Pessah, the Hebrew name for Passover, is a holiday that requires advance preparation before we can enjoy it.
First things first: the thing we are not allowed to eat during Pessah is Hametz. Hametz is any kind of food prepared from five specific species of grain (rye, wheat, barley, spelt and oats), plus water, that was not thoroughly cooked in eighteen minutes. Everything else may be consumed in Pessah, as long as it has not come in contact with the above-mentioned mixture. And that is where the issue becomes complicated, because if any amount of this mixture becomes mixed with other food, it is called Ta’arovet hametz, and it is also prohibited during Pessah.
For this reason, we eliminate Hametz from our homes prior to the holiday. We start by removing all leavened foods from our homes. We can donate unused and unopened food to our local food pantry. And consume all open food before Pessah. The next step is to do “mechirat hametz.” The words mean “the selling of the hametz,” and it is a legal fiction that permits us to hold on to expensive forms of hametz such as liquor, exquisite spices and condiments. I will “sell” your hametz to a non-Jew for the duration of Passover. Since this is a legal transaction, I need to be explicitly appointed to perform such a sale on your behalf. Please send an email (info@Jilli.org) or a letter with language similar to that below, so I can sell your hametz.
I/we, _____________________________, residing at ____________________________ authorize Rabbi Lia Bass to sell my hametz according to the stipulations of Jewish Law. Should the new owner decide to take possession of the hametz, it will be found in a sealed closet in the ________________________ room of my house/apartment/office.
Signature _________________________________ Date______________________
When we sell our hametz, it is customary to also send a donation, that will be used in part to alleviate food issues in our community.
Pessah begins on Friday evening, April 15, and concludes after dark on Saturday, April 23.
On Friday, April 15, after 10:00 am, we are not allowed to eat “Hametz” anymore. We are also not supposed to eat matza until the Seder, when we will be able to taste it afresh. At the end of Pessah you may again enjoy the hametz you sold. Please give me a half hour after the appearance of the three stars to open your cabinets. We will be able to eat from that hametz again this year on Saturday, April 23, at 9:00 pm. Pessah will end at 8:35 pm.
On Thursday evening, April 14, as soon as night has fallen, we continue the process of removal of hametz by doing Bedikat Hametz (the search for leaven) and Bitul Hametz (the nullification of leaven). We light a candle, say the benediction “Baruch ata…vetzivanu al biyur hametz” and we search the house for little pieces of hametz that have been previously hidden. After the search for the hametz is done, and all the pieces are found, we collect the pieces and the remaining leaven. We proceed with Bitul Hametz, and the formula for that can be found in any Haggadah.
The next day, Friday, April 15, each one shall burn their Hametz, in a ceremony called Biyur Hametz. This will happen after our services on Friday morning at 7:30 am. During services we will finish a unit of Rabbinic text study. This is done because firstborn children are called to fast in memory of the slain firstborns during the last plague in Egypt. To avoid the fast, we organized a Siyum (conclusion of a unit of Rabbinic text study), and we are then commanded to eat. Many of us have been learning Tractate Sanhedrin on Fridays during lunch time, and I look forward to a wonderful discussion as we conclude the tractate!
*Services (If you would like to attend, please send an email to info@JILLI.org and I will send you a link)
- Friday, April 15, 7:30 am, Morning service and Syium. In the evening we will not have services. If you need a place to go for Seder, let me know, and I will try to place you.
- Saturday April 16, 10:00 am Shabbat and Pessah morning services.
- Thursday, April 21, 7:30 am, morning minyan.
- Friday morning, April 22, 10:00 am, Pessah services. Kabbalat Shabbat at 6:15pm.
- Saturday, April 23, 10:00 am, shaharit services. This service includes Yizkor.