After a thorough check of equipment and a consultation with fellow rabbis, Genack set in motion the baking of the final batch of shmura matzas at the Manischewitz plant in Jersey City.

Once the run of one million of the specially supervised matzas is completed, the plant will shut its doors and move its baking operations to a state-of-the-art facility in Newark.

For Jeremy Fingerman, president and chief executive officer of Manischewitz’s parent company, RAB Food Group, the moment was bittersweet.

“We are paying tribute to 75 glorious years of history in this plant under the watchful eyes of the rabbis who have certified the kosher quality products we provide,” he said. “And there is also a positive spirit of anticipation as we move to a new facility to prepare for Passover 2008.”

Like the aging factory on Bay Street in Jersey City, the plant on K Street in Newark is owned by RAB, which purchased Manischewitz in 1998. RAB also owns two other brands, Goodman’s and Horowitz-Margareten. The matzas of all three will be produced in Newark after the newly installed bakery becomes fully operational in July.

“Each brand had a different niche and different specifications based on what their traditions have been,” said Fingerman. “But the basic Passover matza is flour and water. There is not much you can alter.”

The non-holiday varieties that RAB manufactures, amounting to more than 75 million sheets a year, “have different ingredients, such as eggs and onions, which are all kosher but may not be kosher-for-Passover,” he explained.

The modern, one-floor operation in Newark currently manufactures gefilte fish, soups, sauces, macaroons, matza meal, and seasonings under the Rokeach, Season, and Guiltless Gourmet labels. RAB will spend some $15 million to install the new bakery. It is designed to be a far more efficient operation than the current one in Jersey City, explained Richard Bernstein, the corporate chairman and namesake for RAB Foods.

“To go from daily matza to Passover matza in Jersey City took us just shy of a month. We had to shut down for a month in order to clean the ovens so that they are kosher-for-Passover. The new oven in Newark has an anticipation of three days’ changeover instead of 30 days. It is designed so that it can be cleaned quickly and efficiently by the rabbis and assistants, so it gives us the ability to be much more flexible,” he said.

Increased productivity was just one reason RAB is moving Manischewitz to Newark. Another factor is the $35 million it received from Toll Brothers, a residential and commercial real estate developer based in Horsham, Pa. They plan to demolish the Jersey City factory and erect a high-rise apartment complex on the site.

On hand for the Dec. 20 event, Jersey City Mayor Jeremiah O’Leary told NJ Jewish News the change was “for the better.”

“Manischewitz is a company that has been a good corporate neighbor. But it is part of the changing Jersey City,” said O’Leary. “The old manufacturing days have left and we have new types of businesses coming in — IT and computer-type things. Real estate is obviously more valuable now than when they purchased this land for probably next to nothing 75 years ago.”

But not everyone connected with the Jersey City plant is optimistic about the future.

During its peak baking season before Passover, Manischewitz employed up to 100 bakers, drivers, and food processors in Jersey City. Their fate “is still to be worked through,” said Fingerman. “Some time this spring, we will make the determination based on configurations, capabilities, and other needs.”

“The employees will all be given opportunities to interview, and many will come with us,” added Bernstein. “The number who will be going to Newark hasn’t been sorted out. I don’t anticipate any controversy. We’ll do what’s right.”

But Valery Bedzmer, the plant’s production manager, said the future of his workers remains unclear. “We just know we are here until the end of March.”

As the final production run began, a worker who wished to remain anonymous said he had been working at the plant for more than 30 years and was worried about his future. “I don’t know if I’m going to keep my job,” he said.