16—Friday, April 12, 1968
Passover Quiz
What is the basis and the
origin of our practice of "sell-
ing" the hametz?
The Bible not only forbids a
Jew to eat leavened foods on the
Passover, it goes so far as saying,
"seven days there shall be no
leaven found in your houses"
(Exodus 12:10) and, "there shall
be no leaven seen with thee in
all thy borders seven days" (Deu-
teronomy 1-6:4). The Mishna tells
us that while the leavening may
yet be eaten (before the Pass-
over), it may likewise be fed ani-
mals and birds and may be sold
to a non-Jew (since it was not
forbidden for a non-Jew to have
leavening in his possession during
the Passover) (Pesahim 21:a). An-
other Tanaaitic source tells us that
if a Jew and non-Jew were travel-
ing on a ship when the time of
Passover came close at hand and
the Jew had some leavening in his
possession at home, he could sell
it to the non-Jew who was travel-
ing with him at the time (even
though he could not physically
transfer the merchandise to him
at the time) and he could then
buy it back from him after the
Passover holiday was over (To-
sefta, tractate Shabbos 30 and 31a).
The medieval and post medieval
codifiers already indicate that it
is thus possible to sell one's leav-
ening to a non-Jew without remov-
ing it from its original premises.
At first, however, they did require
that if the leavening was sold it
should be given physically to the
non-Jew, i.e. removed from the
house of the Jews. Then. we find
that in the time of Rabbi Joel
Sirkes (called the "Bach") cir-
cumstances developed where this
was no longer feasible. The reason
was many Jews of that period were
merchants who sold whiskey, which
is made from fermented grain, and
thus constitutes real levening such
as is forbidden for a Jew to have in
his possession on the Passover.
'Under such circumstances Rabbi
Sirkes allowed them to sell the
whiskey to a non-Jew without re-
moving the whiskey from the
premises provided that the room in
which the whiskey was kept was
also sold to the non-Jew. This, under
any circumstances the whiskey
would surely not be found on Jew-
ish premises. After the Passover,
the Jew bought back both the wais-
key and the premises from the non-
Jew. In order that the situation
should not appear to be a hoax or a-
fiction, a formal contract came into
being. If the non-Jew had a deed
of ownership in his hands it cer-
By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX
(Copyright 1968, JTA Inc.)
tainly could not be said to be all
fictitious.
Furthermore, in accordance
with Jewish law, moveable ob-
jects cannot be purchased without
handing them over in some form
unless one comes into possession
of the premises in which they are
kept. These premises can be ac-
quired, like any real estate, by
contract. Also, in common law
(not Jewish law) moveable prop-
erty can be acquired by contract,
thus the use of the contract made
the transaction more realistic. A
third Jewish party was intro-
duced who more or less served
as a mortgagee. He stood respons-
ible for the money that was owed
by the non-Jew for the leavening.
This meant ,that as far as the
original seller was concerned, he
had no connection financially any
more with the purchaser, whose
payment was more or less guar-
anteed by a third party, who was
in turn responsible for the money,
while the non-Jew could feel free
to own the leavening outright.
In subsequent generations these
matters became so complicated
that a communal agency developed
that acted on behalf of all the Jews
in the community. At first the
Jews sold their leavening to the
Rabbi who in turn sold it to the
non-Jew. Then the process in
vogue today developed. The Rabbi
assumed the role of the agent on
behalf of the community in trans-
ferring to a non-Jew their leaven-
ings and the premises in which
they were held. In order to make
the Rabbi become the agent, each
"seller" had to grant him "power
of attorney" by signing a contract
of authorization. The Rabbi, in
turn, had the responsibility of see-
ing to it that all the various acts
executed to ensure the validity of
of transferring ownership were
the transaction. The Rabbi, thus,
actually received monetary pay-
ment for the non-Jew for at least
a deposit for all the goods being
transferred. Now as then, he makes
a formal contract with the non-
Jew. He engages in a hand-shake
to "close the deal" and executes
a "rental agreement" by which all
the premises are actually leased
to the non-Jew. He has the non-
Jew transfer some object to him
in exchange for the property he
received. In some cases, the Rabbi
even gives him the keys to the
various cabinets where the leaven-
ing is. stored. Those who are
tempted to sneer at such an ar-
rangement should do well to con-
sider the fact that much of modern
business transactions are executed
in such types of formalities, e.g.,
transfer of stocks giving owner-
ship in corporations, the existence
of corporations altogether and the
transfer of real estate via contract.
In the case of selling hametz, the
Rabbis may very well be consid-
ered to be up to the times.
*
*
Why are the hands washed at
beginning of the Seder (after
Kiddush) and then washed again
just before the meal is served?
In accordance with Jewish law,
the hands must be washed before
a meal. This simply explains the
washing of the hands before the
meal is served. Originally, in the
days when the laws of purity were
in full effect, it was also required
to wash the hands before touching
a food which was dipped into a
liquid. While we do not observe
this practice the year 'round, we
do observe it on Passover Eve
before we eat the parsley, which
is dipped into salt water. There
are two reasons for this special
observance of Passover Eve. First
of all, it falls into the general pat-
tern of doing things differently on
the eve of Passover so that the
curiosity of the youngsters is
aroused. Secondly, a number of
things is done on Passover Eve to
remind us of the days of the
Temple. In those the hands were
washed before eating foods that
were dipped in a liquid, because
the hands, being objects which
ordinarily come in contact with
impurities, could impurify the
vegetable which had been dipped
in water (since vegetation which
had been wetted is subject to be-
come impure when coming in con-
tact with impurity). On Passover
Eve, we are especially mindful of
the Temple because the season of
Passover brings forth the hope of
redemption which involves the re-
establishment of the Temple. Also
the Seder as a whole centers
around the Paschal sacrifice con-
stituted by the slaughtering of the
lamb in the Temple of old.
to Our Many
.. Mother
Seems I left the house
but for a moment
when the door closed
and never opened again.
The Day
When the day begins
my children leave the house,
one by one,
and face the perils of the city.
Standing in the doom-way I pray:
God! Bring them safely back to me
unharmed
by the day
and by the dangers
that lurk in the city.
0, my children !
What will I do
when nation rises against nation?
If in the night of wrath
a fire cleaves the sky,
where could I hide you? . . .
The Way to God
R1,41
A1
kurbaury
Passover Greetings
to the Entire Community
A Seven Arts Feature
My Children
Friends and Customers
Israel has entered upon a major road-building program, financed
in substantial measure by the proceeds of the Israel Bond drive.
Above, the main entrance to Jerusalem for vehicular traffic. At
this busy intersection, located in an area which was undeveloped
until recently, traffic is directed to various parts of the ctiy.
Poems
.
Passover Greetings
New Roads Financed with Bonds
By BERTHA KLING
Fate brought me here
without your Sabbath candlesticks,
without father's silver goblet.
Behind me lies buried
the road lading to yours.
Ahead, I see my children
turn their faces
to clamoring- jazz.-
MOther,
-
in the chain of our fathers
am the broken link
between you and my children.
My mother showed nte
the way to God
and to saintly men.
She told me wonder stories,
tales of horror and unbelief.
Long ago, I lost my way to God
and righteous men.
When you see me in the street,
fear lurking in my eyes,
know that a black cat
crossed my path.
(Translated from the Yiddish
by Samuel Kreiter)
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
-
The Passover Seder symbols, the Matzo, the Wine
Cups, the Cup of Elijah — all combine to teach
our community and the entire world the true
values of freedom and of an end to oppression.
May this Passover prove a blessing for all
mankind and an inducement- for all peo-
ples to hold fast to the idea of liberty and
the right to untrammeled religious free-
dom for all.
We extend hearty greetings for a Happy Passover
to our families, friends, co-workers and the entire
community.
Hordes A gency, Inc.
INSURA.NCE
17220 West 8 Mile Road, Southfield 48075
Imperial Office Plaza
358-1300
Mrs. William Hordes,
Mr. and Mrs. Earl Hordes,
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Wishnefsky,
Mr. and Mrs. William Reder, Associate;
and Staff