CLEANING FOR PESACH

The following instructions are by no means complete. A Rabbi should be consulted for any questions and doubts that arise.

Everything that usually contains or stores chametz (leavened grain products - bread, crackers, cake) during the year must be cleansed and checked for chametz before the evening preceding the seder. Details of the search for chametz can be found in the Haggadah.

Anything not used on Pesach, which is closed up and sold, does not need to be checked for chametz.

Chametz which has been rendered inedible (even to an animal) by being soaked in a foul-tasting liquid such as detergent, bleach or ammonia is not considered chametz.

There is no obligation to check and destroy chametz that is less than the size of an olive (about an ounce) and is so dirty that a person would not eat it.

Surfaces, closets and cracks where it is possible that chametz has entered should be washed, ensuring that detergent enters all cracks and crevices.

Kashering for Pesach is done in the same way as during the year

It is also customary to cover any surfaces that have been kashered and that will be used for food, or for utensils on Pesach (tables, countertops, cabinets and stovetops) with plastic, linoleum or aluminium foil.

Any chametz that will not be consumed or destroyed before Pesach, must be sold to a Gentile before the time of prohibition of chametz (the time of the prohibition is printed in Jewish calendars and newspapers) for all of Pesach. The transaction should be performed by a Rabbi, since the laws are complex and a contract is necessary. The chametz that has been sold must be stored away until after Pesach.

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