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Pesach Questions

04/18/2019 12:00:00 AM

Apr18

Thank you for such a great and easy service! Is there a way to kasher knives use for cook preparation (i.e., not regular knives)? There does not seem to be an easy way to remove the handles and I am not sure if it would be safe to hold the knives by the handle when kashering them (and therefore it would not be fully immersed). Thanks!

If you cannot clean between where the handle and the blade meat and food can get trapped there, then unfortunately you cannot kasher the knife for Pesach.

If you are able to detach the handle and/or clean between the blade and the handle, below is a helpful guide from the Star K on how to immerse safely (as you mentioned concerns about this). The process would mean cleaning the knives, letting them sit for 24 hours, and then doing hagalah to kasher them, ending with immersing them in cold water. The knives do not need to be immersed all at once:

Loosely tie the pieces of silverware to a string, leaving three inches between each piece, and immerse the string of silverware slowly, making sure the water keeps boiling. The process is finalized by rinsing the kashered items in cold water. If tongs are used to grip the utensil, the utensil will have to be immersed a second time with the tongs in a different position so that the boiling water will touch the initially gripped area. Unlike tevilas keilim, the entire utensil does not have to be immersed in the boiling water at once; it may be immersed in parts.

At what point do we no longer eat matzah? Rosh Hodesh? The day before Pesach?

Customs vary widely, and there is no definitive custom.

Halachikly one is required to refrain from matza on erev Pesach.

 

I use a coffee grinder and aso a glass"pour over" type container during the year. I only use plain whole coffee beans and just rinse it with water and soap No scrubbing with a brush. Can I use the grinder and glass container for Pesach if I don't use the glass for 24 hrs then soak it?

Under these specific circumstances you may absolutely use it. Just make sure that all the appliances are absolutely clean, and use them for Pesach.


Do we need new sink racks (that line the bottom of the sink) for Pesach? And do we need new dish-drying racks for Pesach? (NOT dish-washer racks. Dish-drying racks, the ones we use after we've manually washed the dishes and are waiting for them to dry.) Thanks!

Yes, it is preferable to have Pesach versions of all of them.

Hello, can we use a cuisinart and/or electric juicer that we use during the year? Thanks!

In principle, a Cuisinart or a juicer that has only been used with cold food, and which you will only be using with cold food over Pesach as well, can be used after a thorough, careful cleaning. The practicality usually comes down to whether or not it can be thoroughly cleaned, which depends upon the construction of the appliance and if you are thoroughly patient.

How does one kasher an Instant Pot/Electric Pressure cooker?

The CRC rules: An Instant Pot cannot be kashered for year round or Pesach. The device and its cover, have too many nooks and cranies which cannot be cleaned properly, and into which the kashering water might not penetrate.

Where can you get KFP Gluten Free Matza?

Gluten free matza is available at most of our local kosher grocery stores. If you call Livonia, Glatt Mart, etc, you might be able to put some boxes on hold. It's really common here, so you shouldn't have an issue. Just don't wait until it gets too close to the holiday.

A couple of weeks ago I bought a new Brita Water Dispenser/Filter that sits in, and dispenses from, the fridge. It never sits on the table or comes into contact with food or crumbs. Before I started using it, though, I washed it with a sponge, soap and hot water, and once it was dry, I put it in the fridge and filled it up with water. It has remained there, and cold, ever since. I also fill it up from a parve (non-pesadik) measuring cup whenever it gets emptied. Is there any way I can continue to use it on pesach? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015SY3VGM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you can remove the water receptacle and clean it (with a non-hametz) sponge, it is permitted.

 

I am going away for Passover. Can I burn my Chametz on Wednesday?

See below:

Halacha How To: Pesach

Halachah How To: Leaving for Pesach

Here's a perennial Pre-Pesach question: If I am leaving town before Pesach, what are my obligations relative to Bedikat Chametz (the search for chametz)? The answer is best understood if we first have clarity regarding the purpose of the search.

The Torah applies an unusual degree of stringency to the prohibition of chametz. In addition to not eating chametz, we are also prohibited to own chametz. By law, we can dispossess ourselves of our chametz and thus avoid the prohibition, merely by "nullifying" the chametz through the recitation of the familiar formulae that we recite each year. (You can find them in the Siddur, or at the beginning of almost any Haggadah). However, the Talmudic sages obliged us to actually search for (and destroy) our chametz anyway, to address two concerns that they had.

They were concerned that if we failed to actually search our premises: (1) we might find chametzduring Pesach and unthinkingly eat it before we remember that it's Pesach, and (2) our nullification might be less than whole-hearted if we suspect that there is actually still some valuable chametz in the house somewhere. Thus, the obligation to search on the night preceding Pesach.

However, given people's (apparently eternal) propensity to not be home for Pesach, the sages formulated the obligation so that it actually devolves upon us 30 days before Pesach. So as long as we are leaving fewer than 30 days before the chag, we are obligated to search, albeit without the bracha, on the night before we leave. This is true even if we will not be home at all over the course of Pesach (see concern #(2) above.)

Along similar lines the question is often asked how hotel-goers may fulfill the mitzva of "the burden of Pesach." The concern is a serious one, as the Talmud reports that one of the 3 questions we are asked upon arriving in Heaven is, "did you dislocate any joints in your remembering of the Exodus?"

Halachah How To: Pesach

1. בדיקת חמץ (THE SEARCH FOR CHAMETZ)

The mitzvah to do בדיקת חמץ (the search for chametz) falls upon our shoulders 30 days before Pesach. What that means in practical terms, is that even though you may be leaving your home before Pesach, and not coming back until after Pesach, you are still obligated to do the בדיקה.

What’s the procedure if you are leaving town? On your last night in town, you would use a candle as normal, and you would recite the ביטול (nullification of chametz) afterwards. The only difference is that you would not recite the bracha. On erev Pesach, you should recite the final ביטול, wherever you are. There is no requirement to burn the chametz on erev Pesach if you did an “early בדיקה, but if you wanted to take your “found” chametz with you, and burn it on erev Pesach wherever you are, that’s fine too.

Everyone staying in town will do the bedika, with the bracha the night before Passover.

 

Thu, April 25 2024 17 Nisan 5784