Disposable plates and cutlery for seder night ok?

amother

Copper

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 3:28 am

Your dh obviously should be the one washing the dishes if he is insisting on real ones. It's no great חוכמה to insist on luxury and beauty at another's expense.

That said, usually real dishes are much nicer than plastic. And we should be avoiding plastic anyway, due to the environment.

But I often use plastic on seder night (very fancy plastic). This year I used fancy biodegradable dishes. Who wants to wash dishes after midnight? Aren't we supposed to be בני חורין? It's kind of ironic to eat on real dishes so we can feel like bnei chorin, and then have someone (unfortunately, usually the female around) stand for hours washing dishes.

amother

Cerulean

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 3:35 am

Not all plastic is created equal. There are gorgeous plastic dishes available these days. I bought a set for the Seder that is nicer than my year round set. I would never use something cheapy looking, but you can set a gorgeous table with upscale disposables. (My table wasn’t that gorgeous as I was too sick, but at least I had nice dishes Smile

)

amother

Seafoam

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 3:36 am

amother [ Copper ] wrote:

Dishes can be washed the day after lel haseder for the midday seudah.

amother

Chartreuse

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 4:03 am

I don't think it's a question of what looks nicer. I think it's a question of whether you have enough dishes for everyone at the table, and whether not washing dishes is truly truly more important than not creating another mound of trash that isn't biodegradable and will end up in the ocean.

If you must buy disposables, at the very very least, buy something that is biodegradable and put it in compost instead of the garbage.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 4:12 am

There are so many things to consider. Family minhag, personal taste, number of guests, dish washing machine, environmental issues, your energy level, etc.

If you have a family of 12, a two day seder, and no dishwasher, then I totally understand plastics.

If it's just you, the baby, and DH, then break out that china and feel fancy!

One thing that makes me crazy, is that I have not been able to find paper plates in Israel. They are everywhere in the US, but nothing but plastic here. At least paper could go into the compost pile.

Personally, I've used plastic in the past, but I always feel horribly guilty about it. When I buy the fancy heavier plastic (that will be in landfill until Moshiach comes), I try to wash it and use it for the rest of the week. In that case, why not use china? Because I moved recently, and I still can't find the box. Next year, in Jerusalem, with china plates! LOL

I don't judge. Everyone does what they need to do to enjoy the seder the best they can.

amother

Jade

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 4:41 am

Best thing ever - and I realize how lucky I am - was buying extra racks for the stainless steel dishwasher so we can kasher it for Pesach, and having a tzomet timer. I load the dishwasher after the Seder and have clean dishes for lunch the next day. It's completely changed the Pesach experience for me.

amother

Seafoam

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 4:55 am

amother [ Jade ] wrote:

Excellent solution I say! Applause

amother

Navy

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 5:35 am

My dh would only be okay with China. He was brought up European and this is something expected, having a table set for yomtov in China. It’s actually brought down in Halacha that only real dishes should be brought to the seder table.
I don’t serve my young children with China but I make sure dh gets his setting along with any adults we might have.
This year a strange thing happened. I was so sick with coronavirus and pneumonia before pesach. I was bedridden before I finished taking out the pesach things. Erev Pesach there was talk if I should be admitted to the hospital. I didn’t go (bH!). Somehow I was at the seder even though I was burning up with fever. By shulchan orech no one bothered to ask me where the China was. I was on the couch observing my husband eating on cheap white disposable plates plates. At that point we were only thinking about my oxygen level and suddenly the dishes didn’t even matter. It was a miracle we even had food to put on them. Since we were dealing with a crisis for the first time my husband didn’t pay attention to the lack of china. He survived yomtov on cheap disposables and I survived corona. Next year I’m sure it’s back to the china though. It really is important to some people and that should be respected.

Iymnok

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 6:09 am

After shulchan orech I rinse the dishes and leave them piled in the sink with water in them. The silverware is in a serving bowl or pot with soapy water. In the morning they wash very easily and are put right back onto the table. I do this every shabbos too.
A trick to shabbos washing is to fill a small bowl with water and add a few squirts of dish soap. Dip in the shabbos scrubber to wash.

yOungM0mmy

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 7:06 am

I dont own Pesach real dishes, I buy cheap for chol hamoed and the kids thousands of snacks, decent plastic for yom tov, and splurge on the really nice (expensive) plastic for the Seder - the only time the whole year that I get those. But I also have real cutlery and real (cheap) wine glasses, so I feel that with them, even if the plates are plastic, the table looks beautiful and the service feels substantial like a real dinner, rather than plastic cutlery that cracks on you, and that really makes a difference to elevate it. And those are easier to wash at the end of the day, so for me thats a good compromise, and luckily DH agrees.

notshanarishona

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 8:09 am

I personally enjoy sitting down to plastic more. My Simcha’s yom tov is just as important and as it is I normally come into seider night exhausted and with barely enough energy to stay awake. I always tell dh he is welcome to use china if he washes, we use it about a 1/3 of the time.

amother

Seafoam

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 8:40 am

Question: in a regular year, don't some of you ladies with cleaning help bring in a non-Jewish lady to wash your dishes and tidy your house while you are doing the Seder?

This year with virus was of course not a regular year so even I have to agree that fancy disposable is OK (but just barely)

amother

Copper

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 9:41 am

amother [ Navy ] wrote:

I can't believe you had corona and were sitting in the same room as everyone while burning with fever.
Did everyone else in the room also have it? Otherwise, why weren't you isolated in your room (dh elsewhere) from the moment you were sick till you tested negative?

amother

Navy

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 10:09 am

amother [ Copper ] wrote:

I had been caring for my family members who all had the virus and then I got it too. Even so, I was sitting away from everyone.

amother

Cerulean

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 10:10 am

amother [ Copper ] wrote:

Many people believe it’s pointless to self quarantine at home and I get it!