Why is most matzo now square?

Brandeis University News

Why is most matzo now square?Brandeis professor Jonathan Sarna weighs on the evolution of matzo.Photo/iStockPhotoBy Julian Cardillo '14April 10, 2017Matzo is a central food in the Passover Seder, its roots derived from Exodus when the Israelites ate unleavened bread in great haste prior to fleeing Egypt. But matzo’s shape, texture and production have evolved significantly over the years, particularly as a result of 19th century immigration and the industrial revolution.Jonathan D. Sarna '75, MA'75, University Professor and  the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of Jewish studies at Brandeis and the world’s foremost expert on American Jewish history, has studied matzo’s evolution. Until the turn of the 20th century, most matzo was handmade and round or irregularly-shaped. The father of today’s highly recognizable square matzo, Sarna says, was a Jewish baker named Behr Manischewitz, who immigrated to Cincinnati from Prussia in 1886. Manischewitz saw an opportunity in the growing numbers of fellow Jewish immigrants to the US and the machines that were changing how food was made, packaged and sold.
BrandeisNOW consulted Sarna to learn more about Manischewitz and the evolution of Matzo:
BrandeisNOW: What were the circumstances that resulted in today’s ubiquitous square matzo?
Sarna: The demand for matzo rose steadily in the United States in the 19th century, keeping pace with America’s growing Jewish population. But the matzo industry itself was under great transformation. By the mid-19th century, most matzo was baked by synagogues which either maintained special ovens of their own or, as was the case in New York, contracted with commercial bakers whom they supervised. Synagogues started spinning off many of their communal functions, and it was at this time that independent matzo bakers developed.
BNOW: What was the origin of the changes in how matzo was made?
Sarna: With the rise of industrialization, processes ...

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