Oh! No! Pesach "Horror" Stories

amother

Slateblue

Wed, Apr 24 2019, 5:08 am

Oh, I just remembered another one. We have a non Jewish neighbor who likes to buy treats for my kids once in a while. He's very respectful and makes sure to buy things only in the local kosher store, and he never gives things to the kids directly- he waits until dh or I are passing by and gives it to us.

Anyway, a couple of years ago we were sitting outside on the first day of pesach and he came up to me beaming. "Happy Passover guys! I bought you a little treat to enjoy on the holiday!" I peeked into the bag and found a box of very mehadrin, very chometzdig chocolate wafers TMI

It was an awkward conversation trying to explain to him why we couldn't accept it....

amother

Sienna

Wed, Apr 24 2019, 5:35 am

Just remembered quite an awkward Pesach moment... when I was living in Europe a tour group of somewhat religious / traditional Israelis who were travelling made contact with me through the local synagogue and asked me where they could celebrate leil seder (they had catering for chol hamoed but wanted an authentic seder experience). I wasn't yet Jewish but very involved in our (tiiiiiiny) Jewish 'community' (me, and two old men in the synagogue...!) I saw a flyer for a passover seder and, delighted I'd found a solution, sent them the details and patted myself on the back.

Only afterwards the tour group leader rang me to give me the awkward news that I'd accidentally sent them to some kind of weird messianic xtain group who raved about the blood of the lamb, served thoroughly unkosher food (literally bread for the 'body of That Guy', Last Supper style) and basically tried to convert them all upon realising that they'd found Real Jews.

Awkward

imasinger

Wed, Apr 24 2019, 6:06 am

Aylat wrote:

Yikes!

My story isn't chametz but a milk/meat mix-up due to our Pesach cutlery not being labelled properly and me not remembering from one year to the next. Anyway, I had to throw out the chicken soup and our only decent sized fleishig pot needs hagala. Which can only happen next erev Pesach....if I manage to remember.

Tape up the pot in a bag with a note on it detailing what happened and what you need. At the end of Pesach last year, someone started cooking eggs and cheese in my favorite pareve pan, and DH said he didn't have time/interest to bother the rav about it that late. When I unpacked this year, I found the oddly wrapped up pan with the note, and it got dealt with. There's no way I would have remembered if I had only just relied on my yearly list! Too much else to think about.

You may want to do something similar when storing your cutlery, too.

Raisin

Wed, Apr 24 2019, 6:25 am

amother [ Tan ] wrote:

These stories reminded me of a previous Pesach. Our grocery store mixed the matzahs on the shelf- KLP and non KLP! It was in the kosher section of a huge store that many buy their KLP food from. I let the grocery store know...the staff wasn't so interested and really didn't seem to care but the next year I saw they hung a sign that not everything is KLp...
Guess they got enough complaints!

Somebody posted on facebook a shop in the uk boxes of matza ball mix (I think telma brand but can't remember) The pesach ones and year round ones are identical except for the little p next to the ou. Not too surprisingly, there was a year round one mixed into the pesach ones.

At least one matza company (rakusens) colour codes their boxes for this reason - year round ones are blue, pesach ones are red.

Make sure to check every single bag!

amother

Rose

Wed, Apr 24 2019, 7:34 am

Raisin wrote:

Also in the U.K. some Osem Chicken Soups on a certain supermarket shelf were the non-Pesadik ones this year.

mommy3b2c

Wed, Apr 24 2019, 7:47 am

amother [ Seafoam ] wrote:

DH cleaned the car for Pesach earlier this year than any other . Bedikas chometz day he took the kids out to give me a break and he bought them pringles. He left the bag with the uneaten chips in the car and reminded himself about it the second day of YT. Motze YT he burned the bag.

I doubt pringles are chametz

aricelli

Wed, Apr 24 2019, 8:39 am

I have a big sensory swing hanging right in our dining room. My son went in to chill during our seder... and came out holding a big cupcake: embarrassment moment!

amother

cornflower

Wed, Apr 24 2019, 11:41 pm

I keep waking up to my daughters chametz bowls of klp cereal they serve themselves. I keep explaining those are not for cereal on pesach, tape the cabinets, etc but they just find others to use. Every morning so far !

amother

Pearl

Thu, Apr 25 2019, 1:29 am

Ah, the memories.

When we had two little ones and made our own Pesach, we had everything turned over after Bedikas chometz, with the chometz in a box by the door for DH to take out for burning.

The kids woke up before us and we found them eating chometzdik cereal on the pesachdik table.

A few years later, and these same darling children are old enough to bake. I come in to the kitchen to see a batch of brownies all mixed up, with a bottle of corn oil on the counter. Yes, I had evidently forgotten to tape up that cabinet.

It wasn't such a disaster. It was a day or two before Pesach. We baked the brownies by a neighbor whose oven was still chometzdik, and we had something for the kids to eat that would not make chometz crumbs.

The mixer just needed washing in cold water (but do ask your LOR if this should happen to you!)

Those dear children are married now with large mishpochos ken ayin hora & they invite us out for meals on Pesach!

amother

Oak

Thu, Apr 25 2019, 4:20 am

We did a favour for our neighbor. He is Jewish but not Frum. I cam home yesterday to a bottle of whiskey on our dining room table. He means well but...

Rappel

Thu, Apr 25 2019, 4:25 am

This thread LOL

the struggle is real!

I didn't have any crazy stories this year. Just that after scrubbing my house down top to bottom, being can't-move-too-sick for three days, all while being home with the kids for the week and a half before Pesach while DH worked crazy hours...the straw that broke the camel's back was just before bedikat chametz. I found a dried piece of pita on the floor of my kids' room. I don't know where they got it, but my children had brought pita into my house, and scattered it for me, and I hadn't seen them do it, and I didn't know how much there was. You'd better believe I cleaned that night!

amother

Wheat

Thu, Apr 25 2019, 5:04 am

amother [ Maroon ] wrote:

My friend moved to a new neighborhood. Her non jewsih neighbor gifted her a challa for pesach and wished her happy holiday! They know that jews eat challa!!

Our non-Jewish neighbours are devote Christians and apparently they eat cake on Easter which is shaped like a lamb. They say it's a tradition... Anyway this Easter and pessach was at the same time and they had heard about pessach lamb so they brought this cake as a gift. Which was really sweet but we had to tell them to take it back home... I will bake challah for them next week to make it up to them Confused

amother

Amethyst

Thu, Apr 25 2019, 8:14 am

Another mistake- asked me husband if a certain kind of bottled water was ok and he said yes bec it didnt have “ additives”. Been drinking that water. Yesterday I noticed that it said it had minerals to enhance taste and questioned it again. My husband said that additives can be minerals and it is not kfp! It was also written very small on the bottle that “ minerals were added to enhance taste” so my husband missed it. I hid the bottles of water- cant burn bec I live in a complex. Before Pesach we were allowed to burn the chometz in back of the shul in the complex.

chanchy123

Thu, Apr 25 2019, 8:23 am

This happened to my parents a couple years back when we weren't there. As they were pouring the first cup to start kiddush one of the tables collapsed with all the glass bottles of grape juice. Of course my niece stepped in the glasd and needed stitches on her foot.

amother

Blush

Thu, Apr 25 2019, 8:59 am

A couple years back I had the luxury of enough cleaning help before Pesach(ha, this year I had only once in the past 2 months so did EVERYTHING myself). Before bedikas Chomets I proudly told DH that the couch I did myself cause didn't want to rely on the help to do a proper job. When he got to the couch, he slipped his hand on the bottom in the back and opened the 3 velcro flaps. Out came pouring lots and lots of Chomets, bigger and smaller pieces, as well as toy pieces, pens, and many many things. I apparently didnt realize those flaps!! And DH was horrified that he would've sat on this couch at the Seder! Since then, every year at bedikas Chomets this is the running joke...

southernbubby

Thu, Apr 25 2019, 9:09 am

Years ago, I took my kids to a Chucky cheese type place for chol ha moed and one of my little kids grabbed and ate a pizza crust from one of the tables.
Then there was the year that we used a lot of cottonseed oil which made DD sick (Hi honey if you are reading this👋).

amother

Plum

Thu, Apr 25 2019, 9:17 am

amother [ Amethyst ] wrote:

I hid the bottles of water- cant burn bec I live in a complex. Before Pesach we were allowed to burn the chometz in back of the shul in the complex.

I'm sorry, but how do you intend to burn water? Why cant you pour it down the drain.
Wait a minute... are you a troll?

dankbar

Thu, Apr 25 2019, 9:37 am

Yesterday I found a painted toy sunglasses that my kids play with year round & wasn't washed for pesach in my pesach sink. My kids shlepped it from somewhere.