Cheese on Matzah

Shalom and thank you for your question. Can we put cheese on Matzah during Pesach (Passover)?

There is a custom not to eat matzah that became wet on Pesach. This is because there is a concern that some unbaked flour remained on the Matzah, and then it could perhaps ferment and become chametz if it came in contact with water.

Matzot are made in a process that involves only eighteen minutes from the moment contact is made between flour and water, through the kneading and rolling out of the dough,  and till the Matzah comes out of the hot oven in its final form. If you get a chance to visit a Matzah bakery you will see how breathtakingly quick the process is! This is the amount of time necessary to ensure that the dough has not fermented and become chametz. Since the kneading and baking time is so quick, there sometimes remain pockets of unbaked flour in the Matzah.

According to Halacha, it is permissible to to wet the Matzot because after they are baked there is no concern that they can become chametz. Nevertheless there are those who keep the custom of not wetting the Matzah due to the concern about unbaked flour that is found on the surface of the Matzah. This custom is called keeping away from ‘Matzah Shruya’ (in Hebrew) or ‘gebroks’ in Yiddish.

For those who keep the custom of refraining from ‘gebroks’, the Matzah should not come in contact with anything that contains water. Commercial cheeses and spreads probably do contain water, whereas avocado cut and spread with a totally dry utensil for example, would not contain water.