has a long history.

Shabbat shalom,
Yossi

Shabbat times

Melbourne Shabbat times: Friday, February 20 – Adar 3, Candle lighting 7.54pm.   Saturday, February 21 – Adar 4, Shabbat ends 8.52pm

Sydney Shabbat times: Friday, February 20 – Adar 3, Candle lighting 7.25pm.   Saturday, February 21 – Adar 4, Shabbat ends 8.20pm