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What is shmurah matzo? As we prepare for the festival of matzo -- otherwise known as Passover -- we begin to rid our homes of chametz (leavened products). Some people sell them to the rabbi (putting them away until after Passover) and buy them back after Passover... For eight days we eat only unleavened things and in the case of bread this is matzo -- unleavened bread. "Safeguard the month of standing grain so that you will be able to keep the Passover to G-d your L-rd, since it was in the month of standing grain that G-d your L-rd brought you out of Egypt at night. In the place that G-d will choose to be dedicated to His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover offering to G-d your L-rd [along with other] sheep and cattle. Do not eat any leaven with it. As part of [the celebration] you shall eat matzah for seven days. This shall be hardship bread, since you left Egypt in a rush. You will then remember the day you left Egypt all the days of your life. No leavening shall be seen with you in all your borders for seven days... For six [additional] days you shall then eat matzah, with the seventh day as a retreat dedicated to God your Lord, when you may not do any work." D'varim / Deuteronomy 16:1 - 8. Before we discuss the shmurah matzo you may be asking yourself "why don't the Jews bring a paschal sacrifice since G-d commands it?" Let's read some important parts of those 8 verses: "In the place that G-d will choose to be dedicated to His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover offering to G-d your L-rd [along with other] sheep and cattle.... You may not slaughter the Passover offering in any of your settlements which G-d your L-rd is giving you. The only site where you may sacrifice the Passover offering is in the place that G-d will choose as a site designated in His name. There you shall sacrifice it in the evening, as the sun is setting, at the time of year that you left Egypt. You shall cook it and eat it in the place chosen by God your Lord, and then you may turn around in the morning and return to your tents." D'varim / Deuteronomy 16:2, 5 - 7.
There is your answer. Jews may only sacrifice the paschal offer at the place G-d designated for this purpose. No other place is allowed. You can't do this in your towns, cities, homes... The last site designated by G-d (and the permanent location never to change) is the site of the holy Temples in Jerusalem. Currently that site does not have a Temple and the site itself is in a state of ritual impurity -- unusable until purified. So for now we can observe Passover with retelling the story as G-d dictated and also by observing the feast of matzo... Now you may have noticed that the Torah tells us to eat matzo for seven days and I told you we eat it for eight days. Why? Passover is celebrated in Israel for seven days and for eight days in Jews outside of Israel. Outside of Israel we observe יום טוב שני של גלויות / Yom tov sheni shel galuyot / the second festival day in exile. This is a gezera / גזירה (a law to protect another law, a "fence" to protect it). The concern was that communities in exile might get their timing wrong and miss observing certain holy days properly. Passover is not the only holiday with an added day in exile. It is a safety measure so that errs on the side of caution -- better to observe an extra day then to not properly observe the holy days commanded by G-d. So now we've answered two questions: why no paschal sacrifice and why eight days... Which brings us back to my original question: what is shmurah matzo? Look again at the first line of D'varim / Deuteronomy 16: "Safeguard the month of standing grain so that you will be able to keep the Passover to G-d your L-rd, since it was in the month of standing grain that G-d your L-rd brought you out of Egypt at night." D'varim / Deuteronomy 16:1. Then look at Sh'mot / Exodus 12:17: "You shall guard the matzo, for on this very day I will have brought your masses out of Egypt. You must carefully keep this day for all generations; it is a law for all times." The word shmurah / שְׁמוּרָה means "guarded." While all matzo is made under rabbinical supervision to ensure that there is no possibility of leaven shmurah matzo is more heavily monitored. From the time the wheat itself is harvested it is kept under close supervision. It is never left unattended until the matzo is finished. It is critical that no moisture contact the wheat as this can begin the process of leavening... The wheat is examined to ensure it is whole. The wheat is supervised as it is ground into flour -- and it is not baked that day to ensure that it is not hot from the grinding process and that no moisture comes into contact with the flour. The following day the flour is made into a dough -- keeping it away from sunlight which could cause it to ferment. Now that water is added to the flour to create the matzo that water itself is pure and has been guarded... It is then baked. All matzo is guarded -- but shmurah matzo is guarded literally from the picking of the wheat itself. Traditionally it was made by hand, although some is made by machine in modern times. It is traditional to eat shmurah matzo on the first (and second in the exile) nights of Passover when we hold the Seder. This is because we are commanded to eat matzo at those times while the other days of Passover it is not required to eat matzo -- although it is the only permitted form of "bread" during the holiday. Shmurah matzo costs much more than "regular" matzo -- and the reason should be obvious: there is an enormous amount of effort and supervision in its creation. Some observant Jews take the process even further: the Satmar bakery in America grows its wheat in Arizona -- a state known for its dryness.
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