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Matzah From Other Grains Than Wheat
I
n recent years, bakeries started selling matzah from various types of flour, such as oats and rye. Do they have the same halachic status, or should one try to eat wheat matzah? In the late 1980s, bakeries in England began producing kosherfor-Pesach matzah from oats (Avena), specifically for celiac patients. Today oats are cultivated in England under the supervision of the Badatz of Manchester. What are the halachic discussions connected to non-wheat matzah? The status of grains that cannot become leavened The oats cultivated in England are a unique strain with especially low gluten content, more so than other oat strains. While oats are considered one of the
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five types of grains which can become leavened, due to the unique characteristics of this strain, the dough does not become leavened. What is the halachic status of such wheat? For a dough to be considered kosher matzah, does the actual dough have to be capable of leavening or is it sufficient that the general species it belongs to can become leavened? Identification of the five grains Another reason for the doubt regarding whether one can fulfil the obligation of eating matzah on the Avena oats produced in England is the question whether they, indeed, are considered one of the five grains. Most rabbies think Shibolet Shu’al is Avena, but some identif it with dura, sorghum flour; doublecolumned barley, or other identifications. Other types of grain that leaven quickly The
Maharil
holds
that
the
