02 Mar GETTING READY FOR PESACH 2021 WITH R’ ELEFANT FROM THE OU
With everything going on this year with covid, is the OU doing anything differently as far as watching over companies?
We are very much operational. B”H we have been able to transform ourselves into a virtual enterprise. In other words, the OU is an organization that always worked out of our headquarters and very quickly, we were able to set ourselves up so that the over 50 rabbonim that work in the OU headquarters could begin working at home. This has been the case for almost a year already. In terms of Mashgichim in the field, in the beginning many factories around the country and around the world were closed. Most factories are now open and almost all visits are being done by Mashgichim who are prepared to do whatever it takes to go visit the facilities. In situations where factories aren’t able to accommodate Mashgichim physically visiting, any product that requires full time supervision like Shchita, Cheese, Fish, Pesach productions; such factories will not be able to be certified. In places where there is no such requirement we come up with solutions on how to give long distance Hashgacha. We won’t certify the product. As we’re speaking Erev Pesach, all OU-P products are made with the Mashgiach Tamidi. For the OU-P production we will not rely on anything else but having a Mashgiach present for the entire OU-P production.
Which products need an OU P for Pesach & which products don’t?
Anything listed in the OU directory with an OU-P was made with Hashgacha Tamidus. There are quite a number of products which we call “being in the gray section” of our Pesach directory. Those are products that are Kosher for Pesach and are not made with Hashgacha Tamidus and we have determined that even though there wasn’t full time Rabbinical supervision, they can still be identified kosher for Pesach. The best examples I can give are salt, sugar, detergent, and cleaning products.
Dealing with Coffee & Tea for Pesach-Is there a difference between regular & decaf/flavored teas & coffees/country of origin?
Regular coffee or regular tea does not need special Pesach supervision. All decaf coffee or tea and all flavored coffee or tea require special Pesach supervision. The reason is as follows; the decaffeination process can use alcohol and it therefore needs special Pesach supervision to make sure that the product’s decaffeination process didn’t have alcohol or problematic alcohol. Whenever you’re dealing with flavors, they contain a myriad of ingredients and every one of those ingredients has to be kosher for Pesach. Country of origin of the coffee or tea doesn’t make a difference.
When do the slaughterhouses become Kosher l’Pesach?
If someone bought meat 2 months ago can they assume it’s Kosher l’Pesach? Is there an issue of kitnios or chametz? Slaughterhouses are always kosher l’Pesach as a live animal or chicken is obviously always kosher l’Pesach. If you bought meat and it didn’t have a kosher l’Pesach label, plain raw meat or chicken can be used without special kosher l’Pesach supervision. I recommend that before you put it in your kosher for pesach pan or pot, you rinse it but that’s all you need to do. However, chopped meat should only be used if it has a kosher for Pesach supervision. Any processed meat like a cold cut, or a spiced meat, or anything with a stuffing needs a special Pesach supervision. Only plain raw meat can be used without kosher for Pesach supervision. Smoked meat cannot be used for Pesach without a kosher for Pesach supervision.
Kashering an Urn for Pesach
It’s actually easy, but not easy. You can kasher an urn. Usually an urn is only used for water so it’s not a big deal. However, many people don’t kasher plastic. If you don’t kasher plastic, then you cannot kasher your urn because of these plastic parts. If your rabbi says that you can kasher plastic, then all you need to do is make sure it’s clean, not use it for 24 hrs, and pour boiling water on it.
Can one rely on the same leniences that were made last year because of Corona? i.e. including cleaning rooms, throwing away open packages you would normally get rid of etc.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to believe, but it’s true, we really have not crept out of the Covid situation. The concerns that exist about Covid may be less than last year, but I don’t think they’ve gone completely away. Therefore, if there are certain circumstances where a person would dispose of food that’s chometz and this year they don’t want to, I think the situation is the same. Let me elaborate; the reality is, that this minhag of disposing of chometz gamur is a difficult minhag to understand. Because the same people that dispose and don’t want to have chometz in their homes and not rely on mechiras chometz are buying from stores that DID sell their chometz. So it’s hard to say, “I don’t rely on mechiras chometz” when you go to a store that did rely on mechiras chometz. On the other hand, and I think this was the case last year and I don’t think it’ll be different this year, many people said “We’re not going to dispose of food because we may not be able to get it after Pesach.” I am not aware of anyone who had trouble getting food before or after Pesach last year. There were slight hiccups with certain limited products and the market regulated itself. If you are a person that does not want to dispose of your chometz gamur and you’re concerned you’re not going to have food after Pesach, then you can sell it in mechiras chometz. But I don’t think there are going to be any shortages.
Can I avoid covering my countertops for Pesach by kashering them with a steamer?
No. All countertops should be covered for Pesach.
Do aluminum pans/styrofoam cups/ tissues need kosher l’Pesach hechsherim?
No, they don’t need any special kosher l’Pesach hechsherim. I do recommend that when it comes to aluminum pans you just wipe them before you use them.
What is “chametz sheavar alav haPesach?”
Chametz sheavar alav haPesach is that Chazzal taught us that if a Jew owns chometz over Pesach, that chometz becomes prohibited for us to use or benefit from after pesach. So if you have a store or you are an individual who owns chometz during Pesach, whether it’s cereal or pasta or any other chometz, we may not eat that chometz even if we’re paying for it. So even if you go to a store after Pesach and purchase chometz, if that chometz was under the ownership of a Jew over Pesach it’s prohibited for us to eat or benefit from it. Therefore, whenever you go to buy chometz after Pesach, you have to determine who owned that product during Pesach. If it’s a product that was owned by a Jew, then it’s a product you shouldn’t use. It is a complicated issue because it’s not just about who owns the store where you are buying. Most stores do not purchase products directly from manufacturers even though most manufacturers, certainly the large ones here and outside of the US, are not Jewish owned. If you know that the product was in the hands of the manufacturer over Pesach, then you don’t have a problem. What happens often is that these products are bought by distributors and then sold to the stores. Many of these distributors are Jewish owned and if the distributor owns the chometz during Pesach, that adds a new level of concern. So my recommendation is that you should only buy real chometz for a few weeks after Pesach from a store that is certainly not Jewish owned and that you can determine has not been purchasing chometz from Jewish owned food distributors. Or you should buy from a store that is Jewish owned, sold their chometz, and buys their products from distributors that also were taking care of the chametz sheavar alav haPesach issue.
Why is mechirat chametz for a supermarket that continues to sell chametz during Pesach a valid sale?
It isn’t. The regular mechiras chometz that you and I do does not work for a Jewish supermarket that is opened on Pesach. The reason is very simple; when you and I sell the chometz, we take all the chometz we own and we ask the Rav to be our agent to sell the chometz; and that’s it. We’re not buying or getting any chometz on Pesach; it’s all sold. These stores have two issues which complicate their mechiras chometz. One issue is, they’re constantly getting deliveries. So if the Rav is doing mechiras chometz on Erev Pesach, he can only sell what this person had at that point. If there are new deliveries that come later on, they were not included in mechiras chometz. The second problem is what does mechiras chometz represent? It represents that we are selling the chometz. Any chometz that is in our house is owned by a non-Jew that is allowed to own chometz during Pesach. If something belongs to you, I can’t use or sell your product. So if the store was serious about the mechiras chometz, how are they selling the chometz? It’s not their chometz! It’s the non-Jews chometz. Therefore, if they continue to sell the chometz, what they are saying is that their mechiras chometz was not a real transaction.
Do chometz dishes and pots need to be sold for Pesach?
The dishes and pots don’t need to be sold for pesach. If they were to sell it, it would only cause more problems because by selling it, it becomes the property of a non-Jew and you’d have to Toivel them after Pesach when you buy it back. What is included in the sale is the chometz that’s absorbed into the pots.