counterpoint: maybe he's happy that he doesn't have to do the backbreaking work of making matzo by hand! Levi Yitzchok of Berdichev said about the process of making handmade matzo, “Those who hate Israel accuse us of baking the unleavened bread with the blood of Christians. But no, we bake them with the blood of Jews!”
If I recall correctly, this line was also used by a group of 19th century matzah makers who went on strike for higher wages. Shocking, but perhaps effective!
Really interesting! Another angle to the Manischewitz matzah origin story -- according to some pop historians (I've tried but haven't been able to corroborate), Manischewitz matzah was actually purchased by pioneers making the westward trek in the late 1800s; it was a good shelf-stable alternative to bread (and tastier than hard tack, I guess). I shared this historically suspect fun fact with my 7th grad social studies students (Jewish day school, thus the hook!) during our westward expansion unit. On second thought, maybe I shouldn't be surfacing the connection between matzoh and western colonialism :-)
Interesting article! It would be hard to really gather data on the types of Matzah purchasing, however, it seems the subset of Jewish population whose children are most likely to eat Matzah on Pesach that has the highest growth rate (ie, Charedim/Chasidim) are also the ones purchasing mostly or strictly hand-made Matzah, so I doubt the industry disappears anytime soon. I think a similar analogy would carry over to AI.
thank you for this interesting article. It reminded me of an illustration for Passoverthat I had done many years ago for the Pittsburgh JEWISH CHRONICLE that indeed harks back to the 19th century Jewish tradition of matzo making. BTW, if Manischewitz wanted to remain true to our history, the company should put a disclaimer on their packaging: “No Christian blood used in the making of this product.” https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/noylc494p17z7fq5nbmio/MatzoMakerRGB.jpg?rlkey=1fu6dcxmvisn999mrrsbfvzeu&st=8kzh54p4&dl=0
counterpoint: maybe he's happy that he doesn't have to do the backbreaking work of making matzo by hand! Levi Yitzchok of Berdichev said about the process of making handmade matzo, “Those who hate Israel accuse us of baking the unleavened bread with the blood of Christians. But no, we bake them with the blood of Jews!”
If I recall correctly, this line was also used by a group of 19th century matzah makers who went on strike for higher wages. Shocking, but perhaps effective!
The solution can also be for everyone to bake matzah at home the way many bake challahs. My friend Jon Nelson put together this guide https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZKp82Y9jx-GUweqte589CpeAVFd1zMFb/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=115649973686291646301&rtpof=true&sd=true
Really interesting! Another angle to the Manischewitz matzah origin story -- according to some pop historians (I've tried but haven't been able to corroborate), Manischewitz matzah was actually purchased by pioneers making the westward trek in the late 1800s; it was a good shelf-stable alternative to bread (and tastier than hard tack, I guess). I shared this historically suspect fun fact with my 7th grad social studies students (Jewish day school, thus the hook!) during our westward expansion unit. On second thought, maybe I shouldn't be surfacing the connection between matzoh and western colonialism :-)
This put me in mind of a piece Natan Slifkin wrote a number of years ago about handmade vs. machine.
https://open.substack.com/pub/rationalistjudaism/p/bentleys-matzos-and-chumra-machine?r=13syj&utm_medium=ios
Interesting article! It would be hard to really gather data on the types of Matzah purchasing, however, it seems the subset of Jewish population whose children are most likely to eat Matzah on Pesach that has the highest growth rate (ie, Charedim/Chasidim) are also the ones purchasing mostly or strictly hand-made Matzah, so I doubt the industry disappears anytime soon. I think a similar analogy would carry over to AI.
thank you for this interesting article. It reminded me of an illustration for Passoverthat I had done many years ago for the Pittsburgh JEWISH CHRONICLE that indeed harks back to the 19th century Jewish tradition of matzo making. BTW, if Manischewitz wanted to remain true to our history, the company should put a disclaimer on their packaging: “No Christian blood used in the making of this product.” https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/noylc494p17z7fq5nbmio/MatzoMakerRGB.jpg?rlkey=1fu6dcxmvisn999mrrsbfvzeu&st=8kzh54p4&dl=0