Deena Yellin

Staff Writer, @deenayellin

As 750 sheets of matzo rolled out of the oven on a conveyor belt, Rabbi Aron Hayum picked up a crispy golden square and held it up for inspection.

"They have to be completely baked," said Hayum, the plant manager at Manischewitz in Newark. "Otherwise, they are not kosher for Passover."

With Passover looming — the first night is April 10 — it's crunch time at the Manischewitz Matzo Factory.

A heady aroma wafts through the plant, where machines are churning around the clock to produce the culinary centerpiece of Passover seders everywhere.

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A mashgiach, or kosher supervisor, keeps a watchful eye on each step of the baking process, from mixing the flour and water until the dough is baked. Every batch is timed, because Jewish law requires the baking process to be completed within 18 minutes for matzo to be kosher for Passover. "That way there's no chance the dough has time to rise," Hayum said.

The automated system at Manischewitz bakes a batch of matzo in 13 minutes flat, leaving several minutes' leeway. "However, there is always the chance of an equipment breakdown or something getting caught and slowing down the whole line," said the ever-cautious Hayum. "In that case, we clear the whole line and throw away whatever is there. Then we'd start all over again."

Quality control is clearly a hot issue in the matzo-baking business.

The eight-day celebration of Passover commemorates the redemption of the Jewish slaves from Egypt. The holiday is observed with a seder, in which symbolic foods are served and the story of the Exodus is retold. Observant Jews avoid leavened products during the entire week to recall that the slaves left Egypt in a hurry and did not have time to let their bread rise.

This tradition has spawned a growing food industry that stocks supermarket shelves with Passover products ranging from Pepsi to gefilte fish to barbecue potato chips.The Passover industry is worth roughly $1.5 billion, representing about 40 percent of the kosher food market, according to kosher marketing expert Menachem Lubinsky of the trade publication Kosher Today.

Even non-observant Jews who don't normally abide by kosher laws will purchase kosher-for-Passover products, because Passover is one of the most widely celebrated Jewish holidays. Annual Passover sales are rising by 12 percent, he added.

Over 300 new kosher-for-Passover products this year will join the existing roster of 18,000 items, said Lubinsky.

Matzo plays a leading role in the modern menu as well as in the ancient Passover saga. Every year, over $100 million dollars' worth of the crispy flatbread is sold worldwide. Manischewitz and Streits, which is building a new factory in New York, used to be the main players in the matzo monopoly. In recent years, however, Israeli imports and traditional round handmade matzo are also filling store shelves.

Although matzo is pretty much the same flour-and-water recipe universally, aficionados can differentiate among the brands. Some prefer their matzo thin and crisp while others savor a thicker texture. And then there are the grumblers who liken matzo to cardboard, but force themselves to eat it for the sake of tradition.

Manischewitz transports its matzo to more than 25 countries, including New Zealand, England, Japan and China, said Hayum. "There are people eating matzo everywhere. If there's a Jew in some remote part of the world, it's our mission to make sure he has matzo."

But Manischewitz's biggest market is in the United States, where an array of products — including gluten-free kosher-for-Passover chocolate chip cookies and a kosher-for-Passover s'mores kit — pack supermarket aisles and freezers.

Lubinsky calls Manischewitz an innovator in the kosher food industry. "They are leading in terms of coming up with new products for Passover. They were always out in front when it came to different varieties of matzo."

The largest manufacturer of kosher food was also an innovator when it came to baking matzo. The company had its beginnings in Cincinnati in 1888, when Rabbi Dov Behr Manischewitz began baking matzo in his basement for his family and friends. As demand for his matzo grew, so did his business, and he subsequently built a factory where matzo was baked in large quantities with gas-powered machines. His concept revolutionized matzo production, replacing the traditional round version that had always been made by hand with the machine's perfect crispy square, which could easily be packed and shipped.

The Manischewitz company moved to New Jersey in 1932 to serve the Jewish community in the New York area and easily distribute its products. Today, the company operates out of a state-of-the art bakery in Newark. "We currently have the most modern matzo-making facility in the world," boasted Hayum.

But for all of the new high-tech, high-speed equipment, some things remain a constant at Manischewitz. "We never changed our formula," said David Sugarman, the CEO and president of Manischewitz. "It's always been the same recipe throughout our history,"

For Hayum, working at a matzo business is more than a job; he sees it as his mission to help preserve the unleavened legacy of the Jewish people.

"For many people, this is their last connection to Judaism. A Passover seder is where they return to their roots," he said. "I'm very blessed to be able to do this job."