Sale of Chametz
Brief Explanation:
Before the Passover holiday, there is a time-honored Jewish tradition and extremely important mitzvah from the Torah not only to refrain from eating chametz but also to remove all chametz from our possession. Chametz includes flour and leavened products like bread, cereals, and almost anything grain-based or with flour or yeast ingredients.
As products began to have a longer shelf life, the rabbis devised a very simple way of fulfilling this mitzvah: we sell all our chametz to a non-Jew for the 8 days of Passover. (Ideally, items should be set aside in a covered designated room or place etc). (For the mitzvah of removing the chametz on Erev Pesach. we suffice with destroying only a small part on the morning before, in order to fulfill the mitzvah.)
It is very easy to do: just fill in the information and sign and your ownership of the chametz is officially transferred for the required time.
Use the general online form here.
Its a legitimate Sale of Chametz form in conjunction with Rabbi Landa and our website host, Chabad.org.
If you are going out of town time you must choose the appropriate time-zone of where you will be on the morning of the eve of Passover (Wednesday, April 1, in 5786 - 2026).
Important Notes:
- You are not selling any non-food valuables in the home. All you are selling are the chametz related foods and items.
- No one will come to your home, or call you, to pick up your “leftover cereal” or chametz. Simply put, you are one of tens of thousands of households doing this in Southern California alone. Conceptually—and actually—all the chametz sold online here will belong to one non-Jewish individual, who sells it back after Passover.
- It is of great spiritual value even if you choose to keep this mitzvah only partially, by filling out this form. The ideal Passover observance includes not eating any chametz for the duration of Passover, and ideally all sold foods, etc, should be set aside in a separate place, or covered in the pantry, and many more details that can be found online at www.jewishrsm.com/passover .
Click here for brief explanation, FAQ's, and to download and print a PDF form to fax or mail or scan and email at least one week before Pesach.
