Passover Resources

If you prefer, send an email to Rabbi Kane with the above information and the authorization, or write it out and mail it, along with any donation you'd like to make, to:
Rabbi Kane—CSI
1666 Pleasantville Rd
Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510. 

• Sammy's Kosher Market (720 Bedford Rd / Bedford Hills, NY / 914-241-4477)
• Six Thirteen (108 Prospect St / Stamford, CT 06901 / 203-614-8777)
• Seasons of Scarsdale (1104 Wilmot Rd / Scarsdale, NY 10583 / 914-472-2240)
• Batya's Kitchen (Ships from Brooklyn overnight)
• Epstein's of Hartsdale (387 North Central Ave / Hartsdale / 914-428-5320)
• By The Way Bakery (574 Warburton Ave / Hastings-on-Hudson / 91-478-0555)

[From The Committee On Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) of the Rabbinical Assembly]

In the last few years, we experienced a truly different Passover, from the preparations & purchases, to the Seders, and beyond. As Passover approached, the CJLS provided updated guidelines for the moment in which we found ourselves--so many uncertainties about food supplies, financial difficulties, and the loss of family and community gatherings as we once knew them. We are grateful to be coming out of what has felt like a long, dark tunnel.

We hope that you will be able to spend this Pesach with friends and family, in good health and with the joy of truly experiencing freedom. 

Food requiring no Kosher for Passover certification no matter when purchased (they are certainly chametz-free):
Baking soda * Pure bicarbonate of soda, without additives * Eggs * Fresh fruits and vegetables (including pre-washed bagged) * Fresh or frozen kosher meat (other than chopped meat) * Nestea (regular and decaffeinated) * Pure black, green, or white tea leaves * Unflavored tea bags * Unflavored regular coffee * Olive oils (and other pure oils) * Whole or gutted fresh kosher fish * Whole or half pecans (not pieces) Whole (unground) spices and nuts * OU/Star-K Raisins * Kosher wine Plain butter, either salted or unsalted * Unflavored Seltzer Water, Sparkling Water (without additives)

The following list of basic foods should be purchased before Passover. The reason for this is that these products present the consumer with a slightly lesser level of certainty (unlike the category #1, for which there is certainty) as to whether an unintentional trace amount of hametz may have found its way into the product. However, if the food item is crucial and one cannot procure a marked KP version of food during the holiday itself, one could purchase said item on Hol-HaMo’ed:
 All pure fruit juices * Filleted fish * Frozen fruit (no additives) * Plain cheeses (without added flavor morsels) * Non-iodized salt * Pure white sugar (no additives) Quinoa (with nothing mixed in)* GF ideal * White milk * Some products sold by Equal Exchange Fair Trade Chocolate (See available options) * Frozen Vegetables (needs to be checked for possible hametz before cooking) * Chopped meat * Plain, non-flavored almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk. * Non-flavored Cream Cheese with ingredients of milk and cream, salt, stabilizers (xanthan and/or carob bean and/or guar gums) * Non-flavored Yogurt with milk and bacteria, only (which are Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermopiles). * Canned Tuna with just tuna, water or oil, salt, and pyrophosphates * 100% maple syrup * 100% Agave * Ground Salt and Peppers * Plain (non-Flavored) Decaf Coffee * Pure Honey * Dried fruit, prunes only without potassium sorbate * Club Soda

Kitniyot:
Fresh kitniyot: Corn on the cob and fresh beans (like green beans or lima beans in their pods) may be purchased before and during Passover, that is, treated like any other fresh vegetable. Many do not consider green beans to be kitniyot, fresh or otherwise. This is certainly an accepted and longstanding practice among communities. This particular addition would be even for those who do treat green beans as kitniyot—i.e., when fresh they should be treated like any other fresh vegetable.
Dried kitniyot (legumes, rice and corn): can be purchased bagged or in boxes and then sifted or sorted before or on Passover. These should ideally not be purchased in bulk from bins because of the concern that the bin might previously have been used for hameitz, and a few grains of hameitz might be mixed in. In any case, one should inspect these to the extent
possible before Passover and discard any pieces of hametz. If one could not inspect the rice or dried beans before Passover, one should remove pieces of hametz found in the package on Passover, discarding those, and the kitniyot themselves remain permissible.
Frozen raw kitniyot (corn, edamame [soy beans], etc.): One may purchase bags of frozen non-hekhshered kitniyot before or during (if necessary) Passover provided that one can either absolutely determine that no shared equipment was used or one is careful to inspect the contents before Passover and discard any pieces of hameitz. Even if one did not inspect the vegetables before Passover, if one can remove pieces of hameitz found in the package on Passover, the vegetables themselves are permissible.

Requires Kosher for Passover label at any time:
All baked goods * Farfel * Matzah * Any product containing matzah *Matzah flour Matzah meal * Pesach cakes * All frozen processed foods * Candy * Chocolate milk Herbal tea *Ice cream * Liquor * Soda * Vinegar * Margarine

It has become quite common for many folks to use food-shopping services in which individuals shop on behalf of others and drop products off at the door. While not inherently problematic for Passover, it is not uncommon for shoppers to substitute similar items for others, grocery stores often mis-mark products with their own signage, and Kosher sections can be confusing for the inexperienced Passover shopper. This is potentially challenging, such that those who utilize these services specify precisely what it is they prefer in the days before Passover, and certainly during the holiday itself. Some services provide options for flagging “no substitutions”, which should be utilized whenever possible. We also strongly recommend those who use those services to be extra judicious in checking their orders for accuracy at delivery.

Lastly, many of us have already opened products in our homes that are hametz-free but used in the course of normal year-round cooking. If one is able to ascertain with a high level of certainty that no hametz contaminated the opened product (or at worst a negligible amount), it would be reasonable to set it aside for Passover use for this year (especially if procuring a new package presents a potentially dangerous situation one typically avoids or is financially prohibitive).

A Note on Medications: Though COVID has disrupted our lives in many ways, it has not affected any questions of the permissibility of medications on Pesach, or during the year. The following is a general guide; however, any specific questions should be directed to your rabbi. Special thanks to Rabbi Steve Kane, who is writing a longer responsum on this topic, for this explanation and expansion from previous Passover guides. All medications that are needed for illnesses and medical conditions that involve possible life-threatening situations are permitted.

Medications that do not involve life threatening situations are divided into two categories. Those medications, in particular pills which are known remedies in the medical community and are made to be swallowed whole, are permitted, since they are to be considered like a "burnt item" that has lost its relationship to its possible non-kosher origin. Although swallowed, they are considered to be neither food nor (edible) chametz.

However, medications for illnesses or medical conditions that do not involve a life-threatening situation (including vitamins and supplements) that have been formulated to be edible or semi-pleasant to drink can be problematic. This includes soft gel caps which often contain porcine gelatin and liquid medicines that often contain glycerin and other additives (which can be made from animals). It is recommended that all such over the counter items be purchased with hashgacha (Kosher certification) before Pesach and state on their packaging that they contain no starch. If this is not possible, then it is preferable to purchase unflavored liquids and hard capsules, also prior to Pesach. If none of these are available, consult Rabbi Kane.