Chabad of Binghamton Pesach/Passover Guide
Feel free to contact Rabbi Chein at 617-909-9833 with questions and for in-person help koshering your kitchen.
On Campus
Cleaning dorm room
On Pesach/Passover, we are not allowed to eat or even own any foods that contain chametz (leaven). Practically speaking, we should consider most processed foods or snacks to possibly contain chametz, unless they have Kosher for Pesach certification. Before Pesach, one should consume, give away, or throw out any chametz that they have, or one can sell their chametz. See below for more on the sale of chametz.
Since we cannot own chametz, we must clean and check our rooms and possessions and remove any chametz. This includes all areas where food may have been placed: Backpacks, purses, drawers, under the bed, closets, chairs (cushion and crevices), pockets, car (especially under the seat), etc.
You are not responsible for chametz that belongs to someone else unless you have taken responsibility for it.
If you live in a suite and share a common area with others, it is important to communicate with them and decide who will clean and check the common area. Many times a common area contains a couch. Be sure to clean under the couch cushions, as they collect lots of crumbs and pieces of food.
Off Campus
Bedrooms and common areas as above.
Kitchen
Clear and clean counters and put away all utensils. If you want to use your kitchen during Pesach, it needs to be koshered. Tables need to be cleaned and koshered.
Koshering a kitchen is a complex process. Here are some basic guidelines based on the OU, and further details can be found on the sheet from the OU that is attached to this booklet.
Oven
If your oven is self-cleaning, remove any visible food and run a self-cleaning cycle with the racks inside.
If your oven is not self-cleaning, clean all surfaces (walls, floor, doors, and racks) thoroughly with a caustic cleanser such as Easy Off. Pay special attention to the thermostat, oven window, and edges of the oven chamber. Black discoloration that is flush with the metal need not be removed. The oven should not be used for 24 hours. Place racks in the oven and turn the oven to broil (highest heat) for 60 minutes. A broiler pan that comes in direct contact with food should not be used.
Some Rabbanim advise covering the oven window with foil, as Ashkenazic Jews do not kosher glass for Pesach. Consult YOUR Rav to find out if this is what you should do.
Glass stove top
A glass stove top cannot be koshered. If you would like to use it on Pesach, clean the surface and cover the areas between the burners with aluminum foil. The burners should not be fully covered when cooking; rather, one should place a metal disc or heavy aluminum under the pot. The stovetop should not be used for 24 hours before using it for Pesach needs.
Electric stove top
The surface should be cleaned well and covered with foil. The drip trays should be covered in foil. The burners should be cleaned and then turned on until they glow red.
Gas stove top
The surface and grates should be cleaned well and not used for 24 hours. The stove top surface should be covered with foil. The grates can be replaced or they should be burned out in the oven at 550° F for one hour.
Oven and stove knobs should be cleaned well and covered with aluminum foil.
Microwave
The microwave must be cleaned well (the roof, walls, area with holes, crevices) and not used for 24 hours. The glass turntable should be removed and replaced with a new kosher for Pesach surface. A styrofoam cup should be filled with water and boiled in the microwave for 10 minutes. The cup should be refilled and moved to another spot and the process repeated for 10 more minutes. Cardboard or contact paper should be taped over the glass window pane for the duration of Pesach.
Stainless steel sink
Clean the sink well. Do not use hot water in the sink for 24 hours. Boil water and pour it on every area of the sink, starting from the bottom and moving upwards. Pour water over the faucet as well. (The OU recommends using a hot stone together with the boiling water or placing a rack in the sink over Pesach). Replace the drain and filter.
Countertops
Clean well, paying special attention to the edges where crumbs can accumulate. Pour boiling water over the counters. (The OU recommends using a hot stone as well). You can also cover the countertops.
Refrigerators and freezers
Clean well, paying special attention to crevices where crumbs can accumulate. Cover shelves with plastic or aluminum foil. If you have items that will be sold, designate a shelf or area for them, cover the area, and mark it “Chametz, Sold”.
Cabinets and drawers
Clean and cover, paying special attention to the edges where crumbs can accumulate. If you are selling them, put a piece of tape to remind you that it was sold and ensure that you will not open it during Pesach.
Table
Clean and pour boiling water over it, or cover.
For small appliances, see attached sheet from the OU.
Selling Chametz
In addition to removing chametz, one has the option of selling their chametz to a non-Jew for the duration of Pesach. This year, the sale takes place on Wednesday, April 1, before 12:03 PM, and the chametz is bought back after the entire holiday, on Thursday, April 9, after 8:22 PM in Binghamton. This sale must be a legal and halachic sale and is complex and challenging for one to do on their own. You can sell your chametz online at Jewishbu.com/sellchametz, or you can fill out a form at Chabad.
Since you cannot own chametz over Pesach, chametz in your room has to be sold even if you will not be here during the holiday.
Chametz after Pesach
We are not allowed to consume or have benefit from any chametz owned by a Jew over Pesach. When buying chametz soon after Pesach, be sure to buy from a store owned by non-Jews, or from Jews who have sold their chametz.
Bedikat Chametz
If you are staying in Binghamton for Pesach or part of Pesach, on Tuesday evening, March 31, after 7:57 pm, you need to search your room/apartment/car to ensure that there is no chametz. A special blessing is recited: Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and has commanded us concerning the removal of chametz.
After searching the following is said: All leaven and anything leavened that is in my possession—which I have neither seen nor removed, and about which I am unaware—shall be considered naught and ownerless as the dust of the earth.
If you will not be here on Tuesday evening, you need to search for chometz the night before you leave. You may or may not need to say a blessing, depending on whether you are going to search for chometz again on Tuesday, March 31. You can contact Rabbi Chein for guidance in this matter.
Some Laws & Customs for Pesach 5786/2026 ALL TIMES ARE FOR BINGHAMTON.
PRE-PESACH EVENTS
Tuesday evening, March 31
Bedikat Chametz – Checking for Chametz - (see above for details)
Wednesday Morning, April 1
Fast of the Firstborn – It is customary for all firstborn males (and fathers of first born males who are below Bar Mitzvah) to participate in a Siyum, celebrating the completion of a tractate of the Talmud, so that fasting will not be necessary. Until one hears a Siyum, a firstborn should not eat, beginning at dawn, 5:16 AM.
Chabad will have a Siyum on Wednesday morning contact Rabbi Slonim [email protected] for exact time. Stop eating Chametz before 10:59 AM.
Biur Chometz– Burning the Chametz
The chametz that was found during Bedikat Chametz should be burned before 12:03 PM.
After the chametz has been burnt in the fire, we recite the following declaration: All leaven or anything leavened which is in my possession, whether I have seen it or not, whether I have observed it or not, whether I have removed it or not, shall be considered nullified and ownerless as the dust of the earth.
All chametz food should be put away in cabinets. The cabinets must be sealed. Similarly, all chametz utensils should be put away at this time. All items in these cabinets will be sold to a non-Jew by the rabbi.
SEDER PREPARATIONS
It is best to plan in advance in order to ensure that you have all items needed for passover. It is preferable to eat handmade Shmura Matza at the Seder. If you do not have any, you can go to Jewishbu.com/seders and order handmade Shmurah Matza and items for the Seder plate, or contact Rabbi Chein
One must be careful not to start the Seder until after nightfall.
Nightfall on the first Seder night, Wednesday, April 1, is at 7:59 PM.
Nightfall on the second Seder night, Thursday, April 2, is 8:13 PM.
Until nightfall, no preparations can be made for the Seder. These include warming up food (from a pre-existing flame), setting the table, and lighting the Yom Tov candles (from a pre-existing flame).
Special reminders for this year:
This year, an Eruv Tavshilin needs to be made on Wedenesday, April 1 before the onset of Chag in order to allow us to prepare food on Friday (which is still Chag) for Shabbat.
The process is as follows:
Take a matza and a cooked food e.g. meat/chicken, fish or an unpeeled hard boiled egg.
Take the food items (it is a good idea to wrap them in aluminum foil, or another distinctive packaging, to easily keep them apart from the rest of the foods in your home), and give them to another person (if possible, an individual who is a non-dependant), and say:
I hereby grant a share in this eruv to anyone who wishes to participate in it and to depend on it.
The one holding the food raises it a handbreadth, and then returns it to the person making the eruv, who then recites the following:
Blessed are you, L-rd our G‑d, king of the universe, who has sanctified us with his commandments, and commanded us concerning the mitzvah of eruv.
Through this [eruv] it shall be permissible for us to bake, cook, put away a dish [to preserve its heat], kindle a light, prepare, and do on the holiday all that is necessary for Shabbat — for us and for all the Israelites who dwell in this city.
The eruv is put away until Shabbat, when it is eaten. In many communities, it is customary to use the matzah as one of the two matzahs used at the Shabbat meal.
Important notes:
1.The eruv tavshilin only allows food preparations if the food will be ready with ample time remaining before Shabbat; enough time to theoretically allow the food to be consumed before sunset (if a troop of guests happens to trudge in to your home). This is an imporant detail to bear in mind when preparing the cholent, which cooks on the stove until the following day.
2. The eruv tavshilin only allows one to cook on Friday for Shabbat, it does not permit cooking from one day of the holiday to the next (i.e. Thursday for Friday).
3. On holidays it is only permissible to cook from a pre-existent flame, one that is burning since the onset of the holiday.
Click here to read more about Eruv Tavshilin Jewishbu.com/Eruv
