Passover Preparations: What Is Chametz

"And this day will be for you as a memorial and you will celebrate it as a festival for G-d. Throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast for an everlasting statute. Seven days you will eat only matzah, but on the first day you shall have put away your Chametz (leaven) from your houses..." (Exodus 12:14-15)


The Torah teaches that by the beginning of the holiday of Passover, no Chametz should be left in one's house. To fulfill this directive, the house (and other spaces where one spends significant time, i.e. one's office or car) is thoroughly cleaned. Many begin their Passover cleaning immediately after Purim, thus giving themselves a month to prepare. The following is a guide to the special actions taken to eliminate chametz from one's possession:

What is Chametz?

Chametz is defined as leaven and is any product in which wheat, oat, barley, spelt or rye come in contact with water for 18 minutes or longer (without kneading or manipulating).

Kitniyot - Legumes -

During the holiday of Passover, Ashekenazim (Jews of Western and Eastern European ancestry) follow the Rabbinic decree to not eat kitniyot, foods such as rice, corn, soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, mustard, sesame seeds and poppy seeds.

Why? - Kitniyot products are often stored together with chametz grains and it is difficult to insure that there is no chametz mixed with the products. Also, when kitniyot are ground into flour, the untrained eye could mistakenly think that this it is real flour and, therefore, accidentally come to use prohibited flour.

In the house - While the decree prohibits one to eat products containing Kitniyot, they do not need to be removed from one's possession, as does chametz.

Peanut oil and other derivatives -- a commonly noted Passover item on the supermarket shelf is peanut oil. There is a difference of opinion about using kitniyot-based oils. Please check with your local rabbi as to whether or not you may use these products.

Please note that while many Sephardim are permitted to eat kitniyot, the food must be thoroughly checked that it is not mixed with chametz.

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