Hi Rabbi!

Thank you so much for inviting me to your house for lunch on Passover. The food was outstanding, the conversation was great, and I really enjoyed your talk about the Four Questions and Passover’s message to always ask, wonder, and question.

Here is something I wonder about:

The table was set beautifully, and the food was served on really nice dishes. But when it came to serving the matzah, you gave everyone their portion in a Ziploc bag. And to make things even odder, everyone ate in the strangest way, some of them eating directly out of the bags, pushed away from the table, instead of just crunching through their matzah naturally.

Is this religious, practical, or just cultural?

Ettie Quette

Dear Ettie,

You are definitely onto something—and it is indeed religious, cultural, and practical. What you saw is a practical solution to a religious dilemma that has grown within certain Jewish cultures.

Allow me to explain.

It all comes down to a Yiddish term known as gebrokts, which literally means “crumbled,” and refers to any food made with matzah meal (“crumbs”), such as matzah balls. Those who are careful with gebrokts don’t eat matzah balls, matzah brei, or matzah anything; in short, they do not cook with matzah at all. While these foods are a staple on some Passover tables, there are many who eschew them.

Why? The closest thing to chametz (leaven, which we avoid at all costs on Passover) is matzah, which was made with flour and water and baked before it had time to rise.

But what if there is a bit of flour that was not properly incorporated before baking? And what if that bit of flour gets wet and then starts to puff up and rise? Your matzah ball may very well become a chametz ball!

Now, this is not very likely, so lots of families sip their soup with matzah balls with nary a worry in their heads.

But other people are concerned about that teeny, tiny off chance of something going wrong. And in an effort to have a chametz-free Passover, they take care that their matzah does not become wet, which would render it gebrokts.

Since even a single crumb of chametz would be a problem, many people have the custom to keep their matzah super contained and safely off their dishes so that it will not become wet when food and drink are served.

When I was a kid, this meant passing around the matzah in folded paper napkins. Nowadays, it’s Ziploc bags, which do a much better job at containing those crumbs! (The bags can be kept and reused at each meal.)

Like I said, this is religious, cultural, and practical!

Want to learn more about this curious custom? This article is for you.