פסקי הרב חיים שבת שליט”א
HALACHOS OF CLEANING FOR PESACH AND SEDER NIGHT
As we start cleaning our houses from chametz to be ready for b’dikas chametz and Pesach, we should note that a good portion of our actions tends to be really a spring cleaning, which may leave us exhausted, and then unable to properly relate to the seder and its mitzvos. We must maintain a balance between the amount of cleaning that is truly necessary, and maybe not be machmir more than needed, so that we can come to yom tov with happiness, and fulfill the mitzvah of ושמחת בחגך , rather than dreading it.
There are places in the house that do not require cleaning because chametz just doesn’t enter them. Or, if a person will be selling and locking a part of the house, it doesn’t need to be cleaned, and one can put into such a place anything that he wants to avoid cleaning, like bentchers, toys that will not be used, kitchen appliances and utensils, etc. (Note: it is preferable to sell these places and the chametz therein on the 13th of Nissan, before the time of the b’dikah; most Rabbanim will accommodate to expedite the sale in these terms).
AWAY FOR PESACH
If one will not be home for Pesach at all he may be able to rent (through the services of a Rav) his entire house to a goy for the duration of Pesach, and avoid unnecessary work to clean it. If this is the case, he will have to fulfill his obligation of b’dikas chametz in the place where he will be staying; if he will be at a relative for the first days of Pesach, and he is going to be there already the night of b’dikas chametz, then he should request from the relative to be makneh (to give over legal possession) one of the rooms to him, and do his b’dikah there.
If one will be at a hotel, or elsewhere, where he will not arrive until morning, he must do b’dikas chametz at his home, and cannot sell his home the night before.
GENERAL CLEANING
Any crumbs of chametz that will come in contact with a detergent solution will be rendered unfit for consumption, and therefore not considered chametz; thus, clothing that is either washed or dry cleaned, does not require checking (its pockets) for chametz. Clothing that is not cleaned, and will not be used during Pesach, may be locked up in closet and sold with the chametz to avoid having to clean those pockets.
The pockets of clothing that was used and not washed before Pesach, and which will not be sold, must be checked for, and brushed clean of, chametz crumbs; it is more practical to wet the seams of the pockets with a soapy solution.
Floors do not need to be scrubbed; it is enough to broom or vacuum them, and then wash them with a soapy solution. It is also not an obligation to shampoo the carpets, but only vacuum them, and if one wants to be machmir, then he should not eat food that falls on the carpet on Pesach.
KITCHEN
Regarding the kitchen, we will begin by discussing the kitchen cabinets. Those that are not going to be used should be sealed and sold with the chametz. Those that will be used during Pesach must be emptied of all food and washed thoroughly with detergent water. Be sure that the solution gets into all cracks, so that any crumb that may be there should get soaked. The general custom is to cover all of the surfaces.
The same basic procedure is used for the refrigerator; if the racks are covered, make sure to allow the airflow by cutting holes in the covers.
The freezer need only be washed, and covered, because normally things are stored in bags or foil. Tables should also be washed with a soapy solution and then covered.
Countertops, if they are made from metal, or polished marble or granite, could be koshered by cleaning them thoroughly, not using them for 24 hrs. with anything hot, and then pouring boiling water on them. It is preferable to pass a hot iron (make sure to unplug it first) over the area over which the hot water was poured. If the countertops are Formica, grooved marble or granite, Corian, or if the stone is covered with a silicone sealer, then they should be washed with soapy water, and covered.
The sink, if it is either stainless steel or stone, could be koshered like the countertops, by first cleaning it thoroughly, not using it for 24 hrs. with anything hot and then pouring boiling water on it. (It is very common for people to forget that it should not be used with hot water, thereby causing the koshering to be delayed; it is therefore a good idea to cover the handle of the hot water, and if you only have one handle, it is proper to close the hot water valve under the sink. The latter may be good advice for year-round Shabbosos when there are younger children in the house). It is preferable to pass a hot stone or iron (make sure to unplug it first) over the area that you just poured hot water over.
The strainer should just be removed or replaced. If the sink is ceramic, we don’t kosher it, rather we could cover it with contact paper or aluminum foil after washing it thoroughly, but it would be preferable to use an insert that covers the whole sink. Boiling water should be poured over the spout, and a mix of boiling water and bleach should be poured down the drain; the aerator on the faucet’s tip should be removed or replaced.
To kosher the stove, after washing it with a detergent solution, let the burners light on their highest flame for 5 min. then the best thing to do is to let it continue for another 5 min. with a blech on top of it (the blech could be chametz, as long as it is clean), making sure that the fire doesn’t spread out and burn the countertop or backsplash next to it; it is not necessary to cover the grates or trays under them. The space between the burners could be covered with aluminum foil.
If you have a self-cleaning oven, just run it for a full cycle, and that is enough. If it is not self-cleaning, the best thing is to clean the oven properly and use an insert that would enclose anything you would bake in it. The next best thing is to easy-off the oven and let it burn on its highest temperature for one hour; if you can kosher the racks in someone’s self-cleaning oven, or replace them with Pesach’dik racks, that would be better; otherwise, the racks should be left in the oven while it burns, and it would still be better to cover them with foil.
We may not kosher the microwave oven, since its walls are normally made out of plastic. However, it may be used after washing it with soap and water, removing the glass tray, and then heating any food in a sealed container. It is advisable to use two coverings, in case one of them pops open.
Stoves that have a hood over it, generally have a grate with a filter in it; the grate should be cleaned properly, and the filter should be removed, and then it should be covered with foil. The blech used all year cannot be koshered, and a Pesach blech is required. One should not try to clean and kasher draining racks; rather, they should be replaced with new ones. In general, all koshering must be done before the end of the fifth hour of the morning of erev Pesach.
On erev Pesach we should remember to throw away the vacuum cleaner bag.
BEDIKAS CHOMETZ
On the night of b’dikas chometz, half an hour before tzais hakochavim, one is not allowed to engage in any activity, nor eat or even sit down to learn, until after we check for the chametz.
The B’dika could be done with a flashlight; however, the minhag is to start with a candle. We are checking to find a piece of chametz of the size of an olive, or crumbs that are edible and might come to be eaten. The b’dika must be done in all the places that chametz might have been brought. In a house with small children, many more places have to be taken into consideration (clothing drawers, inside shoes, etc.).
To prevent the need to spend so much time on the night of b’dikas chametz itself, one can start doing b’dika a few nights before, according to the halachos of b’dikas chametz, and make sure that no chametz is brought in those rooms or cars any more. The only difference in those b’dikos is that NO b’racha is made before the search.
SEDER NIGHT
Before the Seder, one should try to complete the preparations as early as possible – setting the table with the pillows and couches for הסיבה , opening all the bottles of wine, sending the children to sleep, making the salt water, roasting the egg and זרוע , and preparing the חרוסת . Those who wear a Kittel should place it near the seder table, and check the matzos for the שלמות (whole ones) and that there should not be קפולות (folded over).
The Seder itself should start as early as possible, but Kiddush should not be recited before tzeis.
For the four cups we should make sure that we have cups not smaller than 3.3 oz. and not much larger than that, so that we can handle the wine we drink. It is of great importance that if possible, we should drink specifically wine, even women and girls (above Bas Mitzvah).
If we drink wine that has only 3.5% alcohol, and drink only the majority of a cup that has the accurate shiur (measurement), and drink water (no Shehakol needed if it is on the table) right afterwards, most people should not have a problem with drinking four cups of wine.
The proper practice is to drink the whole cup; if this is difficult, then one should drink the majority of the cup. Under exceptional circumstances, one may drink the majority of a revi’is (1.7 oz.) even if the cup is larger than a revi’is. The wine should preferably be drunk in no more than two sips, and within about 30 seconds; however, if it takes as long as 4 minutes it is also acceptable.
As far as the amount of Matzah, for the first k’zayis we are stricter and have a larger shi’ur which is approx. 1/2 of a machine Matzah, or 1/3 of a hand Matzah.
For Korech the equivalent of 1/3 of a machine Matzah or ¼ of a hand Matzah should be enough.
For Afikomen, one should try to eat the larger amount, and if this is difficult, he may follow the lenient view; it is also preferable, as long as we don’t fall in the category of אכילה גסה (overeating to the point of repulsion), to eat two כזיתים for afikomen, one as a זכר לקרבן פסח , and the second, for the Matzah that was eaten with it.
For Maggid, everyone should try to be present and follow as much of the Haggada as possible. The minimum is Ma Nishtana, the ten Makkos, and from Rabban Gamliel through the second cup.
Every family has to balance the correct length of their Maggid, but the top priority is that the children should be up and awake for the Matzah and Maror. To accomplish this, one might be better off leaving some of the commentaries for the se’uda.
One of the main purposes of the Haggadah is that one should attain the feeling as though he or she personally left Mitzrayim, and we should keep this in mind as we go through the explanation of the Haggadah: that our goal is to try to get to that feeling, and not to present a shiur on the details of the p’shat or the mefarshim.
If there are three men at the seder, when saying hodu and anna Hashem in Hallel, the leader of the seder should lead it, and the other two respond as done during davening.
The best Maror is romaine lettuce. It must be bug free, and the amount that must be eaten is equivalent to an area of 8×10 in.; if one eats only stalks, 3×5 in. is enough.
Let us remember that these are very precious mitzvos that we have an opportunity to do only once a year, and through the merit of their fulfillment we should merit to bring the korban Pesach in Yerushalayim very soon.
BIRCHAS HA’ILANOS
Regarding the proper time for birchas ha’ilanos, while some Poskim hold that it must be said during the month of Nissan, as could be inferred from the text of the gemarah (B’rachos 43a) היוצא בימי ניסן וראה אילנות מלבלבין “when one goes out during the days of Nissan and sees trees that are blooming”, nevertheless, the great majority of Poskim write that the gemarah mentions this not as a condition, but rather as a common occurrence, and one may say birchas ha’ilanos either earlier or later than that. Some opinions hold that preferably, one should try to say it during Nissan, but if he was not able to do so, he may still say it later (Yehave Daat 1:1).
The minhag in Eretz Ysrael is not to say the b’racha with Hashem’s name after Nissan; however, outside of Eretz Yisrael we do say the complete b’racha with Hashem’s name. In the southern hemisphere, where spring is in September, the b’racha over the blooming of the trees is said then (Har Tzvi 1:118, Minchas Yitzchak 10:16).
Since birchas ha’ilanos is said only once a year, if one said the b’racha in the northern hemisphere in April, and then travels south and sees again the blooming of the trees during October, he does not repeat the b’racha (ibid), unlike shehecheyanu, which could be said more than once a year, even for the same fruit, if it is a different crop, and is otherwise not accessible. Although formerly the multitudes were not as careful in reciting the birchas ha’ilanos, the more learned people and yir’ai Hashem were always very meticulous in saying this b’racha (Aruch Hashulchan 226:2).
The b’racha is said specifically at the time of the blooming of the flowers that produce fruits in edible fruit bearing trees, and seeing the buds is not enough. One may say the b’racha at night if the trees are properly lighted (Tzitz Eliezer 12:20), and although some write not to say this b’racha on Shabbos, it is permitted according to halacha to say on Shabbos, and if it will be difficult to say it during the week, one should say the b’racha on Shabbos.
If one didn’t see the new trees until the flowers fell off, he may still say the b’racha, as long as the fruit is not fully grown. However, if one saw the trees blooming, and did not say the b’racha the first time he saw them, he may only say the b’racha as long as the flowers are still on the tree (MB 226:4).
According to the mekubalim, the b’racha is said specifically during Nissan, outside the city, in a field that has many trees (minimally two blooming trees), and preferably with a minyan of men. They say a לשם יחוד before saying the b’racha, and after saying the b’racha they give three coins to tzedaka for the souls that have become gilgulim in trees, etc. However, as we saw, according to halacha these are not required, and although it is better to have all conditions met, nevertheless one should say the b’racha as long as according to halacha it is permitted.