Gallery: Matza making machine

Factories in Jerusalem step into overdrive to create enough unleavened bread for Passover.

making matza 370 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
making matza 370
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men in Jerusalem were busy this week preparing matza for the Passover holiday.

Dozens of men at the Beit Israel factory in Mea Shearim were involved in the process, which begins with the use of large machinery to grind wheat. The wheat is harvested and stored for one year, and then the ground wheat is turned into dough, which is used to make the unleavened bread. Workers feed the dough into vast processors. Moments later, broad, paper-thin sheets of dough emerge on conveyor belts. The sheets are perforated in order to prevent the dough from rising, then cut into individual squares. Minutes later, the crispy crackers emerge from the ovens, where they cool down, undergo inspection  and are then packed into cartons.