If your going away this pesach....

amother

DarkRed

Sun, Mar 19 2023, 11:42 pm

I like to be able to come home on chol hamoed to do laundry and pack for second days, so I don't sell the entire house.
I do however sell all rooms and closets that I won't be needing (I sell real chametz) so all I have to do is a basic cleaning of the bedrooms and main living areas. It's really the same thing as cleaning the house for Shabbos.

oakandfig19

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 12:16 am

We’re moving in with my in laws nearby for the week. When we asked, we were told to do bedikas chametz but we don’t have to clean before. I will make sure all chametz is locked up and sold though because we are having people stay at our place while we’re gone. They’ll be responsible to do their own bedika as far as I’m aware.

amother

Lightyellow

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 12:28 am

We don't sell real chametz. (We're MO, if that matters.) Not too many foods fit into that category, anyhow. The loophole of selling exists in case of financial hardship. We can afford to buy more pasta after Pesach. Owning chametz on Pesach is a big deal. Why play games?

And to those who say they sell everything - if you sell your pots and silverware to a non-Jew, you're going to have to tovel them after yom tov. That doesn't sound like a time saver to me.

amother

Jade

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 1:59 am

amother Powderblue wrote:

Shocked by these answers.

We are always away and always clean the kitchen obviously not fully like as if we were home but if you don't sell real chometz you at least need to go through your stuff.

Also it's gross not to clean an area like that at least once a year.

You can clean just for a clear out if you want to, but if you sell your Chometz and go away, you are not halachically obligated to, even if it is “gross” since you are selling your chometz.

Also, you stating that you “always” clean AND “always” go away just means you have managed to write a post that can potentially hurt others. There are those reading this who ALWAYS clean and NEVER go away. And those that ALWAYS go away and NEVER clean. Why would you want to make those people feel bad for not being able to do both? Good for you that you can do both, but not everyone can.

amother

DarkPurple

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 2:20 am

amother Peony wrote:

To those who don't sell anything - what about whisky/schnapps/liquor etc?

Just curious if you sell that.

Growing up, that was the only thing we sold. Everything else that was real chometz we gave to the cleaning help the day before pesach.

And, of course, we sold our kitchen utensils.

Um, you probably should not do that. You can sell the chometz ON them but not the utensils themselves. Otherwise everything needs to be toiveled after Pesach because a non Jew OWNED it.

amother

Banana

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 2:21 am

We have never gone away in about 24 years Besides once but are going again this year. I plan on selling everything which is what I normally do with all my cupboards anyway. We do have cats so I do have to make sure everything is put away and sold signs on things but I'm not cleaning anything. I mean I hope to leave the frigerator clean but I sellchametz Did my extra fridge even when I'm home

salt

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 2:27 am

amother DarkPurple wrote:

Um, you probably should not do that. You can sell the chometz ON them but not the utensils themselves. Otherwise everything needs to be toiveled after Pesach because a non Jew OWNED it.

You also don't need to sell the chametz on the utensils.
The are mevutal in bedikat chametz.
Unless you have a plate on your kitchen table, with a sandwich on it. But then better just to burn it on erev pesach, because you're not going to eat it afterwards.

amother

Lightyellow

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 2:33 am

amother Peony wrote:

We don't drink, so we don't have any hard liquor. If we get any on Purim, we give it away.

And as others and I have mentioned, if you sell utensils to a non-Jew, you're going to have to tovel them after Pesach.

juggling

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 2:33 am

amother Powderblue wrote:

Shocked that people don't care to clear crumbs out of the pantry it just feels so "not in the spirit" of pesach that's all.

I stay home for pesach and don't clear crumbs out of the cabinets I'm closing up for pesach. Most of my kitchen cabinets get emptied and thoroughly cleaned. The ones that don't, get stuffed full of everything that isn't for pesach. They absolutely don't get cleaned first.

While we do sell chametz gamur, I'm pretty sure that we would do the same even if we didn't. Crumbs are not what you're selling. So you put away the opened containers of coffee, the not-for-pesach cans of tuna, the kitniyot, etc. And you don't need to wipe down the cabinet they're in just in case they have pretzel crumbs on them.

youngmother6

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 8:04 am

We don’t sell real chametz so I go through freezer and cabinets and get ride of it. Then I just clean the rest of the house to be basic clean no wafers hidden under a kids bed or anything like that. We sell the whole house. I can do this sort of cleaning in a day. It’s not a big deal.

When we stay home we don’t sell anything…

salt

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 8:13 am

youngmother6 wrote:

Why don't you just say Kol Chamira... instead of selling your house with no known chametz in?

amother

DarkPurple

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 9:37 am

salt wrote:

Right, dirt on a spoon isn't chometz. I was assuming she had a pot of soup in her freezer or something. It has to be whole or a large amount that one theoretically would eat to be an issue- a whole cheerio or a half a sandwich.

We lock up and sell any chometz inside the cabinets. I don't clean if I am selling that cabinet.
I am staying and not going away for Pesach.

amother

Blushpink

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 1:08 pm

When we used to go away for Pesach, we would for sure clean.

Get rid of all chometz, go through pantry, fridge, freezer, cabinets
Wipe down/vacuum the above.
Clean toaster oven, stovetop, microwaves, mixer, etc well.
Clean kitchen from all chometz, crumbs, etc.
Clean and vacuum dining room well, especially challah board, challah knife etc.
Clean one room thoroughly and do bedikas chometz there. (halachically has to be a room in which you bring chometz in, but doesn't have to be the hardest room I.e., kitchen)

seven-up

Mon, Mar 20 2023, 1:39 pm

amother Lightyellow wrote:

Same with us (OOT- Yeshivish) Our mesorah is not to sell chometz gamur so even the years we go to my parents or in laws, we use up all of our chometz before pesach- what's left I give it to my cleaning lady or donate to a food pantry that I know only non Jews use. Selling chometz according to our minhag, is a kulah that should only be relied upon for extreme situations. We sell expensive whiskeys, shnapps etc like bottles that are worth hundreds of dollars, and add the stipulation of anything we may have accidentally missed. The rav we sell with holds that since things can and do go wrong with sales and mistakes happen, not to rely on it just for the sake of selling. He himself will sell the chometz for others, but doesn't sell chometz for himself. It takes work to use up all the chometz before pesach but I base all my meals on what's left so by the time pesach rolls around there really isn't much left anyway. The only time we were allowed to sell was Covid Pesach when stores were warning that they might not get in new chometz after pesach.

We don't clean everything when we go away but we check to make sure there is no chometz gamur in the house at all.

But we do need to do bedikas chometz the night before we leave without a bracha in one room so that room gets cleaned.

This year we're staying home so we are cleaning....

amother

Jade

Thu, Mar 23 2023, 7:24 am

amother Powderblue wrote:

Obviously not necessary if it's a hard year or whatever but I like to keep the spirit and mesora of "preparing for pesach" alive for my kids and most people I know who also go away clean on some level. Also most of these things need to be done anyway at some point so feels like a proper time to do it. I'm not saying it's wrong not to in just saying I'm surprised by the responses.

That’s great if you want to do it but absolutely not required or Halacha. The “spirit” of Pesach will still be alive and well for those who go away and leave crumbs in their cupboards.

amother

Jade

Thu, Mar 23 2023, 7:28 am

amother Lightyellow wrote:

We don't sell real chametz. (We're MO, if that matters.) Not too many foods fit into that category, anyhow. The loophole of selling exists in case of financial hardship. We can afford to buy more pasta after Pesach. Owning chametz on Pesach is a big deal. Why play games?

And to those who say they sell everything - if you sell your pots and silverware to a non-Jew, you're going to have to tovel them after yom tov. That doesn't sound like a time saver to me.

It is not the utensils that are sold, but the chametz that may be adhered to them so there is no need to toivel them. The poster who claimed to sell their utensils might want to check this but our form clearly states that it is the Chametz on the utensils.