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Volume 75 › Table of Contents › Article Abstract
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The Controversy Surrounding Machine-made Matzot:
Halakhic, Social, and Economic Repercussions
Meir Hildesheimer, Bar-Ilan University
Yehoshua Liebermann, Netanya Academic College |
Machine matzot appeared in Europe by the end of the fourth decade of the eighteenth
century (1838). About twenty years later a controversy erupted regarding their
kashruth. Two distinct phases of the debate took place, a primary phase (1859-60)
and a secondary one (1899-1900). Predominant rabbinic figures, living mostly in
Eastern Europe, voiced sharp criticism of the innovative production process. Their
position was based on halakhic as well as social and economic arguments. Shortly
thereafter, a front of equally influential supporters, living mostly in Western Europe,
started to vigorously express an opposing view. The present study examines the history
of the debate, which effectively continues to the present day, and its halakhic,
social and economic implications. It draws on a database including historical observations,
halakhic sources, contemporary press, documentary literature, social attitudes
and economic statistics. The various sources are treated with a combined
historic, social and economic approach. The interdisciplinary analysis facilitates presentation
of a full picture of the debate, and shows how social and economic forces
interact with the setting of halakhah.
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