Even Hebrew National Answers To A Higher Power, And That’s Just A Hot Dog

You can’t really cut corners when it comes to keeping Kosher:

A handmade matzo factory in Brooklyn is facing questions over whether some of the ritual flatbread it produced is kosher enough for observant Jews to use at Passover seders. At issue is whether a former employee at Lubavitch Matzo Bakery, which each week produces thousands of pounds of round “shmura” matzo, is Jewish.

According to some rabbis, matzo used during Passover seders must be made by Jews who utter a Hebrew phrase before rolling each batch of dough. Matzo consumed at other times during the eight-day holiday need not be mixed, kneaded, rolled, or baked by Jews, according to those rabbis.

Last week, a court of Jewish law, the Beth Din of Crown Heights, ruled that while the bakery’s matzo is kosher for Passover, some religious Jews should consider purchasing seder matzo elsewhere or from batches baked after the woman was laid off. Passover begins at sundown on Monday, April 2.

An inquiry into the woman’s religious background is ongoing, said Yitzchok Tenenbaum, who has been an owner of the Lubavitch Matzo Bakery for more than 20 years. “We told her that until we find out for sure, we couldn’t have her working here,” he said.

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The employee at the center of the controversy, a Minsk native, was hired in October, when the bakery begins preparing Passover matzos. Her employment was terminated about two weeks ago. “From the information we have, it seems like she’s Jewish, but we still don’t feel 100% comfortable saying for sure,” Rabbi Zalman Osdoba, rabbinical coordinator of Crown Heights Kosher certification, said.

Rabbi Osdoba said he has fielded dozens of calls from people looking to clarify the kosher-for-Passover status of the matzos. “Rumors have been flying,” he said. “We’ve had many phone calls from people who are worried. We asked people not to panic, and that a letter of clarification would come out.”