Satmar Hasidic matzah bakery damaged in fire

A well-known matzah bakery in Brooklyn in New York City is heavily damaged in a major fire.

The fire broke out in the bakery owned and run by Williamsburg’s Congregation Yetev Lev D’Satmar, the main synagogue of the Satmar Hasidic sect. The bakery has baked matzah there for the last 60 years.

The fire, first reported by the Yeshiva World News website, appears to have been caused by a new wood-burning oven that had been used the prior day for the first time. The building did not have a sprinkler system in place near the ovens, according to reports.

In 2016, workers rolled matzah dough into thin, round discs at the Satmar Bakery in Brooklyn. (Uriel Heilman)

“The damage was extensive to the matzah,” Rabbi David Niederman, head of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn, tells DNAinfo, speaking on behalf of the bakery. “It’s a tremendous loss but it’s not an issue that there will be no matzah.”

— JTA