For all seven days of Passover one may not eat hametz or food containing hametz. The only way it is permitted to eat any product made from the five species of grain (wheat, barley, oats, spelt, and rye) is when the entire baking process is performed in such a manner that the dough is prevented from rising and fermenting. Such food, which is produced under very specific and demanding conditions, is called “matza,” and this is the only “bread” one may eat on Passover. Nowadays, matza is usually made from wheat flour, but it can also be produced from the other four types of grain (barley, oats, spelt, and rye).

Further reading: For more on matza and its symbolism, see A Concise Guide to Mahshava, p. 94.

The obligation to eat matza applies only on the Seder night, when every adult man and woman must eat matza, in the amount detailed in the next section. Throughout the rest of Passover, although it is prohibited to eat hametz, there is no obligation to eat matza. On those days, if one wants to eat a full meal and recite the blessing of HaMotzi (“who brings forth bread from the earth”) at the Passover meals, the only option is to eat matza. When purchasing matza, it is a good idea to calculate ahead of time the amount of matza that will be required for the entire family for the week of Passover.

One must take care that the matza does not contain any additional ingredients, apart from flour and water. It should be noted that the matza one eats on Passover should have a reliable kosher for Passover certification. There are companies that produce matza for consumption all year that is not kosher for Passover. The matza sold in most stores is baked by machines specially designed for matza baking. These machines work quickly, so that from the moment water is added to the flour until the dough is finished, there is not enough time for the dough to leaven.

Many people observe the stringency to eat only shemura matza throughout the holiday. This is matza baked from flour made from wheat that has been guarded [shemura] from the moment of its harvest to ensure that it does not come into any contact with water. Most halakhic authorities maintain that in order to fulfill the mitzva of eating matza on the first night of Passover, one must consume shemura matza. Therefore, even those who do not eat only shemura matza throughout the entire Passover holiday should make sure that the matza they eat on Seder night is shemura.

There are those who are particular to eat only handmade matza on Passover. These matzot are round and their size is not uniform. The reason for this stringency is the opinion of some of the great Torah scholars of recent generations that one should not deviate from the practice of our forefathers who ate only matza baked by hand. Moreover, there are halakhic authorities who maintain that even from a strictly halakhic point of view there is a preference for handmade matza, as it is only this type of matza that is acceptable for the mitzva to eat matza. Accordingly, even some of those who are not particular to eat only handmade matza throughout Passover try to make sure to eat handmade matza on the Seder night.

There are those who bake the matzot for the Seder night on the afternoon before the holiday begins, in commemoration of the Passover offering, which was slaughtered on the fourteenth of Nisan at this same time of day. Baking matza at this time, when the prohibition against possessing hametz is already in effect, requires great caution to ensure that pieces of dough do not fall onto the ground and leaven.

It is important to emphasize that since the halakhot involved in baking matzot are numerous and complex, one should not attempt to bake matza without the guidance and supervision of people with practical experience and expertise in this area of halakha. This is true of matza baking in general, and especially true regarding baking on the afternoon before Passover.

In order to help ensure that the experience of eating matza on the Seder night is fresh and exciting, it is customary to refrain from eating matza for a period of time prior to Passover. Some people stop eating matza from the beginning of the month of Nisan, while others refrain from eating matza for a whole month before Passover, i.e., from Purim. According to all opinions, at the very least, one should not eat matza on the day before Passover.