Further to our post on baking Shemureh Matzos in Melbourne, here's a couple of photographs of the late Rabbi Y D Groner zt'l doing the honours as a "sheeber", ie, the person who puts in and removes the Matzo from the oven. (Hat tip - SBA)
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We miss you Rabbi Groner
ReplyDeletethis photograph is of a very young Rabbi Groner probably late 1950s-early 60s. Beside rthe rabbi's youthful looks, the boys school cap is a giveaway.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know why Lubabvitch stopped baking matzos here? And how it is with Chabad in other places? Do they bake on erev Pesach like other chasidim - or not? What about the rebbe himself and his forbears?
Chabad has people baking after Chatzos on Erev Pesach in Crown Heights and Kfar Chabad.
ReplyDeleteThere maybe other locations as well
But obvious unlike with other chassidim, erevv pesach matzos is not a 'core' inyan - as it is for other chasidim
ReplyDeleteWhere there are professional bakeries, Chabad, like other communities, do bake on Erev Pesach. The Rebbe used to have Erev Pesach matzos, and used to hand out pieces to everybody who would file past him.
ReplyDeleteThe problem in Melbourne is that there is no full-time bakery; the baking is done by amateurs who only bake once a year, and therefore don't really know what they're doing. In such a situation, it's likely that יצא שכרו בהפסדו. You wouldn't want to engage a shochet or mohel who only practised once a year, no matter how chassidish he was and how holy his kavonos. The same should be true for a matza baker. Dexterity is more important than all spiritual considerations.