But Rabbi it says Kosher for Passover?

Yes, sometimes Kosher labelled items can be confusing, especially when the small print is in Hebrew!

Being an informed consumer applies just as much to Kosher shopping as anything else.

Below is a brief summary of the Halachic discourse adapted from www.askmoses.com

The question of Egg Matza.

1) Chometz is defined as flour (of the five grains wheat, barley, rye, oats and spelt) that comes into contact with water for 18 mins.

2) The Talmud Pesachim 35a, states that other  liquids (fruit juice, eggs, honey and milk) do  not cause flour to rise like water.Later  commentators

3) Rashi- Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (11^th cent. France) held that such liquids do initiate the fermentation process but just not as intense. This is called Chometz Nukshe and therefore it is still forbidden on Pesach.

4) Other commentators (specifically the Tosafot- a group of  European mediaeval Talmudic scholars who came after Rashi starting with Rashi’s sons’ in law), believed that only by adding water to the mixture of flour and ‘other liquids’ would fermentation occur and hence egg Matzah would be Kosher for Pesach as long as no water came into contact with it.

5) The Shulchan Aruch (lit. laid table- the last great codification of Jewish Law that is still authoritative today by Yosef Caro (15^th century/ Spain-Safat) gave a blanket ruling that one may use egg Matzot on Pesach.

6) However Rabbi Moses Isserles of Poland, known by his acronym ‘The Remah’ (he was a contemporary of Rabbi Yosef Caro who differed on numerous Halachic rulings which are now added as glosses to the Shulchan Aruch) adds a twist to the whole discourse.

He accepts that the Halachic tradition went according to the lenient approach of the Tosafot as opposed to Rashi (see #3 above) but still ruled prohibitively. The logic briefly put is as follows: although other liquids do not activate a true leavening process in flour as Rabbi Karo rules based on the statement of the Talmud. However, if other liquids are mixed together with water, they not only induce fermentation, but they actually bring about a faster rate of leavening than water alone!  So, rules Rabbi Isserles, we must be concerned that Matzah dough produced with other liquids may have come into contact with water and activate a swift leavening process that will culminate well before the standard eighteen minutes.

Practical Halacha

1. The tradition is for Sefardim to act in accordance with the Shulchan Aruch so that one can consume egg Matzah during Pesach.(in accordance with Tosafot)
2. The Askenazim (yes that mean us guys in Newton Mearns!) rule in accordance with the stricter opinion of the Remah that prohibits its consumption!
3. Importantly ALL Halachic authorities agree that one cannot fulfil the Mitzva of Matza on either Seder night as the Mitzva must be performed with simple Matza made of flour and water; ‘Poor mans bread’ as we say at the beginning of the Haggadah. Only this simple Matza can truly commemorate the same Matzah the Jews ate when they came out of Egypt. In fact egg Matzah is itself called Matza Ashira meaning rich man’s Matza.
4. Exception for Ahkenazim: The ruling of the Remah, although binding, is a stringency and hence in extreme cases such as the elderly and infirm who are literally unable to handle the tough consistency of pure water-based Matzah, can rely on the original leniency of the Shulchan Aruch.

Afterword: It is noteworthy that of any area of Halacha, Passover has generally been regarded by the Jewish people as very stringent. This is refelcted in the fact that in Israel today the official state outlaws running a bakery or the like over Pesach.

It would seem that Pesach is more than just a festival that celebrates a moment in our history. Pesach defines us now as  a Jewish people bound by the same mission and the same fate. The fact that most Jews identify with Pesach literally ensures our continuity and survival.

I hope I have been able to give you a taste of the richness of our authentic Halachic tradition. The beauty of the Torah is in the detail much like true love between spouses is not found in superlatives (like ‘I love you more than anything in the world’) but in the everyday routine of giving. As you have seen, the Talmud records the essential core principal/s of the oral tradition which are later developed by the Rabbis of each generation.

On the one hand differing customs seems to imply a lack of uniformity in Halacha. Yet upon deeper reflection we see that the different customs derive from the same Torah, the same principles albeit from different perspectives.

May we all continue to develop our connection to the Torah - for it is after all the tree of life.