Pesach Made Easy: Pre-Pesach Workshop 2026/5786

Good morning, good Shabbos, welcome to our pre-Pesach workshop. Sorry I'm starting a couple of minutes late, I apologize for that. Uncharacteristic of us. We're going to go through as we always do all of your Pesach shailos. We're going to walk through the kitchen, we're going to walk through the cleaning process, we're going to walk through the koshering process. We'll walk through whatever products you want to talk about and walk through. I'm far from an expert, but I will do my best to answer your questions and if not, be able to get back to you and guide you to the best places to go. But I want to begin as we often do, as we always do each year at this um by talking not yet about the details and the minusha, not about the preparation, not about the work, but zooming out the lens to talk about this period of the year and what we're trying to do. Because unfortunately and sadly, I see too many people who are so fixated on the details and the work, which is enormous, and the preparation, which I don't want to minimize whatsoever, but do so at the expense of their own happiness, their own joy, their own simcha. And there's a huge mitzvah of simcha on Pesach, like every Yom Tov we have, every rego, we have to enter it be simcha. So for a person to be so miserable, so sad, so anxious, so frustrated, so resentful of the incredibly high cost of preparing for Pesach, which is enormous. Somehow every time we think that matzah can't get more expensive, it does. But the incredible high cost of preparing for Pesach, the incredible amount of time, energy, effort, and work that takes for preparing for Pesach. When you add that all up, it can be absolutely overwhelming. And what I want to suggest to you this year, I want to learn with you quickly, very quickly, cuz I know it's not why you're here, but I want to learn with you quickly a piece from the Divrei Rebbe of Yerushalayim, the Divrei Banai Rebbe of Yerushalayim, the holy tzaddik. And in his normal Shabbos, he writes about this time of year. He's not speaking specifically to Pesach preparations per se, but I would apply it to it. And he says the following. He says, "Do have a hashish be kirba no, and plan within yourself da mitzvah shatal me the kind to leave a any mitzvah you're about to do all depends on the effort, the preparation, the anticipation, the investment you make beforehand. In the his hours if you want to feel elevated and enriched, if you want to feel transformed by the mitzvah. It could be the preparation for a mitzvah you're about to do. It can be for a holiday you're about to observe. So you should be a mitzvah. A mitzvah. Then it all is determined and comes down to the energy, the effort, the preparation that we put in before the mitzvah. That if a person is mindful and present, if a person is thoughtful, if a person is connecting to what they're doing and what they're working on and what they're preparing and what they're getting ready for, then they'll be positively impacted and transformed by it. What I'm trying to say to you is that all the cleaning and all the koshering and all the preparing for Pesach is not a necessary evil. It's not a concession. It's not just something that we have to go through. We wish we didn't cuz if we want to arrive at the finish line, if we want to get to the destination, if we want to be at the promised land called Pesach, well, we have no choice. We've got to clean. We've got to kosher. We've got to prepare. What I'm saying is this year and every year lean into the preparation and realize the that preparation, that work, that effort is itself the destination. The journey is the definition destination. What transforms us is the work that we do. Instead of doing it from a place of resentment and negativity and bitterness, the only thing that should be bitter on Pesach is the maror, not any of the people. The only thing bitter at the seder table is the maror, not any of the people. The remez is that it says the Navara of of Yerushalayim, a remez is an allusion to this is that the word hachana preparation the gematria in numerical value is the same as the word yesod. The foundation of anything you do is the preparation you put into it. If you prepare, it'll be magnificent and beautiful and you'll be changed from it. And if you don't prepare with holiness and sanctity, if you prepare with resentment and bitterness and negativity, then that's going to be the foundation of your experience. What do you want your experience of Pesach to be? Joyful and happy and life-changing and positive and liberating and emancipating or miserable and farbissina and bitter and angry and resentful? What do you want your children and grandchildren to see? The way that you skipped and you sang and you whistled your way to Pesach? The way that you love this time of year. Love it. We're anticipating Chodesh Aviv. It's the springtime. We're welcoming the new season and the season and the freedom. We're going to liberate and free ourselves. We're searching for the external chametz and the internal chametz. We're doing the outer work of going through our homes and simultaneously we're going through the inner work of searching our lives and we love it and we live for it and we're going to get the payoff of it when we arrive at the Seder table. Hachana is the same gematria as yesod. Preparation is the same numerical value as foundation because the foundation of the Pesach we're going to have is determined by the attitude and the preparation we bring to it. And that's true whether you're staying home, certainly if you're staying home, and there's a lot of cleaning and prep that happens. And even the people who somehow, it's hard to imagine, but complain or are miserable or are bitter even about all the packing they have to do to go away to their exotic location, to go away to their uh place that's going to host them for Pesach. Can you believe how many outfits and how much luggage? And I heard that TSA is on strike and Elon Musk offered to pay everybody, but the lines are forever and can you believe I'm going to have to travel and go? Will it be on time? It doesn't matter. It's somehow everyone finds a way to complain for Pesach. Whether you're staying home, whether you're going away, somehow everyone finds a way. Whether you're hosting or being hosted, everyone finds a way when nobody should be complaining. It's okay, it's difficult. We don't mean to minimize. We're validating. We're validating. It's a lot of work. If anyone can validate, it's me. Because after and it's not only women, but mostly women who put the work in for Pesach, rabbis answer a lot of shailos and write a lot of drashas and have a lot of work to do as well. But we decided, we decide what emotion, what mindfulness, what attitude we bring to it. Will our hachana be a yesod? Is our preparation the foundation of positivity and of joy and of love and of gratitude and of feeling so fortunate to have this incredible yom tov called Pesach? Or are we going to walk in a way that our children and grandchildren will say, "I want nothing to do with Pesach. All I remember is how miserable everybody was. They yelled and they barked orders to clean my room and clean more and help more and volunteer more. Everyone was angry and on edge. Everybody was miserable and critical." What is the environment and attitude? Are we searching only for the external chametz or the internal work as well? Hachana is gematria yesod. Hachana yesod l'chol davar, u'vichlal chaga Pesach, she'hu rosh l'sha'ar hagolim. Eirech gadol biyoser yesh hachana. So, my point is that everything we're going to go through today, the pre-Pesach workshop, everything we're going to talk about, everything that we have to do from it, it's not all a concession. It's not a necessary evil. We're not just doing it because we have no choice if we want to get to Pesach. Lean into the hachana. Realize that this hachana, all this preparation is an avodah. That the journey is the destination. That this journey, the hachana, is the kedusha is something very holy and it's something that's very high. Hachana l'chol davar, he continues and we're going to get into the workshop, I promise you, in a moment. Yesod l'hatzlacha, yesh nishmas hamitzvah. So, whether Pesach seder will be beautiful is not dictated and determined by is the silver shined, polished, is the are the divrei Torah prepped, did your kids' morahs make them beautiful artistic hagadahs? But the kedusha, the sanctity and the success of the seder is determined by the attitude you bring to the preparation for Pesach. It's this the hachana is the yesod. But more than just the yesod. Listen to what he says. That we all know in life and in living, the two most critical organs that determine life. In fact, the entire debate around what defines life is brain death. Death is a cardiovascular, is it brain death? What are the two most important organs? The head and the heart. As long as the heart is beating, there's hope. It's the head and the heart. Listen to what he says. Hachana, preparing has to be in the head and the heart. So, gematria is yesod, gematria moach and lev, gematria hachana. This preparation, this journey, this time, this energy, this effort, don't do it with bitterness and sadness. Don't do it with misery and complaints. Don't do it feeling like a martyr and a victim. Do it with love and with excitement and with happiness and with joy. That's true for everything. It's true for the 9 months of gestation before the baby's born. It's true all the preparation we do for the best things in life are investments that make the payoff that much sweeter. They make it that much better. They make it that much more meaningful. The more effort it takes, the funtsa agra. The more effort we put in, the greater the reward that we're going to reap and we're going to take out. I have a lot more to say about it, but it's not why you're here. So, even though I'd much rather give an hour sheer on hachana l'Pesach b'ruchnius, but uh you know, there's cleaning and kashering that has to get done. So, we're going to get to that. But I wanted to introduce our conversation with that because again, while we're going to get into minusha and details and ingredient lists and materials and uh kashering and cleaning, but all that has to be seen and experienced and approached in the context of how privileged we are. Wow, what a wonderful chametz. We're looking for the yetzer hara. We're looking much more for the chametz inside us than outside of us. And as concerned as we're going to be, as fanatical as we're going to be of looking for every crumb, and moving major appliances, and lifting heavy furniture, which you don't have to do, we'll talk about in a moment, but as fanatical as we're going to be in all of that, we should be twice as fanatical as looking in the chametz inside us. What do I need to get rid of inside me? Where am I feeding my ego? Where am I indulging in my in my attitude? What adjustment do I need? What do I have to search and get rid of in my life? What is the approach I have to have? As we're looking for the external chametz, let's look for the internal chametz. And through that, the hachana, gematria is so, let us create an incredible foundation for the most magnificent, beautiful Pesach that we're going to experience. And let it be one that we transform ourselves. Moach and lev gematria hachana. That a preparation that happens not only with our hands, the dayim is not gematria hachana, but moach and lev are. Let the preparation not only happen with our hands and down on our knees, but the preparation happen in our head and in our heart, through our mindfulness, through our attitude, and through our incredible and through our incredible emotional connection and approach. Okay. Shkoyach for indulging me. I appreciate you. You're very kind. You're very kind. So, let's get started. I'm shocked anybody comes. I appreciate your attendance because I basically say the same thing every year. Much most of it is the same. There aren't major changes uh this year, but I'm here to review it no less, to reassure you, um and to take any questions that you may have as we go through. Um let's start with cleaning. So, here I give my little polemic as I do every year and get in trouble as I do every year. Cleaning your house for Pesach shouldn't take more than a day. Maybe 2 days. Depends on the size of your house. Depends on how active and mobile your children or grandchildren are. But it shouldn't take more than a day or two. Never confuse spring cleaning with Pesach cleaning. The bitterness and the anger and the resentment that comes from spring cleaning, don't blame on God or the rabbis or your Jewishness or this holiday. Because what is demanded of us from the halacha of Pesach is nowhere near what people do, which is a fulfillment of spring cleaning. If you want to spring clean, then enjoy. If you doesn't, no problem. Don't blame Torah. If you want to spring clean, do it far in advance of Pesach or do it start on Motzei Pesach. But for Pesach, just keep the halacha. And if you observe what the halacha asks of you, then you won't be resentful, bitter, or miserable because it frankly doesn't take that long. It's not that hard of a of an effort. It's not that hard of an effort. So, before we make Pesach easy, we have to understand what we're looking for. The Rambam in his introduction says there are eight mitzvahs that apply to Pesach today, three positive commandments and five negative commandments. The three positive commandments are lahashpis, or we have to get rid of uh all the leaven. Lecho matzah, we have a positive mitzvah matzah. And the Sipur Yetziat Mitzrayim, which is really the essence, to tell and to demonstrate the story of freedom and liberty, not only then but also now, which is the topic of our Shabbos Hagadol, the drasha that's coming Shabbos, how to free ourselves from the modern addictions of our times, we're going to talk about. We're going to talk about technology and gambling and alcohol and consumerism and materialism and all the addictions of our life, some that have a stigma and others that don't, but how through this time of year, Yetziat Mitzrayim, can we liberate ourselves from them? And when we get time we get to the Seder, we're telling that story and we're having that experience, it's not something about the past, but it's about the present. The Jewish notion of time is not linear. We're not turning around and telling a story about something that happened so many years ago, but the fact that it happened years ago revealed that on this day, the 15th of Nissan, there is the possibility of freeing ourselves. Liberty, freedom, emancipation are energies that are present in time on the 15th of Nissan. That historical event called Yetziat Mitzrayim revealed to us and the world that that period of time is pregnant with the possibility. So, the effort of Pesach is not to commemorate. This isn't the Renaissance Fair. We're not just dressing up and commemorating and reenacting something from a long time ago, but rather what happened a long time ago reveals for us today that we have the power to free and liberate ourselves from whatever is holding us back. Our mate are whatever is restricting and constricting, whatever is that narrow place, whatever we feel that the ceiling and the walls are closing in, whatever we feel in our lives is holding us, enslaving us. This is the time that we can liberate ourselves and that's the story that we tell. Those are the three positive commandments. There are also five negative ones. Number one, from sunset you can't eat chametz. Number two, all seven days today for us eight days you can't eat chametz. Number three, not only can you not eat chametz proper, you're not even allowed to eat a mixture of chametz including chametz. Number four, something called "by your own chametz". You're not allowed to see chametz that you own. Doesn't apply to chametz that you don't own. Every year someone asks me, "Do I have to be careful which aisles I walk down at Publix?" Am I not allowed to walk down the pasta aisle, the cereal aisle, the bread aisle? "By your own chametz" only applies to chametz you own and "by your own chametz" cannot be found. Chametz is unique. Chametz is the arch enemy. Chametz is a search and destroy. We are obsessed with eliminating chametz because chametz logically is unique and it is unique in five different ways. Number one, there's a specific love, a prohibition not only against eating chametz proper, but even against eating a mixture of chametz. Number two, there are two prohibitions against even possessing chametz. I can't see it, I can't own it. Number three, there's a positive commandment to destroy it. It means to say I can't just arrive at the result. Let's say a person timed everything perfectly. I have yet to meet this person. But they timed everything perfectly that you ate all the chametz. So, on Pesach you're clean of chametz. So, there's nothing to burn. There's nothing to destroy. There's a specific Torah, leave some chametz over because there is a mitzvah to destroy. What happens in the year, not this year, where Arab Pesach holidays Bashabes, how do you fulfill Tashbeitsu? By flushing it down the toilet. You can't burn it then Arab Pesach Bashabes. That's separate, that's not for this year. But this year we can. So we'll have available several big drums of fire, come and burn your chametz. There is a fourth third unusual there's an essay to dispose of it. Number four, it's also b'hana'ah. Not only are we not allowed to own chametz, we're not allowed to eat chametz, we're not even allowed to benefit from chametz. You can't feed your pet chametz cuz that's called benefiting from chametz, which we'll get to. And number five, and this is the part that perhaps drives our greatest uh focus on eliminating the chametz, is the chametz is also b'masha'hu. When it comes to other prohibitions, of course, one is forbidden to consume it in any measure, but it really only is in a a prohibition is certain minimum measure. Chametz, even the tiniest crumb, masha'hu, any amount of chametz is prohibited. So what is chametz? And why are we trying to clean? What are we getting rid of? What are we looking for? The Rama writes in Hilchos Chametz U'Matzah, perek aleph, that the chametz is made from five types of grain, and they are Anyone know what they are? Wheat, spelt, rye, oats, and barley. Shibolet Shual, Sorgo, Kusmin, and Chittah. The five types of grain, if they're ground into flour, mixed with water, and allowed to leaven or rise, then they become chametz. What is not chametz? Kitniyos. What's kitniyos? Kitniyos cannot become chametz even though there's a minhag not to eat it. It's a minhag that comes from the Middle Ages, safer Mitzvos Ktanos, safer Mitzvos Gedolos. It was a The work of this mitzvah was adopted in Ashkenazi lands, was not adopted by Sefardim, and it was one of two reasons. Either that which could be manipulated into flour, and you can use it to cook things that look bake things that look like chametz. So if you do that, it could lead to eating actual chametz. That's reason number one. And reason number two is it has nothing to do with how you make it or what it looks like or what it could lead to. It's that they used to pack kitniyos, legumes and beans were packed in sacks, and flour was added in order to make them bulkier and weigh more. So, if you use that if you use those beans, those legumes, you might come to use actual wheat flour. You might come to eat actual chametz. So, for one of those two reasons, this practice, this chumra, the stringency was adopted by Ashkenazim not to eat kitniyos. Sefardim never adopted it. Sefardim therefore don't don't practice it. But, all agree including Ashkenazim that kitniyos is not chametz. And because kitniyos kitniyos is not chametz, therefore, if a child requires kitniyos, you're allowed to feed them kitniyos. If kitniyos fell in, we apply bitul. It's not assur b'mashehu. If somebody cooked kitniyos on kelim and then cleaned them, so if an Ashkenazi is eating in a Sefardi home, they could eat off of their vessels even though they can't eat actual food that has kitniyos in it. If a person for medical reasons needs uh something that has a kitniyos ingredient, we have many leniencies with kitniyos because it's a later minhag that we adopted. It is not something which is chametz which is chametz at all. So, chametz is from the five grains and flour from the five grains that mixed with water and remained without manipulation for 18 minutes is what became chametz. Chametz results instantly when these grains are exposed to hot or salted water. Chametz is assur b'mashehu. It's assur b'mashehu on Pesach. Um How do we get rid of chametz? So, we have several methods that we employ. Because we are so focused, concerned with chametz, because it is unusual and unique in its place in halacha, we have several ways that we approach and get rid of it. One is bitul. One is bitul. It'd be enough. And here, there's a lot of lamdus at the beginning of maseches Pesachim. I'm skipping all of it. We're going to get to our walk through our house in a moment to clean for Pesach. One is you can resolve all chametz just by declaring that you are breaking up with it. Chametz is a problem in me, not a problem in you, but we have no future. I am I am hereby I hereby declare that our relationship is over. I'm being mafkir. Any chametz in my possession is hefker. Africa ara, it's all like dust of the earth. I no longer I relinquish all my ownership over you. We have no more relationship and therefore how can I violate the prohibition of owning chametz if I don't own it? So, simply said, midoraisa biblically speaking, maybe it would suffice it would work alone to simply say on erev Pesach, here's the cleaning for Pesach, you ready? Erev Pesach, all you have to do is say, chametz our relationship's over. We're breaking up. I relinquish all my ownership over you. I have no relationship with you and no even though you might be all over my house, you're not mine. Sham, no longer by you by you matzah. I'm done. Technically I don't own it and I no longer have a relationship. However, however, chazal were very concerned. What will happen? You break off your relationship with chametz while it still remains all over your house. When you encounter a good piece of chametz on Pesach and you forget it's Pesach, you're going to come to eat it. You're going to see that donut. You're going to see that cracker. You're going to find that cookie and you're going to forget it's chametz. You're going to end up eating it. So therefore chazal said you have to do something else called bedikas chametz. In addition to bittul chametz, in addition to relinquishing ownership, you also have to search and destroy. Why search and destroy also? Bittul alone bittul alone, you might come to eat it. Bedika alone, you might not come to find everything. So therefore for that which you didn't find, you declare that you relinquish ownership, it's no longer yours. We add a third method that's called mechiras chametz. We also sell chametz. Now some people have the practice to sell real chametz, bread, pasta, cereal, flour. Others have a stringency to not sell real chametz, outright chametz, and only to sell things that have some ingredients or mixture that contains chametz. How do you know whether something is real chametz or a mixture with chametz? If a person has that stringency, how do you know what applies? So in the OU guide, which is excellent, we have in our lobby, I highly recommend. Let me say this at the outset. We prepared here a list for you of all the resources you could turn to. And there That's what I turned to. They are the um OU guide, which is excellent, or the OU app, or the OU website, the CRC guide, which is excellent, you can print it out, or its app or website, which are excellent, Star-K Pesach guide, which is an app or on the web, or is excellent. Incredible resources we have today that are searchable, that are clear. CRC did another amazing thing this year. My friend Rabbi Fishbane, they have a video series. So, all the things that you read, but you're not exactly clear, and you can't entirely picture it, not sure exactly how to do it, every day they're putting out a new video in their video series of exactly how to kosher your kitchen and other questions about Pesach. And again, I highly recommend it. So, in the OU guide, on page 43, they have a list. Hametz, when to pedal and when to purge. I wonder who works at the OU and comes up with these titles. Hametz, when to pedal and when to purge, which is if you don't sell hametz mamash, so how do you know whether it's hametz mamash or not? In the OU guide, they have a wonderful list. Flour. Is it hametz gamur or not? Flour, whole wheat flour, bleached flour, rye flour, spelt, gefilte fish. Is gefilte fish hametz gamur or not? What do you think? Yeah. It lists Gefilte fish as hametz gamur. Most Most gefilte fish has a hametz a flour binder. So, a frozen gefilte fish in your freezer, if you sell real hametz, no problem. Just list your freezer on your sell form. If you don't sell real hametz, you better boil a bunch of gefilte fish quickly, you're running out of time. So, here's a long list. Popcorn is not hametz gamur. Potato chips are not hametz gamur. Pickles are not hametz gamur. Rice Krispies are not hametz gamur. And so on and so forth. Scotch is hametz gamur. So, I'll end this by saying, many who have the minhag not to sell hametz gamur, real hametz, have an exception when it comes to their alcohol collection. How did that come to be historically? Not for now, but they have that. So, there's a third method. So, we do bittel. We relinquish any ownership. We declare, "I have no relationship with the chametz." Number two, we do bedika. Bedika and biur. We search and we destroy. Why do we do both? Because just declaring ownerless, I might come to eat it. If I search and destroy, I might not find everything. So, I need to relinquish my ownership. And I also I also sell so that I'm doing a little bit of of everything. That's how concerned I am to get rid. Which now brings us to the practical part of cleaning our homes for Pesach. Are you ready? Here's the practical part of cleaning our homes. I have this all in associate. If you want them, I'm happy to send it to you. But we stick them to the Rambam, Shulchan Aruch, Machaber, Ramah, Rishonim. I could show it to you all. This is not Ephraim Goldberg modern invention Tofshin Pay Vav. First of all, I've been giving this for many years, and it comes from directly from the Halacha, directly from the Halacha itself, from the Halacha itself. Are you ready? Here we go. First of all, before we get into it, we have to know that when you're going to search and destroy and look for the chametz all over your house, you cannot do it in a way that's going to compromise your Simchas Sachaim, your Simchas Yom Tov. There is a mitzvah of Simcha on Yom Tov, and don't compromise it. Don't forfeit it. Don't give up on it because that is the Halacha that we all have. Shulchan Aruch writes Siman Tof Kof Kof Tes, "Chiav Adam Liyosameach Vetov Lev Bemoeid, Hu Ve'ishto U'vanav." Everyone in your home has to be happy in Pesach. You should be happy. And that's true on Erev Pesach. In these days and weeks leading up to Pesach, be happier than ever. Put on music, a skip in your step. Do what you need to to work on yourself Bemachshava U'bema'aseh, Gemach Yachana. Your head and your heart, get them in the right place, which is the same in American value as Halacha now, to prepare, to be Sameach Vetov Lev, be happy and generous of spirit. Be happy. What a privilege we have. We're about to free ourselves, we're going to liberate ourselves. We're searching and getting rid of the worst parts of ourselves and in our homes. Ah. Be happy. Mishnah Berurah goes out of his way to say, "Don't think it only applies to men and children, it applies to women as well." You fulfill it differently for all. Men bust out the challah, children with toys and and candies, and women jewelry, new dresses. Everyone should do something that will bring out their joy for Pesach, but we shouldn't compromise it. We must not compromise it for for the way we get ready for for Pesach, all the preparation that we do. So, what is it that we're looking for? What is the practical halakha in our preparation? So, definition of chametz. And what is the definition of in our possession? And what is the definition of seek it out? So, the first of all, Shulchan Aruch writes in siman in siman tough lamed aleph, Shulchan Aruch writes the following. What is the definition of what we're looking for? What is the definition of what we're looking for? Here we go. Here we go. Bodek kol makom she'yeish lo chashash she'hechnisu sham chametz. You have to search any place that you're concerned that chametz entered. Shulchan Aruch writes explicitly that any place that you don't ordinarily bring chametz does not need to be checked. I repeat, the only places that need to be searched are places that you ordinarily bring chametz. So, unless you ever climb a ladder, sit on your ceiling fan, and have a sandwich there, your ceiling fan does not need to be cleaned for Pesach. Unless you ever pull out your refrigerator and sit behind it to eat a sandwich, you don't need to be moving a heavy appliance. Unless you ever go into the crawl space in your attic, unless you ever go into the storage in your garage, unless you ever go into these areas in order to have a sandwich or a cookie, they do not need to be searched. They do not need to be cleaned. So, we just eliminated an enormous amount of things in your home. You should never be taking out a ladder to be cleaning for Pesach. If you're taking out a ladder, you're doing spring cleaning, you're not cleaning for Pesach. I repeat, if you're taking out a ladder, you are doing spring cleaning and you are not cleaning for Pesach. Shulchan Aruch, not me. Appliances that will not be accessed or used do not need to be cleaned or checked. They just need to be put away. So, your bread maker, your blender, your food processor, your toaster, your sandwich maker. I just took half of your kitchen appliances and I'm telling you, you don't need a toothbrush and you don't need a toothpick. You don't need anything. You do not need to clean them at all. Put them in a box, piece of tape. Your best friend on Pesach, the hero of Pesach, are the rolls of tape in your house. Tape. Tape is your best friend on Pesach. Take all those appliances, put them in a box, put a piece of tape. Put them in a closet, close the door, put a piece of tape. If you're not going to see it, you're not going to use it, then you don't need to clean it and you don't need to search it. So, any area that you don't ordinarily go into or any area that you don't plan on going into. So, if there's sections of your home that you just want to close up, you just want to put a tape piece of tape. You can close off rooms and areas of your house, tape them up and you don't need to clean them and you don't even need to search them, you could just put them away. That's number one. Number two, the Shulchan Aruch, hold on, the Shulchan Aruch says, any food that's not categorized as edible, as Shulchan Aruch writes, what's the definition of edible? Not ro'ui l'achilas kelev. A dog can't eat it, is not considered chametz. A food that's not categorized as edible is not. So, there's no need to check for crumbs that are less than a kazayis if they're dirty or soiled in such a way that they're inedible even to a human. So, if they're bigger than a kazayis but not edible to a dog, they're not chametz. If they're even even um less than a kazayis and inedible to a human being, they're not So, I don't know. Anything under your stove or behind your refrigerator, I don't know any dog or human being that would eat any of it. It is not chametz, and it doesn't need to be searched, and it doesn't need to be destroyed. You should do bittul on it, relinquish ownership over it, and you're selling any area in the home that has chametz, so it's covered in that anyway, but this specific obligation of searching and destroying does not apply to any area that you don't go with chametz. So, crawl space and attic, a ceiling fan, you should never be on a ladder because you're never on a ladder to go eat your sandwich. You don't invite the family up the ladder to have lunch. So, anything that requires a ladder a ladder never pull out a ladder for Pesach. Tape yes for Pesach, ladder no for Pesach. Toothbrush and toothpicks, no for Pesach. Spring cleaning maybe, not Pesach. So, practically speaking, any cabinet, closet, or room that will not be entered on Pesach can be closed with a piece of tape across the door, and any chametz that's in it is sold. Any kitchen cabinet, drawer, cupboard that will not be used on Pesach doesn't need to be cleaned at all. So, even the image of my youth, no offense, Mom, but taking all the dishes out, emptying all the silver, wiping it all down, putting it all up, even them before you're going to tape it, that's spring cleaning. You want to do spring cleaning in your kitchen? That's fantastic. Do it in a month from now, but you don't need to do it for Pesach. One of my favorite jobs on Pesach is walking around the kitchen with the cabinet, and I ask you, yes or no? I get thumbs up or thumbs down. Any cabinet we're not using for Pesach, tape. Nobody's emptying, lining, wiping, washing, clo- You've just reduced your cleaning your house and your kitchen enormously. Enormously. Any area you're not entering, any area you never entered with chametz, any area you don't plan to access on Pesach, tape is your best friend. Just walk around with tape. Cabinet, drawer, cupboard, anything that you're not going to go in on Pesach, just tape up and you're good to go. Any appliance, food processor, sandwich maker, mixer, bread machine that will not be used doesn't have to be cleaned. Put it away for Pesach in a sealed space. Sell whatever's in it with your chametz and you are good to go. Do not do spring cleaning in the name of Pesach. So, what do we need to do then? Halacha demands the following. We have to go room to room to confirm that there's no chametz that's larger than 30 g, a kazayis, and edible. What we're looking for in every room is chametz that's more than 30 g and edible. How long does it take to go through a room? And look, open Again, I I I don't know anyone who has a sandwich in the sweater drawer, the third drawer of their armoire. Like I don't know people who have cookies. If you do, and the Mishnah Berurah is careful to say that if children, then sometimes all bets are off cuz children take and sneak and hide chametz everywhere in a home. But, if they're not in your home or you don't think they are, the areas of the home that you know they didn't, that's not what we're looking for. So, in my opinion, and I say this with a bulletproof vest on, this can be realistically accomplished in a few hours at most in almost all our homes. If you're spending days, weeks, or months cleaning your house for Pesach, you're not preparing for Pesach. And if it makes you worn down and exhausted and with a back ache and anger and bitter and resentful, then you're doing spring cleaning and don't blame God or this wonderful holiday of Pesach. If you're climbing a ladder or on your hands and knees, if you have a toothbrush or a toothpick, if you're emptying and lining and turning over and schlepping and moving appliances and furniture, then you're doing spring cleaning, you're not preparing for Pesach. Preparing for Pesach can be done in a few hours, in a day, in a couple of days. Go home to home, open some drawers, move some clothing, look on cabinets, look on dressers, look on nightstands. 100% I want to be very clear. I want to be very clear. First of all, this isn't me. Rabbi Scheinberg's Zatzal had a whole safer. He was one of the first to simplify Pesach in this way, understanding that our generation, I, our bubbies, past generations, they shvitz, they killed themselves, they worked, they toiled. In our generation, where people are holding on, where our children are watching our attitude and our feeling for Pesach, we should follow the din. You want to go above and beyond cuz you have that inyan and that brings you your joy, big gezunt, you're entitled, but that's not an expectation that's fair to place on others. That's not an expectation to live up to yourself if it's going to make you miserable. So, this is the halacha. We're going room to room and we're looking around for chametz that's bigger than 30 g and that's edible. Open dressers. We have to be careful. I spend more time almost on bedikas chametz at night than than in cleaning for Pesach cuz that was the original cleaning for Pesach. Bedikas chametz, Pesach, erev Pesach night should not be superficial. That's when we really need to go room to room and look around and ensure. And I spot check pockets of clothing, of suits, and of pants. Open seforim. That's when we open drawers and dressers. That's when we're looking and confirming that there's no chametz edible more than 30 g that might be there. But this insane effort of months and days and weeks and backbreaking labor, that's not Pesach, it's spring cleaning, it's not what we're doing. Searching and preparing our home should take a few hours a day, a day and a half at most if what we're doing is preparing for Pesach. Any questions about cleaning the house before we go to the kitchen together? That's cleaning the house. Good? Shh. Baruch Hashem. Okay, that is the cleaning the house. Now, let's go to the kitchen and preparing the kitchen together. We'll work our way through the kitchen and its appliances. Any questions you have, you'll feel free to interrupt. Feel free to interrupt. So, again, even within the kitchen itself, there's an enormous amount that we've just saved by taping any cabinet, taping any pantry, taping any area that you're not going to go on Pesach, just tape up. What we do in our home is we designate what's going to be for Pesach, we empty it out and clean it, and everything else we tape. We take all the appliances off the counter, we put them in an area of the house, close the door, put a piece of tape, put them in a box, put a piece of tape. So, all those appliances don't take enormous detailed work to clean. Put them away, tape it up, sell it with our chametz, do our bittul on it, and we are good to go. We are good to go. Okay, let's get to the kitchen. Let me just uh see if I missed anything in the cleaning. Any place in the house that's difficult to get to, you can spray with a chemical cleaner, and that's sufficient. Why does that help? Cuz it makes it inedible even to a dog. So, any parts of the house that will be sold don't need to be cleaned. Um even parts. We have a second backup fridge, and that's where we put all the chametz, and then we put tape a piece of plastic tablecloth across the cover of it, the front of it, and it's good to go. Even if you're going to still need a shelf in it, you leave that exposed and you clean that, the other area you could put your chametz products and and cover it, and you're good to go. Floors floors are mopped, carpets are vacuumed, but I hope that that's happening ordinarily in our homes regularly. If you're only doing that once a year for Pesach, we need to have another conversation. Furniture should be checked, cuz there is a lot of chametz between pillows, under pillows. So, furniture should be brushed clean, pillows should be moved, but again, I hope that happens regularly anyway, otherwise things are going to begin to grow in between your couches. So, that needs to be happen. Clothing that's not going to be uh worn on Pesach doesn't need to be checked again. Um children's toys. This also helps you clean your playroom. One of the most miserable things in a playroom, Play-Doh is chametz, you got to put it away. But let's say toys that are small and tiny and get a chametz mixed in, just we have a big um container, we put all the toys that are hard to clean in it, tape it, your playroom's ready for Pesach. You want to know one of the most liberating and freeing things you can do for Pesach for your children or grandchildren? Leave out three toys instead of 3,000 and they'll have the best Pesach playing with them. We give too many which actually takes away our freedom. And if you take away, you ever give a Hanukkah present and the kids had more fun with the box it came in than with the toy itself? We've complicated things. And that complication has taken away our freedom. So put away most of the toys, tape it up and your playroom is good to go instead of killing yourself in preparing it in preparing it for it. The vacuum cleaner bag should be thrown out. A broom should be cleaned. Some buy new brooms. You don't need to buy a new broom. You could try to clean it out and then spray a caustic or chemical cleaner on it, whatever state in your broom is no longer edible and is no longer a problem. Cars should be cleaned under and between the seats. If you can't reach it, spray it with a chemical cleaner cuz again there could be chametz that is edible in the in the car. A lot of people do eat on the road and on the way. So uh they can be a a problem. Um Okay, that covers cleaning the house. Any questions cleaning the house? Cars? Yes. Did you say that you have a freezer or a refrigerator that you put chametz and close it off? Yeah. So what do you define as something that you put in there that you can't see? Like I'm looking in the boxes or something. Like what would you consider No, no, I mean refrigerator products. So we have a cabinet that have still other products that we just tape. And any refrigerator product, let's say ketchup, and so on. So we'll put that we happen to not sell chametz mamash, but all these mixtures, all the all the chametz dikka refrigerator, all shelves of condiments and all the other things that are in the fridge go into the backup fridge with tablecloth plastic tablecloth taped on the shelves that they're in. The rest of the fridge cleaned and usable and the main fridge now entirely Pesach. That's what we do. That's what we do. It's not one way to do it, but that's what That's what we do. Okay, let's make our way through our our kitchen. >> think that in a in a refrigerator that they're pure chametz, but they're chametz thick. They should be covered. >> cover them up. >> Cover them up. Cover them up and you're good to go. Cover them up so you won't eat them. What about things that have vinegar in it? If you don't sell chametz, but you would sell that? Yeah. >> real chametz? Yeah, so that you got to check the uh OU guide about what vinegar is not real chametz. And plain flour is also not, correct? Flour is not chametz anymore. Right. Contemporary milling production consists of a tempering process that renders flour only suffolk chametz and flour therefore can be included in the sale. That's the OU guide. So, you can check what's real chametz and what's not there. >> thing, you keep saying about the appliances to take them and put them in a box and tape them. Why can't you just leave them in the cabinet there and tape the cabinet? You can. You can do that, too. Yeah, ours are just mostly on the counter and there's no room in cabinets for them. So, the toaster and the sandwich maker and the blender and the ice cream maker and the smoothie maker and the There's more appliances than people in my home these days. So, yeah, we got to find a place to put them. Yes. A countertop ice cube maker? A countertop ice cube maker? Is cleaning it enough or Yeah. Yeah, cleaning is enough. Just like the ice cube maker in your freezer is enough. Correct. There's no transfer of taste, there's no heat there, so cleaning it and making sure there's no chametz present. >> you reach into that with your hands and maybe you don't Yeah, so that's why it's cleaning it, but there's no transfer of taste, there's no heat. So, it's just cleaning it well and you'll be you'll be good to go. The question was about a a countertop ice cream maker uh ice maker. Ice cube countertop you countertop ice cube maker. You could just clean it well and let it defrost which we'll get to in a moment with your freezer cuz sometimes when they frost, they can frost with crumbs. So, let it defrost, clean it well, and then you are good to go on it. Let's make our way through our kitchen. Yeah? Some part the hot water and some part the hot water machine here. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, that's Last I I think last year it was some said you could use it. Um I didn't see anyone mention it. I could look it up. Is hot water made in it? Any of those meats? >> water thing like I understand that. So, A hot water machine >> Oh, I thought I was picturing a suvee. Oh, the shabbat urn. We're going to get to it. We're going to get to it. We're going to get to it. We're going to get to it. Let's go through the Let's go through the kitchen. And again, I can't strongly encourage you enough. We have incredible resources. The CRC is my primary one. They're all wonderful, but I start with the CRC. I very much appreciate the CRC, but the OU guy, the Star-K guy, the Chof-K guy, they've all done wonderful job in simplifying and helping us. Let's go through from easiest and we'll work our way up to hardest. The refrigerator. Refrigerator should be cleaned well, including the hard-to-reach areas. The min is to line the shelves of the refrigerator, but it's not an obligation. So, you don't have to do arts and crafts project of taping together the paper towels to make sure you covered every inch of the shelf. There's a min to line it. Should look different. It's Pesach. If that's hard to do, you're not even obligated to do it, but it should be empty the refrigerator, wiped well, sprayed well, cleaned very well before you use it for Pesach. Like I say, some have the min to line it. Even those who have the min to line it don't have to be super careful. Be careful what you line it for with because many refrigerators require the flow of air through it. Otherwise, you're going to make it break if it can't. So, that is the refrigerator. What about the accordion rubber doors that that seal the the door when it closes? It should be cleaned. Some of it's hard to clean. Spray it with a caustic spray, and therefore whatever's in it is no longer edible, and that is the way to deal with it. Ice cream [clears throat] ice cream ice maker should be cleaned well. Otherwise, it shouldn't be used, but it should be cleaned well. Um That is the refrigerator. That is the refrigerator. No, try to clean it. Get what you can and what you can't reach, just spray. Spray and you are good to go. That is the refrigerator and the freezer. Freezer should be defrosted and cleaned well, and only then used again, but it should be defrosted. Cover the freezer? Again, there's a minic to line. A person doesn't have to line to the extent like I say that you're doing a nuts and bolts project. There's a minic to put a piece of paper towel on each shelf to line it symbolically. Yes. I just wanted to say as an applied to here person, Oh. and you have grates in your freezer, I'm not talking about the grates. Yeah, the grates don't cover cuz the air needs to >> shelf to cover Good. Thank you. Thank you. That is the refrigerator. That is the refrigerator. Um cabinets, any cabinets you're going to use for Pesach, which I assume is the minority, very few in your kitchen, should be wiped down, emptied, wiped down, lined, and then you put your Again, lined symbolically. You've wiped it down. It's clean, what you're putting in there is clean, but you line it symbolically with a paper towel. You don't need to be neurotic in making sure that every corner is covered of the cabinet. That's the refrigerator, freezer, and that is the cabinets of our kitchen. Countertops. Countertops. Countertops can be koshered. Countertops can be covered. Even kosherable countertops can be covered. In my kitchen, in our kitchen, I'm still covering them, even though our new kitchen is now many, many, many years old. The Hamid panics at the thought of my spilling boiling water running down the cabinets and they're, you know, with distorting and and destroying the cabinets, so we cover. I also grew up in a home where we covered the counter, and I happen to enjoy the kitchen has a different look for Pesach. For the days leading up in those 8 days, it looks different. And then a motzei Pesach when you take the covers off, ah, it's back to the the everyday, the the rest of the year look of it. So, there's, you know, there is an inyan to that. But whatever the person's personal practice and minag of how to kosher. Which countertops can be koshered? So again, the half k guide, the OU guide, all have lists of which countertops can be can be koshered and which can't. We pasken for mica can be koshered. But if it has cracks and crevices and scratches, then it can't. But if formica is kept well, even formica can be koshered. Many of them are going to cover it. Certainly granite and most of the stone countertops can be koshered. The way it's koshered is the following. Tile and ceramic cannot be koshered. It has to be covered. Tin foil, aluminum foil is not enough to cover. You need something thicker, something that will constitute a real covering of it. And like everything else today, Judaism has become commercialized. They you don't have to be creative and go to Home Depot or Lowe's yourself. You could go online. There's one called I think decal or deco with a k. There are rolls that you unroll, you cover your counter. They have a hechsher, so you can rely that they're thick enough to do. They're supposedly easy enough to apply and easy enough to peel off afterwards and you fulfill covering your counter in a fairly easily disposable way. There are covers. But if you're going to kosher your counter, here's how you do it. You kosher with iurui. Iurui clearishon. Give me 1 minute on why we kosher, how we kosher. We're koshering because chametz was previously absorbed in, whether it's a pot, a pan, whether it's a counter, whether it's your grate of your oven or your stove top, taste of chametz was absorbed. We have a principle called kibolo kach polto. The way it was absorbed is the way that it is purged. The way the chametz entered is the way that you get the chametz out. If it was absorbed through heat, it's removed through heat. Absorbed through steam, it's removed through steam. Absorbed through a liquid medium, it's removed through a liquid medium. So we have these different methods of kosher of koshering. We have what's called libun gamur. That is putting a fire at the highest heat. You're obliterating you're burning any presence of a taste that was there. What's libun gamur in our kitchen? If you were to use a blowtorch, that would be libun gamur until it glows red. But in our kitchen, the example of libun gamur is if you run a self-clean oven. A self-clean oven gets so hot, if you don't believe me how hot it gets, put a wooden spoon in your self-clean oven and when it's done, you'll find a pile of ash on the bottom. Self-clean oven gets that hot. That's libun gamur. We also use hagalah. We all have here, I think it's next Sunday. Is this Sunday or next Sunday? We have kashering. Next Sunday. Next Sunday he we have here. That's boiling big pots of water where you can put a utensil, anything that absorbed through liquid is removed through liquid. We also use steam. We'll get to it in a moment. The microwave. So, iroy klishon, pouring boiling water. The only way taste was absorbed on your counter was something spilled. So, the way we get it out is the way it got in. If the taste got in through spilling, we remove the taste through spilling. So, that's principle number one, kabolocha polto, the way it is absorbed is the way that it is purged. Principle number two is we have a halacha that really taste is only powerful, potent, taste only exists for 24 hours. After 24 hours, all taste is nosain ta'am lifgam. All taste is putrid. All taste is no longer potent. All taste is no longer powerful. After 24 hours, every vessel is reset essentially to be kosher. So, you just wait 24 hours what we call an eno ben yomo. So, therefore, when we kasher, we always clean well, we wait 24 hours, which biblically speaking resets it and restores it to its original status, and then we kasher. And then we kasher. We wait the 24 hours to employ another technique, which is we restore it to its original status by waiting the 24 hours. So, when it comes to the counter top, clean them well, wait 24 hours. The clock starts on 24 hours on the counter top. And then you clean it by boiling water. You can boil the water in either a Pesach pot or a non-Pesach pot as long as the pot wasn't used for 24 hours. Then you take the water, use gloves, and you can't just splash on the counter so that the water runs the length of the counter. You have to walk with the pot and pour as you go. And that way you're koshering every spot on the counter. That's how a counter is koshered. Cleaned well, left 24 hours, boil water till it's mala ababuos, till it's bubbling up. Be very careful and cautious. Wear closed-toed shoes, shoes, wear gloves. Don't wear shorts. I've learned each of these the hard way. Um, and don't spill the water, splash the water. You have to walk and pour the water as you go in order for it to constitute e roy kli rishon. It could be a pot chametz or non-chametz. It just has to not be used in 24 hours. And the water has to be heating till it's not just that it's hot, it has to be, this is an odd amount of pia, mala ababuos. Ababuos sounds like bubbles. So it's mala ababuos till the water's boiling. That's how hot it has to be before you pour the water on the on the counter. And again, if you want to know whether your counter is eligible to be koshered or needs to be covered, you can look at any of these guides. They all have lists of different types of count Every year when you think we've exhausted what a counter could be made out of, the next year they come up with a new material to make a counters out So, I don't know. Somebody's working hard on that in some laboratory. Can you use a steamer? Can you use a steamer is a question that comes up every year. Steamer is not valid for koshering unless unless two things. The the steam has to come out when it hits the counter top, it has to be water not steam, it has to condense, and it has to condense that it's yad soledet bo. It still has to be the temperature that is required for heating. Most steamers do not do that. The average steamer that you're going to buy at Bed Bath & Beyond that's going to help your clothing not be wrinkled does not meet those two criteria. There are steamers that do. The CRC on its guide has a steamer that you can buy on Amazon that is an industrial commercial type of steamer that does. And then you'd be able to heat and then walk every inch of your counter and sink and kosher with the steam cuz you're not really koshering with steam, you're koshering with water. When the steam comes out it condenses to water at a temperature that meets the criteria of koshering. So, not just any steamer can be used. It would have to be a specific steamer that meets those criteria and that is an alternative. So, when it comes to counter tops you can either cover them or you could you directly be shown you could walk and splash onto them or you could use only an eligible steamer. And the same is true when it comes to sinks. When you have a metal sink, stainless steel sink that's eligible to be koshered. Clean it very well including the drain, the garbage disposal, the faucet, the filter underneath the faucet. Clean it very well, leave it 24 hours. Leave it 24 hours. My wife takes big masking tape and makes an X over the sink. Faucet, everything. Make sure that no one makes a mistake. Leave it 24 hours and then boil water again chametz or Pesach pot that hasn't been used in 24 hours. Splash it over the entire surface of the sink. If you have a a sink extension that pulls down, pull it out and need an assistant wearing gloves, pull it out, pour it over that as well. Turn it over, you're pouring over the filter where it comes out of the faucet of the sink as well and that's how you kosher. If a person has a porcelain sink it cannot be koshered. You need a sink insert, a basin with a hole in the bottom that'll be an insert for Pesach within the sink. Those are counter tops and those are sinks. Stuart. On the counter top, sometimes there are areas that Yeah, so you get as close as you can and try to get into that corner. If it's hard for you to get to then it was also probably hard for you to absorb chametz in that place too. So, clean counters well, don't use hot food for 24 hours. Make sure the surface is dry. Pour boiling water over the entire counter. Make sure every spot gets hit from the water from the initial pour. And that is how you can That is how you can kosher counter. Questions counters and sinks? Good. Let's go to microwaves. The glass tray needs to be removed. Ashkenazim pasken we can't kosher glass for Pesach. So, the glass tray needs to be removed. I saw the OU guide this year that for the first time we've always had a glass door on the microwave. Every microwave has a glass door. You got to see inside. For the first time I saw this year the OU says you should tape cardboard to the inside of the glass door of the microwave since we can't kosher glass. I don't think you need to do that. If every other year we didn't need to do that, you don't need to do that this year either. I confirmed with a kosher professional this morning. The other guides do not include that including the CRC. So, that is not a stringency that I think that we have to have. So, you clean the microwave well. Don't use it for 24 hours. Take out the glass tray. Take something microwave safe to boil water. The walls of the microwave absorb taste through steam. The way we get chametz out of the walls of the microwave is through steam. So, we have to do it twice. Why do I have to do it twice? Such a machmir chumra. No. You do it twice cuz you have to kosher the whole microwave and then you have to kosher the spot where the cup was the first time you koshered. So, move it over and then run it again until the water produces steam. 12 minutes, 15 minutes, until whatever you cleaned is enough that the water boils up and produces steam. Take out the glass tray. Some people buy a second tray for Pesach. You can check the model of your microwave and then go online and order a second tray for Pesach. Or I'll tell you a little secret, your microwave also works if there's no tray revolving inside of it. You can live without the glass tray for Pesach. That is the microwave. What about a microwave convection oven? Some people have a microwave convection oven. It can be koshered. It's complicated. You kosher it the same way as the oven part, not the microwave part. So, it's cleaned well and then you run it on the highest setting for an hour. That is the way it's kosher and the glass has to be removed. Uh yes. The cup that you used to boil the water, does it matter if it's a a plastic dish? Yeah, I we use Styrofoam or paper bowl, something that's microwave safe that you can put in there. We use a disposable one. That's what I recommend. Okay, we did refrigerators, freezers. >> there's a metal tray also. >> So, that's like the metal So, the metal tray in the convection is koshered like an oven. And same with the rack. Yeah. You just leave it in there. Okay. >> Yeah. Which one might as well go straight to ovens then. We'll go to ovens. If you have a self-clean oven, you don't have to wait 24 hours, and you don't even have to clean it cuz you're doing libun gamur on it. So, you clean it usually afterwards cuz you find all the residue from what was burned out in it, but you run the self-clean cycle. Every year I get a question, my self-clean didn't run all the way to the end, is it still good? Is it still good? So, yes, if it hit the highest temperature for a period of time, it is still considered to be kosher. A non-self-cleaning oven should be cleaned very well, left for 24 hours, and turned on the highest setting for an hour for an hour. Um good. That [snorts] is the oven. Microwave ovens, convection ovens, and ovens. Yes. Toaster oven. Toaster oven can't be koshered. Put it away. Pesach I get a Pesach toast Toaster ovens can't be koshered. Toaster ovens are too small and too much chametz, and we can't uh we can't effectively kosher What about the kitchen the sink? Just hot water? How to kosher the sink? The same way as the counter. You boil water and you pour it over the whole surface area of the sink. What about a warming drawer? >> Ovens, you shouldn't worry about that. Don't worry about that. >> it's not Correct. Correct. Don't worry about it. >> Move on. Move on. Move on. Warming drawers, most of the most say you can't kosher. The CR says you can. You could kosher a warming drawer by The warming drawer doesn't get to the temperature you need to kosher it. So, the way to get it to that temperature is with a Sterno. CRC says buy a Sterno or two, put it inside, light it, leave the door a little bit ajar cuz air needs to circulate. Or you're going to blow it. Or you're going to blow it. So, put the Sterno inside the warming drawer, open the door a little bit, let the Sterno burn out, and then your warming drawer is now of course it's a clean it well, leave it 24 hours, and then put the Sterno in it, and you can kosher it in that. >> Dacor is the one you would not recommend to do this with. Which one? Dacor. Dacor warming drawer? Yeah, and it will be destroyed the whole The Dacor Okay, you heard it here. Dacor warming drawer, don't try it on. The Dacor warming drawer, don't try it on. But other ones you Other ones you can. What didn't we cover in the in the kitchen? Stove top. Oh, the stove top. There's a reason we didn't I hate the stove top conversation. Okay, if you have a gas stove top, then you need to um kosher each burner by leaving each burner on high, cover all the area in between, and cover the knobs. Fairly simple, fairly straightforward. The stove tops of our youth. Then you move to Florida where they have electric stove tops. Electric stove top, leave each burner on high till it glows, cover the metal area in between. Then in Florida we got to the glass top cooktops, which um over the years has evolved how to kosher it. You leave each burner on high until it glows red. I believe you should pour boiling water, not while it's glowing red, but across the surface. And then the most important part is be careful not to put anything on the glass in between the burners. So, if you have a pot whose circumference is bigger than a burner, and therefore it goes into the area in between, that's okay. But if you're putting a spoon or a cover or something down, don't put it on the area in between the burners. Again, because Ashkenazim poskin you can't really kosher glass, we're relying on koshering on the glass over the burner, but the area in between we're not, so don't put anything down in between. Yes. Are you saying on a knob can you turn on the gas after you boil them? >> Yes, cover the knobs. Or in my own we kosher the knobs, but just know that you good chance you're going to ruin them. How do you kosher them? You boil water and you put them in boiling water. So, clean them well, don't use 24 hours. The knobs the knobs itself you can put in boiling water, but if you have any let's say label, you know, often you have a label high, medium, low on the knobs, if you put them in boiling water they'll melt or they'll peel off. So, if you don't want to ruin your knobs cover them instead of putting them in boiling in boiling water. Or by by by Pesach no one's yeah. Yeah. You shouldn't have turned it on. Glass cooktops, do you have um touch sensitive buttons? Yes. Should you cover it with a piece of like a piece of plastic or something? I don't think so. You clean it well, the touch sensitive buttons. I don't think the once you wipe it down it's not like the knob that the chametz could get in. You clean it you clean it spray it with the caustic spray. It doesn't absorb a flavor or taste. It's not hot, otherwise you won't be able to be touching those numbers. Yeah. I'm sorry, did you say about turn what turning the gas stoves on for how long? Um the >> temperature? The gas stoves on high, they're going to burn out the the great above it and kosher it. I think each one for 15 minutes. 15? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, don't do them all at once. Alternate doing them. Alternate doing them. Um table should be covered. And what we do is we tape a covering and then we put a table cloth that we continue to change on top of it. So, it's essentially a double covering all the time. The primary covering that you taped over the table and then the table cloth you put on top of it. Cloth table cloths just by laundering them are kosher for Pesach. But vinyl table cloths need to be changed. You can't use a vinyl a chametz like a vinyl table cloth cannot be used. A a uh fabric one can be by running it through the uh through the washing machine. Um towels same thing. If it's a towel you could run it through the washing machine, and it's now kosher for Pesach. Coffee makers and Keurig machines and urns, some say preferably should not be koshered, but there are always those who say that a Keurig can be koshered. Clean it well, leave it for 24 hours, take the K-cup holder out and put it in boiling water, and then run a K-kosher for Pesach cup through the Keurig, and that kosheres it for Pesach. That's the OU's guidance on how to kosher a Keurig for Pesach. Hot water urn, it depends. Did you use it for oatmeal during the year? Did you use it for chametz? Did you wash it with vinegar? Then better not to use it. If you didn't, then it might be good even without koshering. You can kosher a hot water urn by filling it with water and by cleaning it well, leaving 24 hours, fill it with water, and plug it in and pouring boiling water over the spout of the hot water of the hot water urn. That's for the old-fashioned one with the spout. If you have the fancy insulated pump, if you didn't use it or clean it with chametz all year round, it's okay. Then it's a it's it's a problem. Then get a Pesach one. Yeah, better so better get better get a Pesach one. Yeah. A hot water kettle on the stovetop? Uh do you use it for oatmeal and chametz and non-kosher? I get it I'd get a second one for Pesach. I would recommend. I would recommend. Um Okay, what did we not cover in the kitchen? >> [cough] >> Pots and pans, most of them should not could not get koshered. A lot of them are attached, screwed, have cracks and crevices. Um so most people have second sets of Pesach dishes. If there is a silverware you want to kosher, or bechers, again we have koshering here where you could do it at home. Take a pot, Pesach or not, that hasn't been used in 24 hours, boil water till it's mala ababuos. Koshering should be done one utensil at a time because you need shishim in the water against the utensil. When you take it out the minig is to put it in cold water immediately. And that's the way koshering is done at home. I'm being asked online about induction stove tops. Induction stove tops cannot be koshered. The only way to use it on Pesach is with a cover. They make a covering like fabric special induction stove top covering that you put the pot on top of that cover. That's the only way to do it with a um induction stove top. Can you use like the hot water dispenser? Hot water dispenser, you should pour boiling water over the spout of it and then it can be used. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, anything we didn't cover? Is the froster the same as the charity? Yeah. Um Um One thing. Yes. Inside the garbage disposal, it's rubber. It's a drainer. Correct. So we pass on the hard plastic and rubber can be koshered in boiling water. So that would be okay. Most of the guides say that the filter at the bottom of the sink you should take out for Pesach and not use. It's very small. It's very hard to get in. So those are those tiny filters. A crock pot can't be koshered. Food processor mixer can't be koshered. George Foreman grills can't be koshered. Um Dishwasher. Dishwasher. Oh, I was hoping nobody would ask dishwashers. Yeah, dishwashers. All the guides say that you know, ask your local rabbi. Dishwashers are very complicated to kosher. They have a lot of cracks and crevices and tubes and holes and spigots and spouts and dishwashers are very very complicated. There are poskim who allow you to kosher a dishwasher by cleaning the filter at the bottom every part of it super well. Making sure there's no rust anywhere on it or cracks or crevices in it. Leaving it for 24 hours and then running it three consecutive cycles. So there are poskim who allow not only stainless steel dishwashers because we kosher plastic even plastic, if you do it in that, I recommend against it. Um it is very complicated and most and most recommend against it. So, again, there are what to rely upon. There are There are upon whom to rely, but it's recommended against by most. Yes, Ethan. What about using a dishwasher rack? Rack to dry. You're not You're not washing anything. Yeah. Clean it up totally, run it through. When you could Yeah, so question was using a dishwasher for the racks to dry. So, if you cleaned it well and you did the method I just described, and then while it's cold, you use it as a place to put your dishes to dry, technically it would be permissible. Yeah. High chairs, cleaned and sprayed extremely well, the tray of the high chair should be covered. Um and yeah, think that covers the kitchen. Anything else in the kitchen? Okay. Very good. Which brings us to products. Let's go to medicines and cosmetics, and then we'll talk about some general products. Are there any questions that anybody has about about products? Every year the CRC reprints its same letter, signed, co-signed admirably, accurately by great uh Poskin in the Chicago area, Rav Yona Reese, Rav Shmuel First, Rav Dovid Zucker. And they uh write the following. All pill non-chewable tablet medication with or without chametz that one swallows is permitted. So, I repeat that. If you take a medicine that's in a pill form, it's not food. It's not eligible to be chametz and therefore you should continue to take it and swallow it. All pills that are medicines. Vitamins are not medicines. Vit- Vitamins you'd need to confirm. Occasionally there's a vitamin that your doctor essentially prescribes you to take as a medicine. It's so meaningful to you, you need it. But most vitamins Most vitamins, first of all, you can live without for 8 days, but most vitamins are not a medicine, even though it's a pill, it would need to be kosher for Pesach. Vitamins and supplements would need to consult and make sure that it's kosher for Pesach, that it doesn't have chametz, but any pill that you take you don't have to look into or look up. If it's a pill that's medicine, then it is not it is not eligible to be chametz and therefore it's permitted permissible. Gel caps What? Flavored pills? So that's not that's that right that Gel caps hard and soft do not pose a chametz concern, but they um but they have other kashrus concerns with them so you need to make sure. Um Advil has a kashrus question to it so you need to look up what you're taking or if you take it and just swallow it without without tasting it. Liquid and chewable medications may contain chametz. You need to look up. So if it's a medical pill, not not if it's a prescribed medicine a pill, then it is by definition not chametz and you could take it. If it's a vitamin or supplement or something like Advil, then you need to confirm it's eligible and there are lists you can access. Liquid or chewable, you need to make sure. When it comes to cosmetics and toiletries, this is very important to know. Anything that's inedible, it doesn't matter if chametz is in its ingredient. So, all varieties of blush, body soap, conditioner, creams, eyeshadow, eyeliner, foundation, ink, lotions, mascara, nail polish, ointments, paint, shampoo, stick deodorant, they're all permissible on Pesach regardless of the ingredients on them. It could have a huge percentage of the ingredient be chametz, it doesn't matter. It's not edible. >> [laughter] >> Shampoo is inedible. But many varieties of cologne, liquid deodorant, hairspray, mousse, perfume, shaving lotion, sunscreen, and wipes, they have something called denatured alcohol. Denatured alcohol is potentially edible and therefore and therefore should only be used on Pesach if they do not contain alcohol or the alcohol is known to be free of chametz. So cologne, liquid deodorant, hairspray, mousse, shaving lotion, spray sunscreen, those you do need to make sure are are permissible for you to be able to use. Lipstick, mouthwash, toothpaste, which contain chametz, CRC says should not be used. The OU has on its list where you get to one of the differences between on its wonderful many amazing pages of lists. At the end, the OU has a list on page 105. The consensus of OU poskim is that the following may be used on Pesach without certification. And it has on its list all deodorants, lipsticks. I sorry, cosmetics with the exception maybe of lipsticks. So, here you have shaving lotion, shaving cream, shampoos. It agrees with OU also has on its list, cuz I'm asked every year, by the way, paper towels, napkins, cups, paper, plastic, or Styrofoam, all aluminum foil, baking pans. All of this the OU holds is fine without a hashgacha. Plastic containers, plates, paper, plastic, or Styrofoam, scouring pads and powders. Uh all suntan lotion, it says. Toilet bowl cleaner, water filters, candles, cardboard, carpet cleaners, body wash. Enjoy this list. Go to town. >> is that paper towel rolls usually don't use the first two and the last two for the glue. Yeah, the OU is not worried about that, cuz the kiddie os, they think that that they use as the glue, the OU is not worried about that. If you want to be uh strict, you can tear off the first and last one. Um OU has oral hygiene and flavored lipstick, lip balm. Rabbinic authorities disagree as to whether certification of these items is required. Consult your rabbi, please see product pages in the Passover guide for the OU certified toothpaste. So, there is OU certified toothpaste. Most years, I didn't look carefully yet this year. Most of them, Crest and Colgate and Sensodyne, most of them are okay. Just confirm that your products are on the list, which version of your product is on the list. You have to confirm that it's there. >> The LA Kollel this year said no Sensodyne. Okay. What's LA Kollel? I You can look on the Star-K list, the OU list, the CRC list. Those are the lists that I I highly recommend. Okay, someone else is asking about the kitchen. Does the dishwasher need to be added? Yes, if you are relying on koshering the dishwasher in that method, it does need to be cleaned well, sit for 24 hours before running it for three cycles. Okay, that's cosmetics and medicines and lotions. Um again, if you have a specific question and you've used and exhausted all those lists and did not find them. What about toothpaste? Yeah, so it's a machlokes whether you need to even confirm if your toothpaste is on a list. Some hold all toothpaste is an edible, therefore it's okay. Others say you should confirm that your toothpaste doesn't contain chametz. If you need help looking up your toothpaste, let me know. The whole planet. Yeah, but so tell me which toothpaste you use. Not now, you can send me an email, let me know. I'm happy to look it up for you, but Any other questions about cosmetics, medicines, products? The COR put out a great image of things that you could get at Costco that don't need kosher for Pesach certification. I'm not if you saw that image. I'll tell you some of those things or you could just find it online if you look for it. Baruch Hashem, we live in a remarkable time that's made Pesach so much easier and we should be so grateful for that. Um Costco. >> There's one for Trader Joe's also. One for Trader Joe's? I don't think I saw the Trader Joe's one. The COR can use the plain olive oil, right? The Trader Joe's olive oil and Trader Joe's olive oil, okay. Yeah, nuts is always a big question. Uh here it is. Oh, sorry. Yeah, the Costco list. Costco list, it's hard to read. Okay, you can look it up. The COR put a 2026 Costco list of all these products that are good with that are automatically kosher for Pesach. It's enormously helpful when you do your shopping. >> in the wrong chat. Yeah, wrong chat. Yeah. If you By the way, I will highly recommend the following. Our wonderful wonderful ORB has a chat where people ask endless questions all day long. You might have archived that chat chat in the past, but you could also search it. So, before you ask a new question on it, if you search in the chat, you could search whether someone's asked it, and you'll find almost any question to almost any topic in that in that chat. So, you could go on the ORB chat, which is in real-time Pesach questions. It's around the whole year also people put kosher questions in there, and it's incredibly incredibly helpful. Okay. Any other questions? Yes. I have a formula question. Random formula for coming or bringing baby formula. >> Yes. They can have it. When they clean the bottles, can they clean the bottles in my in my sink in the They should clean the bottles in a sink in your laundry room or bathroom. If If people are using bottles with formula for children that have kidney issues in them, preferably they should clean it in a bathroom sink or the laundry room sink or a different sink. There are lists of which formulas We got lists of everything. We got lists of everything. Thank you for coming. I want to wish everyone a chag kasher v'sameach. I want to wish everyone a freilichen Pesach. They say we get it backwards. Purim should be kasher v'sameach, and Pesach should be a freilichen Pesach. So, we should all be zocheh to do a hachana, to be mindful and present for the hachana that we do in a way that elevates us all, in a way which brings us the simcha of Yom Tov the way it is meant to be experienced. Don't forget tonight