Rid your house of chametz for a happy and kosher Pesach.
Many people know that according to Jewish law, Jews do not eat bread during the Pesach/Passover holiday. What is less well known is that Jews may not own any bread or leavened products made of five grains during Pesach. These grains include wheat, barley, rye, oats and spelt as well as derivatives of these grains. Jewish people in a traditional Jewish household will thoroughly clean their home to purge the home of any traces of "chametz," or unleavened products. The process includes weeks of cleaning, restocking and re-organizing the kitchen and the entire house.
Instructions
1. Clean your house. Remember, your objective only involves ridding your house of chametz. Many people use the opportunity to do spring cleaning, but that's not the goal. Simply concentrate on areas where chametz may hide. Clean out the cracks and corners of the couch where cracker crumbs fall. Wipe down the computer area if family members eat near the computer.
2. Move into the kitchen. Thoroughly clean your cupboard shelves and refrigerator and lay newspaper in them. Reduce your food supply and concentrate your food and dishes in one cupboard or in boxes to free your other cupboards for the Passover food and utensils. Scour your stovetop and oven. Ask your rabbi prepare your oven for Passover. Clean your stovetop and cover the grills with tin foil.
3. Put away your dishes, pots and pans and utensils. In religious Jewish homes, the family will maintain special Passover dishes that they store away during the year and bring out for Passover. Some people "kasher" their glassware by soaking it in clean water for three days, changing the water each day. You can also kasher your flatware or other metal cookery by boiling it.
4. In the days preceeding Pesach, set up a "chametz corner" on your porch, in your basement or in some other area so that the family can continue to eat chametz up until the morning of the Passover Seder. In your kitchen wipe down everything one last time and cover all surfaces with a plastic cover. Bring in your Pesach dishes and your new stock of Pesach food.
5. The night before the Passover Seder, the first night of Pesach, complete the "Bidikat Chametz" ceremony when the family ceremonially searches for any forgotten chametz throughout the house. "Sell" your chametz to your rabbi, who then sells it to a non-Jew. This ficticious sale ensures that even if chametz still exists somewhere in your house, it is no longer officially yours.
6. Eat chametz until mid-morning of the first night of Pesach. Clean up the "chametz corner" and store or throw away any remaining chametz. Burn the last of your chametz in a symbolic ceremony called "Biur Chametz."
7. Complete preparations for the Passover holiday, including preparations for the first night's Seder. Traditional Jewish custom dictates that matza remains off-limits until the first Seder but during that day you cannot eat chametz either. Make hard-boiled eggs, muffins with matza meal, cheeses, nuts and fruits and vegetables to eat until you sit down to the festive Seder meal.
Tags: your house, first night, chametz corner, chametz until, during Pesach, first night Pesach, house chametz