Everyday Judaism · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:01 - Intro (Announcement)
You are listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Living Jewishly podcast.

00:08 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Okay, my dear friends, welcome back, welcome back to the Everyday Judaism podcast. It is so wonderful to be here. We are about to begin chapter Simeon 115, where we talk about the laws of Erev Pesach. The day before Pesach, that falls on Shabbos. We had a little bit introduction here, prior to going live, about some of the details that are involved in the calendar for this year, so we understand why this year is a little bit different. Pesach is going to begin Saturday night. That means that Erev Pesach is going to be on Shabbos. Okay, we also mentioned that there are six things that need to happen right before Pesach. Number one is the cleaning. Number two is the searching, which this year is going to be on Thursday night. We have to burn the chametz, we have to get rid of the chametz. We have to get rid of the chametz, we have to what it means, nullifying it. We have to sell it and the firstborn fasts. So when does all of that happen? And, as we'll see in this simmon, it's not a very long simmon. We're going to go through some of the details, all the details that are applicable to this. For example, we can't sell on Shabbat, so the selling of the chametz needs to happen before Shabbat. What does it mean when we talk about selling? We spoke about this last year in our Everyday Judaism podcast.

01:38
Selling means you actually sell your chametz. What does that mean? If this is chametz, if this is not kosher for Passover, I want to keep it in my house. It's valuable. I'll give an example of something which is valuable your alcohol. So if you have a good bottle of scotch or bourbon or vodka some of these can be very expensive or tequila. So I don't want to sell it, I don't want to sell it. I don't want to sell it, I want to. I sorry, I don't want to get rid of it. I don't want to burn it or fill it out, I want to sell. I prefer having it for after pesach, because it's very valuable, very expensive, very unique, whatever it may be. So, such as in such a circumstance when there is a significant loss, you can sell it.

02:28
Now, what does it mean to sell it? That means you find a non-Jew. You tell him listen, I want you to buy my chametz. You're welcome to come into my house and take it and eat it, but I'm selling it to you Now. After Pesach, when I'm allowed to eat it again, I would love to buy it back If you'd be so kind and selling it to you right Now, after Pesach, when I'm allowed to eat it again. I would love to buy it back if you'd be so kind and sell it to me. And you have to find someone who's trustworthy, who's not going to say no, I'm not going to sell it back to you after Pesach, because they have the right to do that. They have the right to not sell it back.

03:04
Okay, so now what happens with the chametz? It's an actual transaction. I will have, god willing, this week. I'll already have papers here, anybody who wants to sell their chametz, and you'll see on that form it'll say the property address. If there's any restriction to access, what's the remedy? So if there's a code to get in, you have to let them know exactly which room this chametz is in.

03:32
So, for example, one of the things that we sell for Pesach is our bar, which has a lot of alcohol that's not kosher for Passover, and we close it off and we have a sign on it sold, okay, and it's literally sold. And if someone comes on Pesach and knocks on the door and says, hey, I just figured I'll come by for a shot of whiskey. It's theirs, it belongs to them, can't stop them, can't say no, no, no, no. They have access to our keypad and they can unlock the door and come right in and enjoy their whiskey that they bought at a very discounted price. Okay, so they purchase and that's, by the way, for the entire neighborhood sells it to a non-Jew to enjoy over Pesach.

04:24
Now, typically it's not the items that they necessarily would want, so they're not going to. Possibly they're not going to go and eat the pretzels that are in the pantry, right, maybe they will. But that's theirs, their choice, it's totally theirs. It should be designated, it should be assigned, meaning clearly known. This is sold, it's sold, it does not belong to us. Now. That sale needs to happen before Shabbos. There's a time. Why? Why does it need to happen before Shabbos? Because you can't make a transaction like that on Shabbos. Okay, a transaction like that cannot happen on Shabbos. You got a question.

05:14
There are plenty of certified kosher for Passover alcohols, tequilas and vodkas. Not all vodkas are made out of potato. There are some that are. But even those that say that they are, how do you know that a drop of flour didn't fall in there? You have no idea. That's why you need to be certain that this is kosher for Passover, right? So, yes, that's why you'll find a lot of products.

05:44
Now, if you go to uh hgb randall's, they have rows and rows of kosher for passover. I think it's very special, um, that they take such good care of our, our jewish community, our kosher shoppers, to ensure. I was there already a week and a half ago to buy some of the things that are needed. I'm sure I'll be there plenty more times before Passover to ensure that we have what we need. Now. You can't just buy regular product and say, well, it's the same as kosher for Passover, so I'll just get it. No, you got to make sure that it is.

06:18
I'll give you an example of things that are kosher for Passover all year round Olive oil, olive oil from Costco. You look at it, the entire year it'll have an O-U-P for Passover, right? The whole year, year round. Why? Because there's no reason for it not to be, unless the guy is munching on his sandwich in the oil factory, right? Which shouldn't really happen. Unless that is the case, it should be kosher for Passover, so they'll ensure that they don't bring it into the premises of the production line. That's important.

07:00
Okay, what is chametz? We already discussed wheat, barley, spelt, rye and oats that are mixed with water and ferment. So matzah is flour and water. It's only flour and water, and it is from the time the water touches it to the minute it is out of the oven. It's much less than 18 minutes, by the way, but what they do is like this. Let me explain. If you haven't been to a matzah bakery factory, it is quite an experience. I would recommend you go see it. If you can see it online, it's exceptional.

07:40
But basically, what happens is they are ready to. They'll have all of this flour, which is clean flour. It's never been touched by water and it's been watched from the moment it's been harvested or it's been cut. Okay, from the moment it's been cut, it's been watched, secured, locked, to ensure that no drop of water touches it. The minute the water touches it, 18 minutes later, that thing is chametz. So they make sure that all of that grain, all of that flour, no water touches it. Now they'll take all of that flour and as soon as the water touches it, the clock begins and it's a big clock.

08:30
They have in that room and everyone gets their flour and everyone gets their water and they start mixing it. Mixing, mixing it Everybody gets, and they can do it with a machine, by the way, it doesn't have to be done by hand, do it with a machine. And then everybody gets their piece of dough that's going to become their matzah, and they knead out that matzah, they knead it out, knead it out, knead it out. They put it onto a stick. That stick is just like a pole, basically, and they wrap it around it and they lay it into a flat oven. It goes into that oven and it's out. It's seconds because the oven is so hot. And as soon as it's out, they put it onto a drying, a cooling pan, and it keeps on going. That cycle keeps on going till 18 minutes. As soon as 18 minutes is up, whatever flour is on that table is now chametz. They clean it off. You understand, the system is very, very meticulous. And then a next cycle comes in 18 minutes, and it keeps on going like that, and they've been doing this, by the way, since Hanukkah.

09:44
There have been shifts going on in the matzah factories all day, every day, and now it's even from Purim. They go crazy because they have to produce matzah for an enormous community of matzah lovers. So it's a big process. It's a very simple process, but again, once that water touches the flour, you have 18 minutes and then it is. It's got to be out of that oven, right, so you can make matzah in your own home as well, if you'd like. Have a good time, enjoy. Don't put it in the same one you make your grilled cheese sandwich in that oven. Okay, because that would okay.

10:28
All right, you get it, okay, okay, so we are beginning. Simeon 115. Erev Pesach, shechalios B'Shabbos. I'm sorry I don't have the handouts and for those of you online, hopefully I'll get those handouts to you sometime soon.

10:48
When Erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, we search for Hametz. On the night of the 13th. What's the night of the 13th? The night of the 13th, like we mentioned previously, would be on Thursday night. On Thursday night, that is the night that relates to Friday. Thursday night Achah Abdi Kamavatlo. After the search, he should nullify the chametz and that's staged. So there's two nullifications we do a nullification after searching and we do a nullification after burning. Okay, okay, nullification, nullification. Ve'omer kol chamira. And he says the declaration of kol chamira, all sourdough, etc. Kimo b'pam acher, as he would any other time when Erev Pesach does not fall on Shabbos, u'bi yom vav sorfo. And on Friday before Shabbos he burns the chametz. Gam kein b'zman shu sorfo. B'chol Erev Pes, and on Friday before Shabbos he burns the chametz. It's at the same time.

11:55
Like we said, this year is going to be at 1116 am. One second. Can you pass me the calendar? In Houston, texas, that time will be on Friday at 1207 pm, 1207 pm. You have to have it burned and again nullified, also at the same time that he burns it on Erev Pesach. However, unlike every year, he does not need to recite a declaration after burning the chametz to nullify all remaining chametz Elev b'shabas l'achar achila till Shabbos, after eating his last chametz meal. That's when you get rid of it, because again, we typically would do it at 12.07 on this year's time schedule, right before Pesach. But right before Pesach is not on Friday, it's actually on Shabbos. On Friday it's actually on Shabbos, so you nullify it on Shabbos.

13:01
So on Shabbos, after eating his meal, his chametz meal, because again you can't have kosher for Passover yet. I mean you can have kosher for Passover. Items like dishes can all be, meaning the dishes that you eat don't have to be chametz per se, but you do have to. You can't make hamotzi on matzah, you have to make hamotzi. The bread has to be actual bread. So that has to be done earlier.

13:30
He nullifies all chametz by saying kol chamira, okay, halacha number two Ha'bechorim yis'anam yom hei. When do the firstborn fast? On Thursday, ve'im kosholol lihis'anos ad la'achar bedikas chametz. And if it is difficult for one to fast until after the chametz is searched for, yochol litom ezer davar mu'at kodema b'dikah, he is allowed to eat something small after nightfall, but before b'dikah's chametz, because the halacha says if you remember last year when we learned the laws of searching for chametz you're not allowed to eat till after you search for chametz. So this applies to all of us as well, but particularly for a firstborn who's fasting that we don't eat prior to searching for chametz, because what's inevitable is that once we start eating, then we start getting carried away. We're schmoozing with our family, we're having a good time, we forget about searching for chametz. Food has a way of carrying us away, or we get tired. I'm just going to take a little nap. We wake up the next morning. I overslept, I forgot to search for chametz, okay. So these are things that are important for us to remember. Always do the mitzvah before you eat, so someone who's fasting can taste something before doing the search for something small. Or he can make a messenger. He can appoint an agent to perform the bedika for him instead.

15:03
Halacha three one should not cook for this shabbos cooked dishes containing flour or grits. Therefore, these foods can stick to the pot and it is forbidden to wash them on Shabbos. Therefore, you should eat foods. You should cook foods that do not adhere to the pots and pans, to the utensils, and after eating he should shake off the tablecloth really well and he should put it away with the rest of his utensils that are going to be sold to the non-Jew, away with the rest of his chametz yitzenzels that are going to be sold to the non-Jew. Becheder, she'en, oragel, lech eshamah, bepessach, and it should be a room that you're not accustomed to entering. On Pesach you have a special designated room. This is my chametz room and this is sold. The whole room is sold to the non-Jew Ve'im nishalom ha'at pas, and if after the meal he has a little bit of bread left over, he should either give it to an idolater, to a non-Jew, or he can get rid of it in other ways.

16:22
We mentioned a few earlier. The garbages that we have belong to the city of Houston and therefore putting things into that garbage is considered that it's not your possession anymore. That's one. Another option is some people will flush it down the toilet. They know again, it's not. I don't think it's respectful to bread to to destroy it in such a way. But or you can give it to the birds or you can give it to the squirrels, but don't forget that comes with a danger. As I mentioned before, we went live my neighbor one year this same calendar setup put out all of their extra bagels out in the garbage and the squirrels got to it. And we woke up the morning after Pesach first morning of Pesach and there were bagels on all the trees and all the branches all around the neighborhood. So yeah, that was very interesting.

17:16
Raki zar bi-isr hotzar. A person should be careful regarding the prohibition of hotzar, which is transferring from one domain to another. U'mechabdine sabayis alideakom. And one should make sure the house is cleaned up and swept and you know everything is ready for Pesach. Obedavra Mutar, either with a person should either have someone, a housekeeper, come who's not Jewish, who cleans up really well, or use a permitted object to clean.

17:49
Now, finding a broom, making sure that, because here's just like to put in the sensitivity in our mind of what's going on. So what happens if you use your regular? You use a broom for sweeping the little crumbs that are on the floor. What's going to happen? Now you can use that same broom for Pesach. You're going to have your little crumbs that had bread in it, cleaning your Pesach floor, which is why we have a special Pesach broom which doesn't have all of the crumbs. So understand, there's different sensitivity to the chametz. Even one morsel of chametz is not allowed to be in your house. Chametz, again, is wheat, barley, spelt, rye oats that are mixed with water and fermented for a period of time of over 18 minutes to bring it to its full.

18:43
Okay, so now, on Shabbos, there is a mitzvah to eat, three meals one at night and two during the day. The final meal of the three meals of Shabbos should, if at all possible, include bread, like the other meals of Shabbos. So how do we do that on the Shabbos, right before Pesach? So we go as follows Because what's the problem this year? This year, if we look at our magnificent torch calendar, we have to be done with eating comets at 11.14 am in Houston, 2025. The calendar year of 2025.

19:23
Pesach begins on the 12th of April at candle lighting is 8.38 pm. That's when candle lighting is, because that has to come in after Shabbos ends, got it? Shabbos ends only at 8.38, so you don't light the candles for Pesach until after Shabbos is out, but we finish eating our chametz by 11.14 am. Is anybody confused here A little bit? No, you're good, okay, good, because I'm almost confusing myself. So now?

19:58
So what's the proper thing to do? We daven early Shabbos morning so that, so that we should not be late, we shouldn't miss the time of eating the chametz Shem utarim b'achil, as chametz Benochen l'chalek su'udasul ashtayim, and it is proper to divide your meal into two. That means tahayinu she'ivaruch berchas amazam, that you recite the grace after meals. After eating part of the meal Umaf sikmarim, take a little break. Take after eating part of the meal, umav Sikmar, and take a little break, take a walk with your family and then, either by walking, by playing games with the kids, by studying Torah, take a break and then you go back and wash your hands again and then continue eating your meal and recite the grace after meals a second time, because now it's two separate meals, even though it's really one meal. But like this you fulfill the special mitzvah of having three meals on Shabbos In order to fulfill this great mitzvah of the third meal as well.

21:10
What do we read? The Ha again, what do we read? The Haftorah that we read, what is it that we read? So we read, which is actually my bar mitzvah parasha, my bar mitzvah haftorah, which is Shabbos Hagadol. Shabbos Hagadol is going to be that Shabbos. We talked about it previously in previous years. We're going to repeat those episodes on our podcast so that our listeners on the Jewish Inspiration Podcast can listen and understand what Shabbos HaGadol is about. It's called the Great Shabbos Lefisheh kosov sham because it says in those words of the prophet in Malachi it says HaViu is kol hama aser al-besa o'tzar Right.

22:01
Bring all the tithes into the storage house, into the room of the Besa Megesh of the Holy Temple, where the tithes were stored. And this is pertinent to this day, to the day preceding Pesach, because according to some opinions, the time of disposal of the tithes was on Erev Pesach on the fourth year of the Shemitah cycle and on Erev Pesach on the seventh year of the Shemitah. That is all the tithes that one separated for all of the previous three years from his produce. They all were still in his house and he is still obligated at that time to give them to the Levi, that he would bring them to the temple and they'd be stored away. So this is referring to all of the grains that were in our home. Get rid of them, donate them, okay. So now that's referring also to our chametz, that we get rid of our chametz. This is the last halacha here in this simmon is halacha number six.

23:19
When kneading a certain measure of dough, one must set aside and burn a portion of the dough known as challah. Challah is the part that we separate from the dough. If this portion was not set aside before baking, it must be removed afterward when one bakes loaves for Shabbos. The challah is separated before Shabbos, as challah may not be separated on Shabbos. In this Se'if we talk about the importance of ensuring that challah is separated from the Shabbos loaves before this Shabbos, particularly this Shabbos of Pesach, which falls out at the end of Shabbos on Saturday night and discusses what should be done if one forgot to do so. Okay, so the Erev Shabbos. On this Erev Shabbos, we're referring to what's going to be in three weeks' time. In three weeks we're going to be beginning Pesach Saturday night. So, erev Shabbos, what do we do?

24:23
Each person, meaning the head of each household, must take extreme care to ask the members of his household whether they set aside the challah Lishrol nim ifrishu challah Min hachalos sha'afu l'chot shabbos from the loaves that they baked in honor of Shabbos. Ki im lo ifrishu challah. If they did not set aside challah before Shabbos and they realized on Shabbos that they did not set it aside. There's a big dilemma regarding what to do, because you can't separate challah on Shabbos, because it is forbidden to set aside challah on Shabbos, it is also forbidden to keep the loaves until after the Shabbos. Since it is, it's chametz right, it's leavened.

25:16
The opinion of the Magan Avram in such a case. Here's the problems you can't eat from bread that wasn't separated, one of the things that we have to understand, which is why kosher bread means that challah was taken from it. Well, what's it different than any other bread? Well, the other bread, challah wasn't separated. When you have a kosher bread, what it means is that we took off a tithe, so to speak, from that dough, from that batch. Okay, so what do we do? You can't eat it because challah wasn't separated. You therefore must give all of the loaves to an idolater, the matanah grumah, in a full, legally binding present. You give them a gift. It's theirs Before the time that they are forbidden for benefit.

26:14
However, there are authorities who disagree with this opinion, because that have given other solutions to rectifying this problem, and all of them are halachically difficult to grasp. He says, therefore just do me a favor, figure it out before Shabbos and make sure that you take the challah before Shabbos and if you forgot to do it in the process of baking, you can take it after the baking. You have loaves of bread, cut off a piece, a sizable amount of one of the loaves, and you say ha-rezo chala. This is my separation of chala and, by the way, that's why it's called chala bread. Many people call it chala bread. It's called chala because of the mitzvah of chala that we separate from it.

27:00
The bread is not called chala, the bread is not called challah. The bread is not called challah. The part that you take away and you give to God is challah and that's why we call the bread challah, because it's a mitzvah that we do with this bread. It gets the name of the mitzvah that we call it by the name of the mitzvah that we do with it. Very cool, it's amazing. All right, so that concludes Simeon 115. And hopefully I will be able to get you these notes shortly. But to those of you listening on the podcast, we are going to enter the segment of the Ask Away. Ask Away number seven. Number seven already, and I'm really excited about this. So, my dear friends who are here in the beautiful Torch Center in Houston, texas please roll out your questions.

27:58 - Intro (Announcement)
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