Pesach Schedule

Thursday, April 10 — Ta'anit Becherot

Ashkanazim First Born need to fast. Sephardim aren't required to fast.

Etz Ahaim will offer a Siyum after Shacharit, and it is highly recommended for everyone to attend. Everyone is welcome to participate. For those fasting, you can come to the siyum and you can end your fast.

  • Shacharit: 6:30am
  • Mincha/Arvit: 7:00pm
  • Bedikat Chametz: 7:56pm — Nulify Chametz After the Search

Friday, April 11

If you're planning on eating chametz on Shabbat, you should nulify your chametz after you finish your meal when you destroy your chametz on Shabbat.

If you're not planning on eating chametz on Shabbat, you should nulify your chametz after burning it.

  • Shacharit: 6:30am
  • Burn Chametz: by 11:50am
  • Mincha/Kabbala Shabbat: 7:00pm
  • Candle Lighting: 7:13pm

Saturday, April 12 Erev Pesach — Parashat Tzav/Shabbat HaGadol B

  • No Youth Groups
  • Latest Shema is at 8:58am
  • Shacharit: 6:30am
    • No Kiddush at the Synagogue
  • No Chametz: After 10:10am
  • No Navi Class
  • Mincha: 1:15pm
  • Seuda Shlishit: Should be eaten at home after Mincha and before 2:30pm if you're having matzah.
  • Arvit: 7:40pm
  • Seder Starts After: 8:40pm
  • Candle Lighting: After 8:18pm
  • Afikoman: Eat before 12:57am

Sunday, April 13 — Pesach I

  • Youth Groups for ages 3 to 8 in the Upper Classrooms: 9:30am to End of Shacharit
  • Recite Shema: by 8:58am
  • Shachrit: 8:45am
    • No Kiddush at Synagogue
  • Class: History of the Matzah Machine: 6:40pm
  • Mincha: 7:20pm
  • Arvit: 7:40pm
  • Candle Lighting: After 8:18pm
  • Seder Starts After: 8:40pm
  • Afikoman: Eat before 12:57am

Monday, April 14 — Pesach II

  • Youth Groups for ages 3 to 8 in the Upper Classrooms: 9:30am to End of Shacharit
  • Recite Shema: by 8:58am
  • Shachrit: 8:45am
    • No Kiddush at Synagogue
  • Class: Agada: 6:40pm
  • Mincha: 7:20pm
  • Arvit: 7:40pm
  • Yom Tov Ends: 8:10pm

Tuesday, April 15 — Pesach III (Ch"M)

  • Shaḥarit: 6:30am
    • After Services: Coffee and Halacha
  • Pre-Minḥa Class 6:40pm
  • Minḥa/Arvit: 7:00pm
    • Talmud — Daf HaYomi: After Minḥa/Arvit

Wednesday, April 16 — Pesach IV (Ch"M)

  • Shaḥarit: 6:30am
    • After Services: Coffee and Halacha
  • Pre-Minḥa Class 6:40pm
  • Minḥa/Arvit: 7:00pm
    • Talmud — Daf HaYomi: After Minḥa/Arvit

Thursday, April 17 — Pesach V (Ch"M)

  • Shaḥarit: 6:30am
    • After Services: Coffee and Halacha
  • Insights on the Parasha: 6:40pm
  • Minḥa/Arvit: 7:00pm
    • Talmud — Daf HaYomi: After Minḥa/Arvit

Next Friday, April 18 — Pesach VI (Ch"M)

  • Shaḥarit: 6:30am
    • After Services: Coffee and Halacha
  • Daf Yomi: 6:00pm
  • Minḥa: 7:00pm
  • Candle Lighting: 7:22pm

Finding Chametz on Pesach

What should someone do on Chol Hamoed Pesach if they find chametz in their house or see chametz lying in the middle of a street or sidewalk where it can be crushed, and thus be disrespectful to the food.

The Shulchan Aruch says in Siman 446 that if a person finds chametz in their house on Chol Hamoed they should immediately get rid of it. The Mishnah Berurah in Siman 445 says that the best way to get rid of it is to burn it, but since we already recited the bracha of Be'ur Chametz before Pesach, we should not recite it again and just burn it without a bracha.

HaRav Frank points out that there is an issue that since we already sold our chametz to a non-Jew before Pesach, all chametz in our possession belongs to them, and we cannot burn something that isn't ours. Therefore, he says that we should place the chametz with the rest of the chametz that was sold to the non-Jew. 

However, many poskim argue that we must burn the chametz since the non-Jew doesn't care about it. They only paid a token sum for the chametz. All the poskim agree that if something became chametz on Pesach itself, that was not included in the sale, and should be burned.

However, what happens if we find a piece of chametz on Yom Tov and not Chol Hamoed? Then, one should cover the chametz from view because we don't want you seeing it and perhaps eat it. Once covered, you should wait until nightfall after Yom Tov, and burn it. 

You can also ask a non-Jew to dispose of the chametz for you by flushing it down the toilet. The Mishnah Berurah says that the custom is to covering it and wait until nightfall for Chol Moed. This is because we don't necessarily trust the non-Jew to dispose of it properly and the non-Jew might decide to eat it rather than destroying it.

The Magen Avram says in Baba Metzia 23 that when you see chametz on the floor, you can't leave it there. You must pick it up because you are not allowed to leave food lying on the floor because it's a disrespectful way to treat food. 

The Magen Avram says that if you see chametz lying in the middle of a street or sidewalk where it might be crushed, you are not allowed to pick it up because by picking it up, you are acquiring the chametz on Pesach. However, you can use your foot to move it to the side of the road or sidewalk. This way, you can deal with the situation without acquiring the chametz. Another option is to hold the chametz lower than 3 tefachim (about 10 inches) from the ground when you carry it, but many poskim argue with this approach. They say that you can only carry the chametz in order to burn it. 

Therefore, you should not touch the chametz, even with your feet, even if that chametz is lying in the middle of a street or sidewalk where it can be crushed because you don't have the obligation to stop the disrespect of the chametz because on Pesach chametz is like dust to you.

Rice on Pesach

Why do some communities have the custom of refraining from eating kitniyot on Pesach?

We need to first clarify that rice and other kitniyot are not hametz because only foods derived from the five species of grain (i.e., wheat, barley, oats, spelt, rye) can become hametz. In Gemara Pesachim daf 114, it discusses two different dishes that are brought to the table on the seder night. Rav Hunah says we use leeks and rice, and Rava would also look for leeks and rice since Rav Hunah established it. From there we learn that we don't accept Rav Yochanan Ben Nuri’s approach which says that rice is considered a grain. This is the conclusion of all the poskim – to permit eating rice on Pesach (see שו"ת הריב"ש Siman 420). This is also the ruling of the Shulhan Aruch in siman 453 that says you are allowed to cook a dish made with rice on Pesach.

However, the Rama disagrees with the Shulhan Aruch and follows the Tur and Mordechi who say that you cannot eat rice on Pesach. This is indeed the custom of Ashkenazim.

The Mishnah Berurah brings two reasons for this custom. The first reason is that many times some grain is mixed in the sacks of rice, and it is very difficult to separate the grain from the rice. The second reason is that sometimes legumes are ground into flour and baked into bread. Some people may find it difficult to differentiate between bread made from rice and bread made from the five grains, and they might go further and eat bread made of grain because they will think it is permissible, just like bread made from rice.

However, this restriction of legumes and rice applies only for kitniyot that was explicitly written to be forbidden, or for something that was accepted as a custom to not eat throughout the years. Other types of food, even if they look very similar to things that we don't eat on Pesach, are permissible. Nevertheless, we need to inspect to make sure that these foods aren't contaminated with hametz.

Based on that, Harav Moshe Feinstein says that one is allowed to eat peanuts on Pesach, despite the fact that it has a lot of similarities to other kitniyot, since there is no custom forbidding it. However, if a person lives in a place where there is a custom to not eat peanuts, he cannot nullify this custom.

The following is the list of foods that Ashkenazi communities across the world accept as kitniyot and are not eaten on Pesach: 

Other Grains

  • Rice

  • Alfalfa

  • Millet

  • Sorghum

  • Corn

Non-Legume Seeds

  • Fenugreek seeds

  • Sunflower seeds

  • Mustard seeds

  • Buckwheat (kusemet, not to be confused with kusmin – spelt – which is a cereal grain that can become hametz)

  • Cumin

  • Poppy seeds

  • Flaxseed

  • Clover seed

  • Caraway seeds

  • Hemp seeds

  • Sesame seeds

  • Lupine seeds

Legumes

  • Black-eyed peas

  • Chickpeas

  • Peas

  • Vetch

  • Soy

  • Mung beans

  • Lentils

  • Fava beans

  • Lupin beans

  • Tamarind fruit

Products that are made from kitniyot – corn flakes, corn flour, and rice cakes, for example – are also included in this custom. Saffron was originally called “karkom” in Hebrew and is permitted, and turmeric, the Modern Hebrew karkom, is also permitted, but if there is concern that wheat was mixed into the saffron, it is forbidden. Mustard and flaxseed are not kitniyot, but the custom is to forbid them because they grow in pods like kitniyot. Dill and coriander are not kitniyot, but one must examine them well because they often contain wheat.

The Halchot of Pesach

Here are two documents avout the Halachot of Pesach. The first covers making matzah for Pesach. You can see the steps we went through to bake the Sephardi Shmura Matzah that you can buy from our website.

The second document is about kashering your kitchen for Pesach. It covers kashering vessels, ovens, and appliances. The second part of this document is about doing work on erev Pesach. This year, erev Pesach is Shabbat, so there are special halachot that apply and we will soon publish in a new series.