What’s Going On at Local West Orange Synagogues

Matzoh Baking

The flour was flying while the water poured freely this past Sunday, April 3, when B’nei Torah went on its annual matzoh baking expedition. 

The event, much anticipated by matzoh connoisseurs, was held at the same matzoh bakery in Boro Park that has churned out B’nei Torah matzohs for the past 5 years.

 In this year’s baking, 156 pounds of unleavened bread were baked, boxed and carefully taken home for use at the Pesach sedarim this coming  April 18 and 19.  Although the total produced was less than last year’s record 196 pounds, the baking was done at the same frenzied pace as in the past.

Matzoh is made from flour and water, with no other ingredients added.   Once the flour has come into contact with water, it begins to leaven and can start to become chometz within 18 minutes.  In some cases, this process can begin even sooner.  Therefore, all wheat used for Passover matzohs is watched from the time the wheat is harvested until it is milled into flour and bagged, to ensure that it never comes into contact with water at any point.  In the bakery, the flour is kept in a totally separate room apart from the water, and only after the flour is placed in the mixing bowl will the security window to the water room open and an exact amount of water be poured into the flour in the bowl.

Everything at a matzoh bakery such as this is done by hand, in the same exact way that your great-great-great-great-great-grandfather used to do it.  The 20 pound flour/water mixture is kneaded by hand in under 30 seconds and then is brought to the rolling table where it is apportioned out to the 30 employees who roll the dough flat and into matzohs.  After the matzoh is finished being formed, it is rushed to the oven on a stick, has holes put into the top in order to retard any possible further leavening, and then put into a blazing wood-fired oven.  It takes about 30 seconds to bake a matzoh until it is crisp, tasty and delicious. 

In order to be used at the seder, a matzoh has to be made with specific precautions taken to guarantee it does not become chometz.  This is where B’nei Torah focuses its efforts during the baking.  Rather than kneading  the dough, rolling the matzohs or working the oven, B’nei Torah leaves those tasks to the professionals. 

Instead, we optimize our extra manpower by putting our own people to work adding critical steps to the cleaning of equipment, overseeing the entire operation and ensuring  that the normal baking is done with added safeguards to ensure a true chometz-free environment.

 In the B’nei Torah matzoh baking, no mixing bowls are ever reused without having been thoroughly washed out and checked by our members.  Sticks which are used to carry the matzohs from the table to the oven are sanded down to a fine smooth surface.  Members of the B’nei Torah group are stationed at strategic locations throughout the process, ever-vigilant for a matzoh that might be laying on a table for too long or else sitting too long next to the oven before baking.

 In such a case, the added B’nei Torah supervision ensures that the matzoh is moved along properly and, if not, that matzoh will not meet the high standards we insist upon and will be rejected.  Unlike the mass-produced hand matzohs on store shelves, B’nei Torah matzohs are each specially made to the most exacting specifications of halacha.  And they are 100% whole wheat, too!

No B’nei Torah activity ever takes place without having an aspect of education and personal growth associated with it, and matzoh baking is no exception.  During the almost two hours we are running the bakery, numerous adults and children come to watch the baking and see the intricacies of halacha in action.  Not only do we welcome visitors to watch and learn, we actively encourage them to get involved and join in side-by-side with us in adding those critical extra levels of supervision and hard labor to the process.  If you come to watch, we will put you to work.  And  - as anyone who has ever made their own matzohs is well aware – there is no matzoh that tastes better than one which you yourself have worked to create.

Those who ordered matzohs should call Rabbi Stone at (973) 943-2150 to arrange for pick up.

Sale of Chometz

As in previous years, Rabbi Stone will be arranging for the sale of chometz.  The procedure entails filling out a form that details the various types of chometz items to be sold and the locations where the chometz is stored.  Being familiar with these details when coming to sell, as well as having an idea of the value of the goods, will help to expedite the procedure.  Special arrangements can be made for those who will be away from home for the entire holiday.  In addition, an earlier sale will take place to aid those who will be in Israel for Pesach. 

Rabbi Stone will be available for selling of chometz at most hours of the day or night (provided he is in town) between now and erev Pesach.  Please call (973) 943-2150 or (973) 243-0824 prior to coming to confirm availability.

Who We Are

Torah study continues to be the focus of Congregation and Kollel B’nei Torah of West Orange.  The Kollel will meet this week, as every week, on Monday through Wednesday nights, from 8:15 to 9:45 p.m.  On Thursday night, it will be from 8:30 to 10.  Maariv follows each night. The Kollel is held in the Sefardic Minyan at AABJD.  All are welcome to come and experience the thrill and fulfillment of studying Torah one to one.  B’nei Torah, with its minyan and Kollel, is dedicated to uplifting and enriching the lives of every Jew through Torah study, serious tefillah and atmosphere that stresses and encourages personal growth.  No experience necessary – everyone is welcome to come and grow along with us.

Davening Times for Shabbos Parshas Metzorah

Friday April 8

Candlelighting: 7:10

Mincha Erev Shabbos: 7:10

Shabbos Day, April 9

Brochos: 8:10 a.m.

Shochen Ad: 8:50 a.m.

Kiddush following davening

Daf Yomi: 11:15 a.m.

Learning Seder: 5:00 p.m.

Mincha: 7:05 p.m.

Maariv Motzei Shabbos: 8:15 p.m.

Weeknight Maariv - Week of March 6

Maariv (M,T,W): 9:45 p.m.
(Th): 10 p.m (following Kollel; at AABJD Sephardic Wing)