Matzah shmura

where it concludes that there is a commandment to guard the matzahs for Passover, based on the verse[clarification needed] However, the Talmud deliberates whether the need for guarding is from the time of baking or perhaps already from the time of harvesting.

[1][5] These decisors also differed in the question of whether there is a need to intend "for the sake of matzah", meaning to prevent water contact with the flour, or "for the sake of the commandment", meaning a special intention is required for the mitzvah of eating the matzah on the Seder night.

[7] Other decisors (led by the Rif and the Rambam) understood that the commandment applies to all the matzahs eaten on the Passover holiday and not just those on the Seder night, and it seems that according to their opinion, the guarding does not require intention for the sake of the commandment, but only to prevent leavening and.

[8][9] However, there are those who are stringent and eat shmurah matzahs throughout the entire holiday, and there are those who are lenient and even on the Seder night eat matzahs that were not guarded from the time of harvesting but only from the time of grinding (or kneading) according to the lenient opinions among the early decisors.

At the time of the wheat harvest itself, a supervisor is present with the combine driver, checking that there are no issues of mixed species and the like, which could affect the kosher status.