Pesach

A. Chametz

On Pesach, one may not own, eat, or have any benefit from chametz. [Kitnios and inedible chametz will be discussed in future entries.] Chametz includes anything made with wheat, rye, oats, spelt, and barley which was mixed with water and was not baked within 18 minutes. Flour is assumed to be safek chametz (possible chametz) because the wheat kernels are moistened with water before they are ground into flour. Soy sauce, licorice, year-round matzah, and Benefiber (a laxative) are items that commonly list wheat or flour as an ingredient, and should be treated as chametz.

In the United States, most “starch” is made from corn, but it can also be made from wheat (chametz), and therefore we avoid foods with starch unless we are sure the starch is not an issue. For example, disposable gloves, rubber bands for braces, and balloon, are commonly coated with starch (to prevent sticking), and are only recommended if you first rinse off the starch.

Instant coffee is made at a company by them first brewing a large vat of coffee, and then they remove the liquid from that coffee to leave a powder. There are two ways to remove the liquid: freeze drying and spray drying. Freeze drying of coffee does not pose any Pesach concerns. [That said, if the coffee is decaffeinated or flavored, it needs hashgachah.] But spray dried coffee needs hashgachah for Pesach because the company might add starch to the coffee before spray drying it. The enclosed video shows how to easily tell the difference between the chunks created by freeze drying (acceptable without hashgachah) as opposed to the clumps of powder created by a spray dryer (which need hashgachah for Pesach).

The barley (also known as pearled barley) that people have in their pantries, has never been in contact with water and is not chametz. A common product of barley is “barley malt” (also known as “malted barley” or just “malt”) which is created by soaking the barley in water, and it is surely chametz. One of the uses for barley malt is to add flavor to breakfast cereals like Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes, and those foods should therefore be considered chametz. Another use for barley malt is to perform a certain crucial step in the creation of alcohol, and therefore even an alcohol made of corn (kitnios), might have chametz in it (and the chametz would be a davar hama’amid which cannot be batel).

Another use for barley (and also wheat and rye) is to create alcoholic beverages such as beer and Scotch. Even bourbon and other whisky which is primarily made of corn, usually contains a significant amount of alcohol from rye and barley (as much as 30%), and therefore all alcoholic beverages are assumed to be chametz unless they have hashgachah for Pesach. Some of the liquors which are “easier” to make kosher for Pesach are the ones made from fruit or sugar, such as brandy (grapes), rum (sugar), slivovitz (plums), and even vodka (just about any fruit or starch), but even these need hashgachah for Pesach.

Oats will spoil (i.e., go rancid) if they are not heated after being harvested. If that heating is done with dry heat, then they will remain chametz-free until someone adds water to them. But if the heating is done with wet-steam, that might make the oats chametz. Generally, we cannot determine which process was used, and we treat all oats (including oatmeal) as possibly chametz. Oats are also the only one of the “five primary grains” that does not inherently contain gluten, and therefore “gluten-free” foods might be pure chametz if they contain oats.

B. Kitnios

The Ashkenazic minhag is to not eat a group of foods called “kitnios”, but one may keep them over Pesach and may have benefit from them. The following foods are treated as kitnios in the United States: beans, buckwheat/kasha, canola/rapeseed, chickpeas, corn, green beans, lentils, millet, mustard, peanuts, peas, poppy seeds, rice, sesame seeds, snow peas, soybeans, sugar-snap peas, and sunflower seeds. In contrast, coffee, garlic, olives, potatoes, spices (most), tea, and tree nuts are not kitnios. Other foods will be listed in a future entry.

In the United States, most follow the opinion of Iggeros Moshe that foods which were not used by the Jewish community when the kitnios minhag first began, may be eaten on Pesach even if they are very similar to other kitnios foods. Accordingly, we permit amaranth, cottonseed oil, guar gum, linseed/flaxseed oil, safflower oil, and quinoa. [That said, amaranth and quinoa should only be purchased with hashgachah for Pesach to ensure that no other grains were mixed in, and the same applies to the oils listed]. In Eretz Yisroel and certain other communities, they consider some or all of these items to be kitnios.

Spices are generally not kitnios, but there are two exceptions, (1) mustard, and (2) a group of spices that includes anise, caraway, coriander, cumin, dill, and fennel. This latter group is not technically “kitnios” but often is contaminated with wheat or other grains that grow in adjacent fields. Accordingly, some do not use these spices at all for Pesach, while others will use them if they were carefully cleaned to remove all foreign matter. At this point, there are some spice-blends that contain cumin which are sold with reputable hashgachos for Pesach which the cRc does NOT accept because we are concerned that they are not cleaned thoroughly enough.

Not only are the actual kitnios seeds or beans forbidden, but derivatives of kitnios are also forbidden. Therefore, corn syrup and soybean oil may not be eaten on Pesach. For this reason, cRc recommends that (a) fresh fish be washed before use, because some manufacturers coat them with corn syrup, and (b) dried fruit, such as raisins, need hashgachah for Pesach because they are commonly coated with soybean oil to prevent them from sticking to one another.

In North America and Asia, the following items are typically made from kitnios: aspartame, citric acid, emulsifiers, enzymes, flavors, MSG, seltzer, vinegar (malt vinegar is pure chametz), vitamins, xanthan gum, and yeast (brewer’s yeast is pure chametz). Some manufacturers do produce these items from chametz (and in Europe this is actually quite common), but generally they are made from corn or rice. To avoid kitnios (and chametz) these should only be eaten on Pesach if they have Pesach hashgachah.

People who are ill or who have a medical reason that they must eat kitnios, may do so on Pesach. For example, an elderly person who requires Ensure, an infant who drinks baby formula, or a child who requires a rice-based milk-substitute, may eat those foods even though they contain soy, corn, or rice which are kitnios. However, (a) they should check with the cRc or OU to make sure that the variety they use does not contain any chametz, and (b) any dishes used with kitnios should be washed in a sink where Pesach dishes are not washed (such as in the bathroom).

C. Owning & Selling

Chametz is different than kitnios in that one may not own or use or benefit from chametz on Pesach, but may do all of those things with kitnios. Since one may not own chametz on Pesach, one must either destroy or sell all of their chametz before a certain time on Erev Pesach. [One must also perform bitul on their chametz by reciting kol chamirah…] Not only do we have to do this at home for our own chametz, but as the people responsible for kashrus we must make sure that any establishment owned by a Jewish person sells (or destroys) all of their chametz before Pesach. [If a store only had kitnios (such as at a smoothie bar) they would technically not have to sell their chametz, but we would recommend they do so anyhow in case any of the minor ingredients, such as syrups or flavors, are chametz.]

Theoretically, one could sell or give their chametz privately to a non-Jewish person before Pesach and then buy it back after Pesach. However, there are lots of details to making a true/valid sale, and we therefore just ask the local Rabbi to sell it for us. The owner of the chametz signs an “authorization form” giving the Rabbi permission to sell the chametz to the non-Jew, and to buy it back after Pesach. The non-Jew agrees to pay full market price for the chametz, and it is truly and legally his during Pesach. Once Pesach ends, the Jew cannot use any of the chametz until the Rabbi buys it back from the non-Jew, and for this reason (Jewish-owned) stores may not start working with “their” chametz until approximately 90 minutes after sunset of the last day of Pesach.

Halachically, one may sell any type of chametz that they have, but some have a custom to not sell “real” chametz, and instead they make sure to destroy it. For some, “real” chametz means bread, pasta, cookies, and other things which are pure chametz. For others, “real” chametz means (a) whisky, (b) anything but whisky, (c) foods that contain more than 50% chametz ingredients, (d) foods with even a small amount of ingredients that are surely chametz, or (e) some other definition. In this regard, each family should follow their custom.

If a Jewish person owned chametz on Pesach, no one may eat or have any benefit from that chametz forever. This means that if a storeowner or private person did not arrange to have his chametz sold, any chametz in his possession is essentially “non-kosher”.

As members of a hashgachah, we not only care about mechiras chametz because we want the owner to do the right thing, but also because if he does not sell his chametz that food cannot be served after Pesach. This concern, called chametz she’avar alav haPesach, is the reason why a large group of (aged) bourbons and certain beers, are “not recommended” by the cRc. The companies who produce those are owned by Jews who do not sell their chametz, and therefore any chametz beverage which they owned on Pesach is not kosher.

Any chametz sold to a non-Jew for Pesach should be put away in a drawer or cabinet (which is locked or taped shut) so that no one accidentally eats from it on Pesach. Similarly, any dishes, flatware, etc. used for chametz year-round which were not kashered for Pesach, must be “put away” so that no one mistakenly uses them on Pesach.