March 27, 2007 -- Thou shalt not make unto thee . . . matzo in a school bus. That's what upstate New York police commanded a Hasidic Jewish group after they learned that a red-and-white school bus had been turned into a giant oven for baking Passover matzos.
With the Jewish holiday just a week away, cops in Spring Valley pulled the plug on the king-sized bus-oven, which belched smoke from the back yard of a residence owned by Rabbi Aaron Winternitz, who heads the 50-member Mivtzar Hatorah congregation.
"Smoke was coming from the stack and there was a working fire," Sgt. Lou Scorziello of the Spring Valley police said yesterday. "This is a tinderbox. There certainly was the potential for an explosion."
The rabbi uses a crank made from a converted exercise bike to mill the flour for the unleavened bread - pushing the peddles with his hands.
Matzos are the staple of the holiday, which commemorates God's mercy in sparing the Israelites from a plague that would have killed their firstborn and their subsequent freedom from slavery in Egypt.
During the weeklong holiday, which begins Monday night, observant Jews eat unleavened bread to illustrate how little time the Israelites had to let their bread rise as they fled Egypt.
Winternitz said the bus - complete with a smokestack, exhaust fans and a working fire - had been making matzos for about three years, and posed no danger to the neighborhood.
But village officials flattened him last Friday after a neighbor called about the smoke, and inspectors found illegal gas lines extending from the house.
Winternitz said it has been a while since the bus actually carried any kids to school.
Before the bus-turned-bakery landed in his backyard, Winternitz said someone else used it as a home and a carrier for a race car.
"School buses are made strong and safe," Winternitz said. "I understand the attention. It's something new that you never saw. Inventions are exciting. People are curious."
Winternitz said concerns that the oven was not safe were just a bunch of smoke.
The rabbi said the bus is used only during the Passover observance to make about 100 pounds of matzos - or two pounds per congregant.
But officials said Winternitz might have to give a little more time to his design.
Although he praised it as "creative," a village official said the bus was sitting too close to the house.
"If something happens, it could spread to the house," said Manny Carmona, the village building enforcement officer.
Carmona said he would not issue a summons if Winternitz provided "clear drawings and approval by a licensed engineer."
"It looks safe," Carmona said, "but you can't go on looks."
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