We have a long time family minhag to eat Kneidlach during Pesach. What is the origin of that minhag, and how important is it?
A. Although the exact origins of the matzo ball aren’t clear, it seems to be a relatively new invention dating back to sometime in the 19th century.
On Passover, it is forbidden to make anything that could become leaven or chametz. This of course precludes the adding of anything like a crouton, or something similar made out of flour, to a soup on Passover since that would be chametz However, once a matzo was already properly baked then it can no longer become chametz.
The theory goes that at one point, perhaps when Eastern European cuisine began introducing dumplings in traditional foods, someone got the brilliant idea of using matzo crumbs, either from the leftover matzo after Passover or from the crumbs produced while baking matzo before Passover, to make “matzo meal” and produce the matzo ball. Nowadays, it is mass-produced by pulverizing matzos, which in most instances were specifically baked for this very purpose.
The kneidel gained fame in June 2013, when it was the winning word in the 86th Scripps National Spelling Bee. After the spelling bee, there was a debate as to the correct spelling.
But perhaps there is a deeper origin to the matzo ball, which we can glean from the fact that some are careful not to eat matzo balls for most of Passover. (from Chabad Org.)
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Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a.
Important Numbers
