Menachot 76 – Folding the Matzah

Unlike the matzah of today, which is crisp and brittle, the flour offering in the Temple, although it was unleavened, was soft and pliable. The regular flour offering was folded in half, then again in half, to fulfill the commanded of “break it into pieces,” but that of a kohen was folded only once.

All flour offerings require three hundred rubbings and five hundred poundings applied to its wheat. Rabbi Yose says that they were applied to the dough. All flour offerings were brought in groups of ten loaves, except for the Breads of Vision, which were brought in groups of twelve, – these are the words of Rabbi Yehudah, who takes the ten loaves from the thanksgiving offering. Rabbi Meir says that they were all made of twelve loaves, except for the thanksgiving offering.

The Omer offering consisted of one-tenth of a se'ah measure (about 5 pounds), the two loaves of Shavuot of two one-tenths, and the Bread of Vision of twenty-four tenths. The Omer with sifted through thirteen sieves, two loaves – with twelve sieves, and the Bread of Vision with eleven sieves. Rabbi Shimon says that there was no set number of sieves.

Art: Janos Nagy Balogh - Still Life With Sieve, Bun And Mug