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Is someone's birthday coming up, and you’d like to honor them? You can help sponsor our monthly birthday kiddushes. Just go to https://www.etzahaim.org/kiddush or click on the button below.
You can also co-sponsor our monthly Shabbat Mevarchim Chodesh too.
We are asking $36 for the sponsorship, but you can donate any amount you wish.
One may not eat or derive benefit from overt chometz that was owned by a Jew during Pesach. Overt chometz includes cereal, cookies, crackers, pretzels, grains, and flour. Products that contain vinegar, such as mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard, may be purchased since it is probable that the vinegar is not chometz. The following is a partial list of local stores and their status regarding the purchase of chometz.
Vaad-supervised stores are acceptable for the purchase of chometz. The Vaad encourages the community to patronize local kosher establishments whenever possible.
Dunkin Donuts on Raritan Ave. which is under Vaad supervision, is acceptable for the purchase of chometz. Nonetheless, baked items should not be purchased before 9:45 PM, Sunday, April 30th (so as not to benefit from melacha performed on Yom Tov). In general, throughout the year, one should wait one hour after Shabbos or Yom Tov before purchasing baked products from Dunkin Donuts.
The following supermarkets and their suppliers are non-Jewish owned. These are the preferred locations for the purchase of chometz: Aldi, BJ’s, Costco, CVS, Duane Read, H Mart, Rite Aid, Sam’s Club, Target non-frozen chometz items, Trader Joe’s, Walgreen’s, Walmart (in-store purchases, while online purchases are discussed in 5), Wegman’s and Whole Foods.
The following supermarkets and/or their suppliers have some level of Jewish ownership. Nonetheless, because of various considerations, there are halachic justifications for purchasing chometz in some of these establishments. The stores are listed in order of preference and the explanations for the basis of leniency are found in the footnotes:
Acme has a small percentage of Jewish ownership. Nonetheless, there is halachic justification to purchase chometz in Acme after Pesach.
ShopRite stores in these locations are owned by non-Jews: Aberdeen, Bound Brook, Chatham, East Brunswick, East Windsor, Edison, Elizabeth, Lawrenceville, Livingston, Marlboro, Millburn, Morristown, Neptune, Somerset, Springfield, Union, West Orange. (This is a partial list.) Although Shoprite is supplied by a coop known as Wakefurn which has partial Jewish ownership, there is justification to purchase chometz in these stores after Pesach .
Stop & Shop: The Vaad recommends not purchasing chometz in Stop & Shop until Lag B’Omer, Sunday, May 26.
Some Shoprite stores are Jewish-owned. (See above part “c” above for a list of non-Jewish stores. Other stores may not be presumed to be non-Jewish without further research.) Chometz should not be purchased in these stores until Lag B’Omer, Sunday, May 26.
Online companies such as Amazon.com and Walmart.com sell products from their inventory or from suppliers. Chometz from their inventory is acceptable, but chometz from a supplier may come from a Jewish-owned company. Therefore, the customer must make a reasonable effort to determine whether the supplier is Jewish.
Non-chometz items may be purchased from any Jewish or non-Jewish-owned store (e.g., fruit, vegetables, eggs, cooking oil, etc.)
Alcoholic beverages (except for wine) may not be purchased until after Shavuos from a Jewish-owned store if the chometz was not sold. The beverage may be chometz, and the depletion of inventory in liquor stores is slower than in supermarkets. Locally, one may purchase alcoholic beverages from RiteAid in (Highland Park), which is a non-Jewish owned corporation.
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Enclosed is a list of solders who are wounded and need our prayers for complete healing.
The names are in Hebrew. You can download the list by clicking on the button below.
Just in time for Pesach, Rabbi Tal has published a set of English commentaries on the halachots of Pesach and commentary on the Seder. These commentaries were compiled by his students at Yeshivat Torat Emet from their classes they took at Congregation Etz Ahaim after Shacharit.
A PDF of the book is available from our website at https://www.etzahaim.org/s/Haggadah-2021-5784.pdf.
The book is free. However, if you’d like to help underwrite the cost of this book, please contact Rabbi Tal at rabbi@etzahaim.org for more information, or click on the link below.
What should someone do on Chol Hamoed Pesach if they find chametz in their house or see chametz lying in the middle of a street or sidewalk where it can be crushed, and thus be disrespectful to the food.
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Monday, April 11 from 9:30am to 11:30am
There will be a communal burning of chametz available in Congregation Ahavas Achim’s parking lot.
Please save a very small amount of chametz from the bedikah the night before and burn it. Please do not place plastic bags with the chametz into the fire. If burning is not possible, one may flush the chametz down a drain.
Monday, April 11 from 7:00am to 11:30am
Kehilla of Raritan Valley has B’H once again arranged for Biyur Chametz and Pesach Waste Disposal in Edison.
Garbage, recycle trucks and chametz burning will be available at the corner of North Eighth Avenue and Edgemount Road (Tennis Courts/Earl Schenck Miers Park).
Please limit chametz burning to what is ritually necessary and note that this is for Edison residents only.
Monday, April 11 from 6:30am to 1:00pm
A Chometz disposal drop-off service is offered for any resident to drop off garbage and recycling materials, the morning before Passover (Wednesday, April 5, 2023). Chometz disposal will be offered during the hours of 6:30am to 1:00pm at the Department of Public Works building, 444 Valentine Street in Highland Park.
Please follow our regular recycling rules and separate garbage and chometz from recycling items such as glass, plastic, paper and cardboard
Please note: All Chometz should be dropped off by 1:00pm. Please do not leave items after this time, as there is no garbage storage at this location.
For additional information please call (732) 247-9379.
We like to thank our two municipalities for offering these services for their Jewish residents. Please be respectful of the workers and follow the rules and regulations.
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Kimcha d’pischa, also known as maot hitim in Ladino, to ensure that all Jews have the ability to celebrate Pesach. This custom involves providing financial assistance to those in need to ensure they can celebrate the holiday with dignity and joy. The literal translation of kimcha d’pischa is "flour for Passover," symbolizing the assistance given to purchase essential food items for the holiday.
Rabbi Tal is collecting Kimcha D’Pischa for Jews in our community who are having financial difficulties with the expenses associated with Pesach. Your generousity not only continues this wonderful Sephardic tradition but brings all Jews closer together.
(If the link button doesn/t work, go to https://donate.stripe.com/eVa2bu4uG3Z88z64gk)
With Passover fast approaching us, we now have the various guides available right from our webpage. Take a look at the Pesach section of our menu.
Rabbi Yehuda Boroosan, Rabbi Emeritus of Netzach Israel in Atlanta, Georgia.
This guide was created by Rabbi Yehuda Boroosan who works for the Orthodox Union, the largest Kosher certification agency in the world, as the Rabbinic Field Representative and Mashgiach for the southeast region of the United States. He has over 20 years of experience working in the food industry and has extensive knowledge regarding the commercial production of food and household products.
Read MoreAs it is written in the Shulcan Aruch, one way to beautify the mitzvah of the Seder is to use fancy tableware. Many people may also buy new cookware and appliances for Pesach. All of these items may need to be toveled.
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