Early shopping

[Yehudis]

So I did some major Pesach shopping today at a kosher store. It was pretty crowded -- took me a while to get a cart. Everyone was running around searching for something.

I discovered that this time of the year there are two categories of shoppers: the ones with an overflowing cart paying over $500 at the register, and the ones asking why the store is putting out the Pesach food so early and where did the pasta go and is there any normal food left.

I felt kind of guilty about being in the first category.

[sarahd]

I'd be the third group - not buying pasta, but also not up to Pesach stuff. I'd be the one buying only fruits, vegetables and drinks.

[hadassah]

So this leads me to another problem. When I buy in the supermarket here in Israel I don't have a problem, I know that they did a decent mechirat chametz and right after pesach I can get pasta and other things from there without a problem.

However...I buy a lot of stuff from small organic stores. Closed boxes of things that each have a decent hechsher. The problem is the store. I don't trust their "pesach"..and not their "meschirat chamets". Seeing the stores and most of the clientelle I have reason to be worried...

So what I want to do is as follows, like we used to do in chutz la'aretz when we knew that we couldn't buy things in a Jewish store until Lag Ba'omer...I want to stock up in advance...that means buying kitniyot (organic) and pasta (organic) and other things like that which I can't get elsewhere...

And that's a bad joke, because as I am trying to get rid of the chometz stuff like bread, flour and the like, here I am stocking up on kitniyot and rice and corn pastas...

[Yehudis]

But they are not chametz. Why would mechiras chametz matter?

Here's my question. If we don't rely on sale of chametz at home and get rid of all of it, does that mean that after Pesach we should not shop at the kosher stores that do rely on mechiras chametz?

[hadassah]

Yehudis your question makes me think. I learned that if it is a Jewish store that didn't sell, you just don't buy there until Lag Ba'omer so it won't be chametz sheavar alav hapesach...and you are therefore right about kitniyot etc....what do I do though about other things that there is a chashash that have chametz (organic cereals?)

[sarahd]

That's a problem. You would also have to wait till you're sure that any of that product that was in stock Pesach-time was sold (till Shavuos, is what I was taught). That's the halacha with regard to chametz she'avar alav haPesach. If you buy it before Pesach you can sell it with your chametz.

Yehudis, even if you personally don't rely on mechiras chametz, there are different halachos with regard to stores who would incur huge losses by destroying unsold chametz (hefsed merubeh). You should consult with your LOR to find out whether you can rely on them. Otherwise, you can't buy there after Pesach - and I know people who shop only at non-Jewish stores till Shavuos for that reason.

[Yehudis]

Hmm... I'll ask. Thank you!

[Dream]

Shopping at non-Jewish stores isn't a great solution, as most supply companies are owned by Jews.

2 issues here: hometz she'avar alav haPesach is the obvious one. The other problem is ppl who sell hometz, but continue using it. So some of the hometz in stores after pesach is either was owned by a Jew on Pesach, or was "stolen" from a non-Jew on Pesach.

It's complicated, and the only way out of it is to find a store owned by a non-Jew and stock up right after Pesach. This is what we do......

*wishing I had freezer to stock up on this stuff*

But nobody argues that it is better to buy hometz that was sold as apposed to she'avar alav haPesach.

[Yehudis]

I'm confused.

Isn't there a list of stores where you can buy after Pesach, that are owned by non-Jews?

[sarahd]

What Dream is saying is that even if the store itself is owned by non-Jews, where are they getting their merchandise from? A lot of wholesalers are Jews, who may have had chometzdik merchandise in stock on Pesach and sold it to the non-Jewish store after Pesach. This could be really complicated.

[hadassah]

I was taught that because of today's turnover in most stores it's only until Lag Baomer that you can't buy chometz from a Jewish store where either it wasn't sold or there is a chashash that it wasn't sold...I'm about to buy up some organic cereal this week to have for the next six weeks...

[Dream]

this isn't an option for those who do not sell hometz.........

[chanie213]

I am a baal tshuva and just starting. I tried to understand what you ladies are talking about - the bottom line - is this all halacha or chumra (extra stringency) stuff - ie about not shopping in Jewish stores, etc?

Basically, can I just sell chometzh in my house, not use it on Pesach and go back to my regular shopping and chometzh consumption right after Pesach?

Also, if I sell chometzh, clean up my kitchen and do not eat chometzh on Pesach, is it enough? (That seems like a lot to do and would be the first time for me.) Or do I absolutely have to kosher my kitchen? I am planning to use it on Pesach. If so, I'll have to have a rabbi in my kitchen to walk me through it because I have never done it before.

[hadassah]

Good luck! you need to kosher your kitchen but it isn't that hard. Clean the fridge and then line the shelves. Clean the oventop and cover it and the burners with aluminum foil. Clean the inside of your oven (self clean is best otherwise you need a blowtorch and thus most people without self cleaning ovens skip it), clean your counter tops and cover them with aluminum foil or plastic, clean your sinks, if they are stainless steel you can kasher them with boiling water, if porcelain clean and pour boiling water in anyhow and then line them with aluminum foil, change your sink racks by the way, get new ones for Pesach. You need new dishes, silverware and pots for Pesach. It's not that hard.