Move, before Pesach or after?

amother

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 7:29 pm

My house will be ready for us to move into it, two weeks before Pesach.

Anyone with experience moving before Pesach? Please tell me logistics.

Am I better off waiting until after the chag?

There is no Pesach kitchen. My thoughts are I Pesach prep the kitchen before I show up and only unpack the Pesach housewares. Is that easier said than done? And then when should I move a week before? Or do I need more time for the rest of the house!? Can I manage with a chametz free house for two weeks?

agreer

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 8:40 pm

Definitely move in and use a brand new kitchen before Pesach! What a dream!

Yes, you can manage a chametz-free house for two weeks. DO NOT BUY CHOMETZ. I would move in as close as possible with time to set up. A week is ideal, but 2 weeks is absolutely doable.

Or, if weather is nice, keep ALL chometz outside in a cabinet/cooler.

Mazel tov!

amother

Oak

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 8:45 pm

I'd definitely move before pesach and keep the house chametz free. It's not that difficult. A real simchas Yom tov.

amother

Aqua

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 8:52 pm

I moved before pesach!
Best thing to have a new kosher for pesach home!
Pack, unpack, cook Smile

twizzlers1

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 10:15 pm

We did that many years ago and it was the best decision ever! it was a very last minute and our kitchen wasn't even totally finished but was so worth it not to have to clean a whole other apartment. we didn't even have time to clean the other one and left it until after Pesach.

amother

Chartreuse

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 10:39 pm

Did OP say she's moving to a NEW house? Some of us are making the assumption, but I don't know if that is the case.
Either way, I'd move before Pesach. Cleaning an empty home is way easier.

flower2

Fri, Feb 28 2020, 2:41 am

Move before pesach and keep your house chometz free for 2 weeks. I did this once and it was the best!!!

imasinger

Fri, Feb 28 2020, 3:26 am

You could always choose to do what many of us do anyway before Pesach.

Set aside one room for cooking and eating chametz. Have a microwave and a toaster oven in there, with some paper and plasticware. Cook simple things now in double batches, and freeze half for those meals. (Pizza, pasta, fish sticks, cereal or toast for breakfast, whatever). Plan your menus before you move, and pack what you'll need for those meals. Double bag the frozen stuff, and limit it to a section of the freezer.

Then, enjoy your chametz free house, AND your pre-Pesach chametz.

amother

Fri, Feb 28 2020, 6:25 am

Thank you all for your responses.

It’s clear it’s a resounding yes.

Anyone want to point out why I shouldn’t?

Not looking forward to packing, yet I’m super excited to move.

amother

Beige

Fri, Feb 28 2020, 10:14 am

Can you eat in the apartment during those 2 weeks

Start prepping chametz freezer meals in the apartment

Set up the house kitchen for Pesach and keep the house chametz free

chaya35

Fri, Feb 28 2020, 11:04 am

I moved 2 1/2 wks before pesach many years ago. It was the greatest thing to have a new kitchen and not have to kasher & line it. The only place we ate chometz was in my playroom. The rest of the house I keep pesachdig and right before yom tov all I had to do was clean the playroom. It was so special eating in the dining room the first time by the seder.

ra_mom

Fri, Feb 28 2020, 12:34 pm

I would move 2 weeks before pesach and use paper goods and the oven to bake food (you can make almost anything in there). Keep the cabinets free of chometz.
Season and freeze a weeks worth of dinners to bring along with you, then pop in the oven in disposable aluminum pans, bake and eat at the table with papergoods.
All you'll have to do is surface clean the table, chairs, etc and self clean the oven. It will be great.

I moved into a new space 2 months before pesach and we kept the house clean of chometz except for the kitchen. It was amazing BH.

mom23

Fri, Feb 28 2020, 2:22 pm

I moved years ago 1 week before Pesach with a newborn. It was challenging, but that’s mostly because moving is stressful and making Pesach postpartum with a bunch of young kids is difficult. But it really was a pleasant Yom Tov. The only thing I remember really struggling with is that I had to leave some boxes to unpack for after Yom Tov. I envisioned everything being in its place for Yom Tov, but it just didn’t happen. Ultimately I let it go and enjoyed being in our new home. Everything eventually got unpacked, it just took more time than I would have liked.

Definitely go for it, but be kind to yourself if it’s not perfect.

amother

Pumpkin

Fri, Feb 28 2020, 2:26 pm

No downsides I can think of! However overwhelming packing and unpacking are, they do not compare to the stress of Pesach cleaning a full house and kitchen. I didn't fully unpack until after Pesach (we moved a few weeks before) and the advantage was I just sold all those boxes (put them into one room and locked it up) so I didn't need to even go through them at all.