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May 1, 2016

eat matza for a few more days

The Satmar Rebbe had some interesting and relevant issues he brought to light regarding the eating of chametz after Pesach.

The Satmar Rebbe has an issue with the sale of chametz, but only insofar as it is done improperly. As he says, the sale of chametz was instituted in order to help businesses with large stocks of chametz prevent themselves from losing a lot of money. Nowadays, eh claims, a lot of businesses buy chametz right before pesach and stick it in the freezer and then sell it, in order to be able top do business with it after Pesach. The Rebbe says the sale is treated as a joke, and it was not instituted in order to help people make a greater profit, but to prevent a loss. With people doing this and treating the sale like a joke, the sale is not valid.

The Rebbe also does not like the chumra some employ of "baked after Pesach". He says they prepare it all before the chag and freeze it and take it out after the chag and stick it in the oven and then sell it as if there is a chumra being used.

Another problem he points to is that in our generation with people not willing to wait but "needing" a full variety of chametz available immediately after Pesach, the stores buy chamtetz right before Pesach and sell it to a goy, and the sale is not valid because by buying ti right before pesach they show they really dopnt want to sell it to the goy but want to do business with it, so the sale is not valid.

The Satmar Rebbe's conclusion is that people should not buy chametz until 3 days after Pesach, when real fresh chametz is finally produced.
source: Kikar

This is not the first time such problems have been discussed. It is common enough already for "baked after Pesach" to be on products before Pesach. As well, I have heard rabbonim say that anyone who wants to be makpid on "baked after pesach" and not rely on the sale (a chumra that has become common in recent years in some haredi neighborhoods) have a problem because:
a. some of it might not really be baked after pesach, and
b. the stuff that wasn't baked after pesach is brought out of the storage rooms a few weeks later when nobody is checking, so these people end up eating the same stuff anyway.

I also remember from way back when that it was not uncommon (in the USA) for bakeries to start baking before Pesach was actually over, and "everybody" knew about it.

So there are definitely problems with the chametz that comes out right after Pesach, but I am not sure telling people to not eat chametz is a  practical solution. People are going to eat chametz. Nobody wants to wait a few more days of eating matza.

Teaching people to not go crazy immediately after the holiday might be a solution. Every year we are treated to sights of people acting like animals waiting in line to attack the first box of rolls and pita that come out of the bakeries. People go wild and fight over the first breads. Nothing will happen if you have to wait a few hours for chametz, or even until the next morning. The roll, in my opinion, is not worth giving up one's dignity for, nor to throw away the mentchlichkeite we try to act with on a regular basis. The Vizhnitzer Rebbe says so as well. Even if chametz comes out quickly, you don't have to go fight for it.




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3 comments:

  1. Agree 100%
    but also fully aware that "b. the stuff that wasn't baked after Pesach is brought out of the storage rooms a few weeks later when nobody is checking, so these people end up eating the same stuff anyway."


    I find it hard to see how the average Haredi Badatz manages to deal with pasta which certainly the mass market brands are produced in periodic batches in Italy or Turkey. Around Pesach time, we certainly see many products that have their Edah certification removed, so can Edah knowingly approve of a massive production batch in February when it knows this is the batch that will last until the summer?

    ReplyDelete
  2. if you mean Israeli companies that produce abroad, that is an interesting question to pose to them, if it were possible.
    if it is a foreign company it is no problem, as that pasta is owned by the goy over pesach (I assume)

    ReplyDelete
  3. In our home it was and is tradition to eat from the first home- afarshat challa.
    Similar to Mofleta.
    You can involve your whole family!
    As for the rest, I agree with the reasoning of the Satmar rebbe.

    Orna Nitzevet

    ReplyDelete

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