LSS Guidelines for Passover 5785 - Erev Pesach on Shabbat

Thursday Evening, April 10—The Search for Chametz

Begin the search for chametz after 8:02pm.

The regular procedure for bedikat chametz is followed and the blessing is recited. This is despite the fact that the search this year is performed 2 nights before Passover, not the night immediately preceding.

After the search, set aside all the chametz to be used on Friday and Shabbat in a secure and controlled area. Place a sign on it that states “not sold,” so it is not included in the sale of chametz.

After completing the bedikah and putting away the remaining chametz, say: “All leaven and sourdough that is in my possession, which I have not seen and not destroyed, is nullified as the dust of the earth and ownerless.” (Full Hebrew (Aramaic, actually) text is in the Hagaddah.

Friday, April 11—Disposing of Chametz and Preparing for Shabbat

Dispose of any remaining chametz (besides what is needed for the rest of Friday and Shabbat) before 11:59am. Preferably, one should burn this chametz. If one does not have easy access to a safe facility for burning, one should flush it down the toilet. Please note the fire at Shul will be available until 10am, please do not bring chametz after that time.

If one did not dispose of the chametz in the morning, one may do so until Shabbat begins.

Chametz may be eaten all day on Friday. However, utmost care must be taken to avoid spreading crumbs in one’s home. If one loses track of the location of any leftover chametz, this may necessitate repeating bedikat chametz.

Prepare the shankbone, egg, charoset, maror, and saltwater for the Seder. As much other preparation for the Seder as possible should be completed before Shabbat.

Light a candle which burns for 3 days, to enable the lighting of the Yom Tov candles on the first and second nights of Pesach.

Laundry, Haircuts, and Shaving In a typical year, these preparations must be completed before midday of Erev Pesah. This year, one should finish these preparations before Shabbat, but there are no midday restrictions. Generally speaking, laundry, haircuts, and shaving may not be done over Yom Tov and Hol HaMoed;

General Guidelines for Shabbat, April 11-12

Adults should eat chametz bread or egg matzahs at the Friday night and Shabbat morning meals. It is advisable to use non-crumbly bread such as pita or flour tortillas.  Regular Matzah may not be eaten until Seder night.

Children who are too young to understand the Passover story may be fed regular matzah on Shabbat. All children may be fed egg matzah instead of bread.

The Egg Matzah Option For those who would like to be entirely hametz-free going into Shabbat, usage of egg matzah instead of hametz is recommended.  While Ashkenazic custom is to refrain from eating egg matzah over Pesah, it is permitted on Erev Pesah (unlike regular matzah) The customary approach to egg Matzah on Erev Pesach was traditionally to permit eating it only as long as Chametz can be eaten. (See below for timings). However, Rav Hershel Schachter has ruled that it may be eaten even after the last time for eating Chametz. 

 If one chooses to take this approach, the timing of one’s meals is much more flexible (indeed, it provides a more ideal solution for the third Shabbat meal), and cleanup will be less stressful, as nothing needs to be destroyed or disposed of (ownership of egg matzah on Pesah is permitted). That being said, one must still ensure that, like with hametz, egg matzah does not compromise Pesah utensils or food, as it becomes forbidden for consumption once Pesah begins

For the rest of the food eaten on Friday night and Shabbat morning, most people will find it most convenient to cook in Pesach utensils.

Even if one prepares food in year-round utensils, all provisions for Shabbat should be completely free of any chametz.

If cooking with year-round utensils, it is advisable to transfer the food into disposable containers and wash the cooking utensils before Shabbat.

On Friday night and Shabbat morning, one may eat at a chametz table with chametz utensils. If choosing this option, it is recommended to use disposable utensils.

Most people will find it more convenient, however, to make Kiddush and hamotzi in an alternate location (e.g. a hallway), eat an egg’s bulk of bread, and then wash their hands and continue the meal at the dining table with a Pesach tablecloth and utensils. 

Hot food should not be poured directly from a Pesach utensil into a chametz utensil.

Shabbat Day, April 12

Matzah is forbidden to be consumed the entire day. 

Chametz may only be consumed until 10:56am. As such, Shabbat morning services will be held early and one should hurry home from shul and begin the meal promptly.

After finishing eating chametz, thoroughly clean the area in which chametz was eaten over Shabbat (in a manner permissible on Shabbat). Crumbs should be disposed of in the toilet rather than in the trash. 

If using chametz utensils, these dishes may not be washed on Shabbat. They may be given a minimal rinse or wipe and must be stored away for Pesach with the rest of one’s chametz dishes. 

One need not finish the entire meal by 10:56am; it may continue after that time with Pesach foods.

Any remaining chametz must be flushed down the toilet before 11:59am.

After disposing of the remaining chametz, say: “All leaven and sourdough that is in my possession is nullified as the dust of the earth and ownerless.” Make this declaration by 11:59am. The full text is in the Hagaddah. Please do not recite the text in the bathroom itself.

Seudah shlishit should be eaten  before 4:21pm. This meal does not include bread or matzah, of course, but should preferably include meat or fish. One may also eat kneidlach (matzah balls).

After 4:21pm, one should eat only light snacks. If one neglected to eat seudah shlishit before this time, one may still eat it afterwards but one must make sure not to eat to satiation.

No preparations for the Seder may take place before 8:15pm.

Saturday Night, April 12—First Night of Pesach

One may not do anything forbidden on Shabbat until davening maariv with vatodi‘enu. At the very least, one should recite “baruch hamavdil bein kodesh lekodesh.” Neither of these should be done before 8:15pm.

Light Yom Tov candles from an existing flame. Customs differ regarding the recitation of shehecheyanu at candle lighting.

The Seder is conducted as normal, except Havdalah is included with Kiddush in the procedure known as יקנה"ז. (As detailed in the Hagaddah).