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On Seder night (the 15th of Nissan in Israel, and the 15th and 16th in the diaspora), there is a Torah commandment to eat matza: “At evening, you shall eat matzot” (Exodus 12:18).
Preparing the matza used to fulfill this mitzva requires extra care, as we read, “You shall guard (u-shmartem) the matzot” (Exodus 12:17). Therefore, the matza for the Seder must be shmura matza, meaning it was supervised and protected from becoming ĥametz from the time the wheat was harvested. This means the sheaves must be protected from rain, and not stored in a damp place. Once the wheat is turned into flour and then dough, not only must the dough be supervised, but the person kneading it must have in mind that it will be used for the mitzva of eating matza. As we said above (section 4), eating matza at the Seder is meant to remind us about the fundamentals of faith, specifically that God revealed Himself to our ancestors in Egypt and redeemed them. Therefore, protecting the matza symbolizes protecting our faith from any seeds of doubt.
Some who are meticulous use handmade shmura, which is matza kneaded (and put into the oven) by hand, rather than by machinery. The logic behind this stringency is they find it difficult to associate intention with turning on a machine. Nevertheless, it is absolutely fine to use machine shmura at the Seder.
