Passover: M'khirat Hametz 

(Selling Hametz)

KOACH Resources "Document of Permission" and Instructions for its use

One must not have any hametz (leaven) in his or her legal possession during Pesah. 

After doing a complete and thorough cleaning of your house/apartment/dorm room, you should throw away any opened packages of hametz, thereby beginning Pesah in a hametz-free environment. 

Consider donating all new and closed hametz items to a local food pantry. 

Because of the complexities of our economy, it may be far too costly to get rid of all of your sealed and unopened hametz. For this reason, a ceremony was developed which in effect "sells" your hametz to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday. 

Shtar Harsha'ah

This symbolic sale is carried out by a rabbi whom you authorize by filling out a shtar harsha'ah, or document of permission. The rabbi then sells your hametz by writing a shtar m'khirah, or document of sale.

If you'd like to learn more about the origin of these practices, you can find the sources in the Shulhan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law, 1554 CE) of Rabbi Yosef Karo, in the volume Orah Hayyim, sections 445, 446 and 448:3. Other books like Isaac Klein's A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice and Michael Strassfeld's The Jewish Holidays are good resources as well.

For up-to-date information on prohibited and permitted foods, check out the Rabbinical Assembly Web site at www.rabbinicalassembly.org.

You should sell your hametz (see the "Document of Permission") even if you will be away for the duration of the holiday. On Thursday night, April 17, 2008, or the night before you leave (whichever comes first), don't forget to do the b'dikat hametz (search for hametz) which you can find at the beginning of most haggadot.