[Avodah] Can Egg Matzah Be Used for Lechem Mishna?

Akiva Miller akivagmiller at gmail.com
Tue Apr 6 10:05:55 PDT 2021


.
I had quoted the OU, who cited Rav  Schachter that one's egg matzah was
made with grape juice, then it is *vadai* matza ashira, and may be eaten on
Erev Pesach even in the early afternoon.

I asked: <<< I don't understand. Is there a machlokes about the definition
of matzah ashira? If I have egg matzah that was made with *apple* juice, is
it matza ashira only according to *some* opinions? >>>

R' Zev Sero answered: <<< According to the Rambam, 6:5, Matza is only
defined as Ashira if it's made with wine, oil, honey, or milk, but if it's
made with Mei Perot it's still Lechem Oni.
https://www.mechon-mamre.org/i/3506.htm#6 >>>

Thank you! I may have known that once, but had forgotten it. (Mechaber
462:4 acceps all sorts of mei peiros for Matzah Ashira.)

But I'm still confused about Rav Schachter's psak - at least as it was
reported by the OU. It sounds like he is saying that only Grape Juice
Matzah (which is definitely Matzah Ashira) may be eaten in the afternoon.
He didn't say so explicitly, but by omission he implies that Apple Juice
Matza (which is Ashira to the Mechaber but genuine Lechem Oni to the
Rambam) may be also be eaten on Erev Pesach, but only in the morning.

This surprises me. Would the Rambam allow us to eat Lechem Oni (e.g. Apple
Juice Matzah) on the morning of Erev Pesach? Does he hold that the issur of
eating matzah on Erev Pesach applies only in the afternoon? In halacha
6:13, the Rambam says that the issur applies on "Erev Pesach", which I
suppose could be understood as Erev Pesach Afternoon, but that's not the
normative approach.

Somehow, I can't escape the suspicion that someone - quite probably me - is
conflating Ashkenazi avoidance of eating Matza Ashira (which arguably
applies only on Pesach and not on Erev Pesach) with the universal avoidance
of eating Lechem Oni (which I thought applies (at least) to the entire
daytime  of Erev Pesach).

Does anyone else have a clearer understanding of Rav Schachter's position
on these issues?

Thank you
Akiva Miller
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