Young Israel of Hollywood-Ft. Lauderdale Pesach 5780 PREPARING FOR PESACH MAAOT CHITIM It is most appropriate to be charitable this time of year to help those in need to obtain proper Pesach provisions. Donations to the Young Israel Charity Fund earmarked for Pesach would be proper. You can donate online by going to https://www.yih.org/maotchitin. Please give generously.

MECHIRAT CHAMETZ NEW FOR 5780 This year we created an easy-to-use online form to appoint Rabbi Weinstock as your agent for selling your chametz in a virtual fashion. To access the online form click on the link https://www.yih.org/sellingchametz# We ask that you utilize the online form in order to streamline the process. Since you will not perform a kinyan in person as part of the process this year, please do all the steps asked of you in the form - It is recommended that you verbally declare out loud: “I fully permit Rabbi Yosef Weinstock to act on my behalf to sell all chametz possessed by me and to lease all places in which my chametz may be found, for a duration that he believes necessary. This is a serious delegation, as if I made a kinyan to show its binding nature.” BEDIKAT CHAMETZ The formal search is conducted TUESDAY NIGHT, APRIL 7, AFTER 8:15 PM. The search is conducted by the light of a candle with one single wick. (An electric flashlight is permitted, but somehow doesn't lend the same emotions and feelings.) The procedure and blessing is outlined in most Haggadahs. If you leave your house prior to Tuesday night you should perform a bedikah the last evening that you are home. This early bedikah is done without reciting a bracha.

BIUR CHAMETZ NEW FOR 5780 As there will not be a communal chametz burning at shul, you should use 10 very small pieces of bread Tuesday night for Bedikat Chametz and then flush those pieces down the toilet on Wednesday morning to fulfill the custom of Biur Chametz. After flushing the crumbs you then say the Kol Chamira paragraph (available in the Pesach Machzor and most Siddurim). EREV PESACH - TA'ANIT BCHORIM (Fast of the First Born Males) NEW FOR 5780 Wednesday April 8th. Rav Herschel Schachter has ruled that under current circumstances, this year a firstborn may participate in a Siyum on Erev Pesach via electronic means, i.e. through a live conference call or live Zoom presentations. If you would like to make a siyum for others this Erev Pesach, please contact Rabbi Frieberg at [email protected]

On Erev Pesach, one is allowed to eat Chametz UNTIL 11:16 AM (according to the Vilna Gaon). Chametz should be burned (Biur Chametz) and annulled BY 12:19 PM (according to the Vilna Gaon).

KASHERING 1. Any vessel to be kashered in water must not be used 24 hours prior to kashering. 2. Corning Ware, Corelle, Pyrex, Duralex, and Visions cookware should not be kashered for Passover. 3. Most countertops may be kashered for Pesach. To kasher, clean thoroughly, do not use for 24 hours, and then carefully pour boiling water on all surfaces. If one’s counters cannot be kashered or you choose not to kasher them, the countertops should be covered for Passover use. 4. Any utensils which cannot be cleaned thoroughly cannot be kashered. A barbecue grill is an example of something nearly impossible to get clean enough to kasher. 5. Metal utensils used with liquids can be kashered in the following way: a. Do not use the utensil for 24 hours. b. Dip the utensils, one by one, into a clean pot which has not been used for 24 hours, in which water is bubbling. c. After immersion, the utensil is then placed under cold water. d. This renders the utensil kosher and pareve. e. The pot used for kashering (into which you are immersing other utensils) may be of any sort, either a clean Chametz vessel that has not been used for 24 hours and is itself kashered for Pesach or a Kosher-for-Pesach pot. 6. Drinking glasses may be kashered by soaking the glassware in cold water for 72 hours changing the water every 24 hours. 7. An oven and its racks may be kashered after proper cleaning by turning on the oven to self-clean mode, or to the highest setting, for about one hour. If the oven does not have a self-clean mode, it should not be used for 24 hours prior to kashering. 8. A continuous-cleaning oven is considered like a regular electric oven. 9. The metal prongs or circle upon which pots sit on the stove may be inserted into the oven after being thoroughly cleaned and kashered together with the oven. 10. A microwave oven is kashered by filling a large utensil with water and placing it in the oven to boil while a thick steam fills the oven. The water inside the microwave should boil for 10 minutes. The insert glass tray should be changed. The microwave should not be used for 24 hours before kashering. 11. A microwave-convection oven follows the process of a regular electric oven. 12. A broiler pan must be heated to a glow, usually with a blow torch, in order to render it kosher. 13. In an electric stove, one should turn the burners on the highest setting for a few minutes in order to kasher them, since they come to a glow. 14. One should cover the stovetop (range) with aluminum foil. 15. A glass stovetop may be kashered by cleaning and turning the burners on to the highest setting for 15 minutes. Allow stovetop to cool down. Boiling water should be slowly poured on the entire stovetop surface. One should avoid placing hot pots directly onto the glass stovetop areas between burners, i.e. place trivets on those areas or move pots onto counters. 16. Refrigerators and freezers must be thoroughly cleaned and washed, including bins. One need not line the shelves. Young Israel of Hollywood-Ft. Lauderdale Pesach 5780 HAG’ALAH NEW FOR 5780 The shul building is closed and there is no availability of a kashering pot at shul this year. One can do Hag’alah at home (especially small metal items such as kiddush cups, silverware). Contact one of the Rabbis with questions. ADDITIONAL NOTES FOR EREV PESACH It is prohibited to eat matzah or drink wine on Erev Pesach. Children who understand the significance of the Exodus from Egypt are not permitted to eat matzah the entire day. However, very small children who do not comprehend as yet about Passover are permitted to eat matzah on Erev Pesach. For those who eat "gebrokts," one may eat foods prepared with Pesachdik matzah meal, but not in baked form. (The majority opinion is not to eat baked foods with matzah meal, but to permit boiled products with matzah meal, like matzah balls.) But one should not eat too much of any food in order to relish the matzah which s/he will eat at night as the mitzvah.

ERUV TAVSHILIN This year, Pesach occurs on Thursday and Friday. Yom Tov leads right into Shabbat, creating the “3 Day Yom Tov” phenomenon. We are not generally allowed to prepare on one day of a holiday for another day. However, the Rabbis permitted preparing food for Shabbat on Erev Shabbat, provided an Eruv Tavshilin is made in advance. Through the process of Eruv Tavshilin, one actually begins Shabbat preparations on Erev Yom Tov, i.e. Wednesday. An Eruv Tavshilin is made on Wednesday in order to permit cooking on Friday for Shabbat. An Eruv Tavshilin consists of matzah or bread and a cooked food such as fish, meat or a hardboiled egg. The head of the house or any other member of the household takes the plate with the cooked food and the bread/matzah (preferably in the ברוך אתה ה' אלקינו מלך העולם אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו על מצות ערוב :right hand) and says the Brachah We then recite the Eruv Tavshilin text (in Aramaic or English) .בהדין עירובא יהא שרא לנא לאפויי ולבשולי ולאטמוני ולאדלוקי שרגא ולאפוקי ולמעבד כל צרכנא מיומא טבא לשבתא “By virtue of this Eruv, we (the members of the household) shall be permitted to cook, bake, keep food warm, carry, light candles and do all preparations on Yom Tov (i.e. Friday) for Shabbat.” Even though the Eruv is made, the food for Shabbat must be fully cooked before Shabbat begins and should preferably be prepared early on Friday, while there is still much of the day left, rather than leaving the preparations for the last minute. The Eruv foods should be put in a safe place, so they do not get lost or spoil. We eat the items used to make the Eruv Tavshilin on Shabbat. An Eruv Tavshilin only permits preparation from Yom Tov to Shabbat. An Eruv Tavshilin only permits activities that are permitted anyway on Yom Tov. (i.e. no turning on lights and appliances or striking a match to light Shabbat candles; candles must be lit from a pre-existing flame.) THE SEDER 1. The Seder should not begin before 8:16 PM on WEDNESDAY NIGHT, April 8 and not before 8:21 PM on THURSDAY NIGHT, April 9. 2. There are four obligations at the Seder: (1) Reading of the Haggadah. (2) Drinking of the four cups of wine. (3) Eating of the matzah and (4) bitter herbs. These are equally incumbent on women as they are on men. 3. It is preferable to use wine for the Mitzvah of the four cups. If, for health reasons, wine is problematic, dilute the wine with grape juice. If this is still problematic grape juice may be used. Those in recovery or who struggle with alcohol addiction must use grape juice. 4. The wine cup for the Seder should hold a minimum of 3.0 fluid ounces. Ideally one should drink this entire amount for each of the four cups. If that is difficult, one can drink a majority of the cup (i.e. 1.6 ounces). 5. We eat Matzah as a Mitzvah three times at the Seder: Motzi – Matzah – 2 kezayits. Korech – 1 kezayit. Afikomen – 2 kezayits (ideally, but 1 would suffice). A kezayit weighs approximately 11.25 grams, approximately 1/5 of a typical handmade Matzah. 6. We eat Maror twice during the Seder: After eating Matzah for the first time, and during Korech. It is a Rabbinic Mitzvah (in the absence of the Beit HaMikdash) to eat Maror. If one uses Romaine for Maror the minimum size is approximately 1 large leaf. If using grated horseradish the amount is approximately the amount that fills a 1 oz shot glass. 7. On the first two nights of Pesach, do not eat meat, chicken, or turkey which was broiled or roasted (i.e. cooking it without a liquid). TEN QUESTIONS FOR YOUR SEDER TABLE 1. The Jewish men were circumcised on Erev Pesach, the 14th of Nissan, in Egypt, so that they could eat from the Pesach sacrifice later that night. How could they then walk miles and miles when they left Egypt the next day? 2. Why do we wash without a Berachah before eating the Karpas? 3. In “Ha Lachma Anya” how can we invite someone to eat the Pesach sacrifice with us? They had to be part of the group that offered the sacrifice earlier in the day! 4. How could Bnei Yisrael have eaten Matzah at the first Seder in Egypt if Matzah came about when the Jews carried the dough on their shoulders when they left Egypt the next day? 5. Which of these are from the Torah or from the Rabbis? a) eating Matzah b) eating Marror c) eating Charoset d) eating Karpas e) eating Afikomen 6. From where did Bnei Yisrael get blood to sprinkle on their doorposts for the Plague of the Killing of the Firstborn? 7. We say “Avadim Hayinu” - we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. Shouldn’t we say “Our ancestors were slaves...”? 8. Is Hallel that we say at the Seder a Mitzvah from the Torah or from the Rabbis? 9. Dayeinu: Had He brought us to the Land of Israel and not built for us the Holy Temple, it would have been sufficient for us. Is this line applicable to us today? (R. Avraham, the son of the Vilna Gaon) 10. Hallel begins with the line “Praise Hashem, servants of Hashem.” When is the first time in Jewish history that Bnei Yisrael could say this line? (The Vilna Gaon) Young Israel of Hollywood-Ft. Lauderdale Pesach 5780 ANSWERS TO THE TEN QUESTIONS 1. It was a miracle. Hashem cured them immediately after their surgery. 2. In the times of the Holy Temple, dipping a solid in a liquid such as water, milk, vinegar, honey, and the like necessitated washing your hands with a Berachah. The Seder is performed as if in Temple times. Some Poskim necessitate washing hands today without a Berachah when eating a wet solid. 3. We invite the guest to eat of our Afikomen, a remembrance of the Pesach sacrifice. 4. The Egyptian taskmasters fed the Jewish slaves Matzah regularly because you ate less and felt full for a time. 5. a) Matzah is from the Torah. b) Marror is from the Rabbis. c) According to the Rambam eating Charoset is from the Rabbis. Everyone else says that there is no Mitzvah to eat Charoset, and there is a printing error in our Rambam. d) Karpas is from the Rabbis. e) Whatever you said is correct. 6. From the Pesach sacrifice. 7. Had we not been liberated, we still would be slaves. 8. After experiencing Hashem saving us from a terrifying situation, saying Hallel is from the Torah. Commemorating an act of salvation, as we do on Yom Tov - that Hallel is from the Rabbis. The Hallel at the Seder can be viewed in either way. 9. No, this sentence means if Hashem settled us in Israel in harmony in secure borders. 10. Only when the Jews left Egypt. On Purim we do not say Hallel. One Talmudic explanation is because after the miracle of Purim, we were still servants of Achashveirosh.

CHAMETZ DISCOVERED DURING PESACH If one finds Chametz in his possession that was not sold to a non-Jew, it should be destroyed (i.e. burned or flushed down the toilet.) If found on Yom Tov cover it and take care of it after Yom Tov. AFTER PESACH The Pesach holiday concludes on THURSDAY, APRIL 16 at 8:25 PM. Please do not use any Chametz products sold through the Rabbi until 9:30 PM, giving him the opportunity to complete the purchase from the non-Jew. Any Chametz owned by a Jew during Passover cannot be used or sold after the holiday.

STATEMENT ON OBSERVANCE OF SEFIRAH MOURNING PERIOD For 33 days during the Sefirat HaOmer period, it is customary to observe certain aspects of mourning. Therefore, it is not permitted to celebrate a wedding, attend parties at which there is music (live or otherwise), to dance, or to play music (live or otherwise, i.e. recorded music comes under the same category as live music). There are different customs concerning when this period of partial mourning is observed. The most prevalent are: 1. To observe it from Pesach until daybreak of Lag B'Omer, permitting haircuts and music from then on. 2. a) To begin the mourning period on the first day of the month of Iyar (2nd day of Rosh Chodesh) and continue until the morning of Erev Shavuot (except for the day of Lag B'Omer). b) To begin the mourning period on the first day of Rosh Chodesh Iyar and prohibit haircuts and music etc. until after daybreak of the third day of the month of Sivan (except for the day of Lag B'Omer). "ONE MAY CHANGE HIS TRADITION FROM YEAR TO YEAR." (Laws of Sefirah by Rabbi Aharon Felder in the name of Rav Moshe Feinstein zt"l, Igrot Moshe, O.H. v.1 no. 159. According to Rabbi Avrohom Blumenkrantz, zt”l, one may change his tradition from year to year only with Hatarat Nedarim, an annulment of vows.) According to this ruling, if one traditionally kept the first 33 days of Sefirah as the mourning period, but for some reason (e.g. attending a concert or party with music) wanted to switch his custom for this year, he is permitted to do so.

POLICY ON MEDICINES, COSMETICS & TOILETRIES FOR PESACH [From the cRc - Chicago Rabbinical Council] MEDICINES  All pill medication – with or without chametz – that one swallows is permitted. Vitamins and food supplements do not necessarily fall into this category, and each person should consult with their Rabbi.  Liquid and chewable medications that may contain chametz should only be used under the direction of a Doctor and Rabbi, who will judge the severity of the illness, the likelihood that the medicine contains chametz, and the possibility of substituting a swallowable pill. Important: Do not discontinue use of liquid, chewable or any other medicine without consulting with your Doctor and Rabbi.  Liquid and chewable medications that contain kitniyot may be consumed by someone who is ill. An otherwise healthy person, who would like to consume a liquid or chewable medicine to relieve a minor discomfort, should only do so if the product is known to be free of kitniyot. COSMETICS AND TOILETRIES  All varieties of blush, body soap, conditioners, creams, eye shadow, eyeliner, face powder, foot powder, foundations, ink, lotions, mascara, nail polish, ointments, paint, shampoo, and stick deodorant are permitted for use on Pesach – regardless of the ingredients contained within them.  Many liquid deodorants, hair mousse, hairsprays, perfumes, colognes, and shaving lotions contain denatured alcohol, and therefore should not be used on Pesach unless they are listed as chametz-free on a reliable list of Pesach products.  Lipstick, mouthwash and toothpaste which contain chametz should not be used.