26 Mar PESACH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: WITH RABBI MOSHE ELEFANT FROM THE OU

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.

A custom exists not to consume matzah in the days
leading up to Pesach (the number of days prior to
Pesach, if any, varies by custom); would it then be
permissible to consume chicken coated with Pesach
certified matzah meal even on the eve of Pesach?

Rav Hershel Schachter, OU Kosher’s chief posek (halachic decisor), main-
tains that using matzah meal as a coating is not included in the minhag

of abstaining from matzah consumption during the days leading up to
Pesach even if it is Pesach certified. Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah. 214:1)
writes that a minhag is a type of vow. When interpreting what is included
in a vow, we follow the meaning of how people speak. Therefore, since
this form of matzah is not what is referenced it is not included in the minhag. On the eve of

Pesach, when a rabbinic ordinance prohibits the consumption of matzah, the matzah meal-
coated chicken would still be permitted. The crumb coating is no longer seen as a matzah-
derived food.

Can jarred horseradish be used as ‘Maror’
at the seder?
Jarred horseradish is made with vinegar, even when certified for Pesach, and therefore
cannot be used as ‘Maror ’at the seder.

Can one Kasher a heating draw for pesach?
We recommend not kashering them for Pesach.

I am puzzled by our practice of
reciting a separate bracha on each
cup of wine. Ordinarily, when I
recite a blessing on one cup of wine,
I do not make another blessing
when I drink another cup, unless
I specifically did not have in mind
to drink further. Why is Pesach
different?
That is a good question. Indeed, the custom of the Sefardim (following Shulchan
Oruch 474:1) is to only make a bracha on the first cup of Kiddush and the
third cup after Birchas Hamazon. (After Birchas Hamazon a new bracha must
be recited because the Birchas Hamazon concludes the meal and cancels all
brachos.) However, Rama (ibid.) rules, and this is the custom of Ashkenazic
Jewry, that a separate blessing is recited on each cup. One explanation is the
following; Between the first and second cup, and between the third and fourth
cup, two paragraphs of Hallel and a concluding bracha are said. During these
recitations, one may not interrupt with extraneous activities, such as drinking
wine. This period of time, when drinking is not permitted, is considered a hefsek
(break), and the bracha on wine that was previously recited is terminated. As
such, a separate bracha must be recited on the second and fourth cup of wine.
(Based on Ran, Pesachim 110a and Mishna Berura 474:4)

If Rav Moshe maintained that supermarkets
cannot sell chametz that is acquired during Pesach,
why did he advocate the sale of
supermarkets before Pesach?
For two reasons. First, the sale of a supermarket
is halachically beneficial for the store owners. By
transferring ownership of large quantities of chametz
that are on the supermarket shelves before Pesach,
the owners are spared from violating multiple Torah
restrictions. Second, the sale limits the status of chametz
sheavar alav haPesach to the narrow window.

One is not permitted to eat before hearing
Havdalah. If one forgot to recite Havdalah in
Kiddush and must wait until after Maggid to recite
Havdalah, may Karpas be eaten at the usual point
of the seder?
The Shulchan Aruch Harav (473:7) writes that in this scenario,
since one cannot recite Havdalah until after Maggid, one
may eat the Karpas even without having said Havdalah. The
Mishnah Berurah (Beiur Halacha 473, s.v. Od) writes that if
one has not yet eaten the Karpas, perhaps it is better to recite
Havdalah (before Maggid) and then eat the Karpas, because
eating before Havdalah is a clear violation, while adding an
additional cup is a matter of dispute among poskim. However,
he leaves the question unresolved. The Kol Dodi Haggadah quotes Rav Moshe Feinstein,
zt”l who held that in this case, since one is forbidden to eat without making Havdalah,
one should in fact recite Havdalah before eating the Karpas.