Pre-Pesach
1) Rabbi Botnick is collecting ma'os chittim for individuals and for mivtzoim to ensure people can perform the mitzva of matzo properly. This year's need has increased exponentially. Your participation is greatly appreciated! Click here to participate.
1a) Order your shmura matzo here!
2) Rabbi Botnick is available at +1 (613) 688-2025,1 Sunday-Thursday 1:30-4:00 pm and in the mornings on Friday for Pesach shailos until the Erev Shabbos before Pesach.
3) If you are aware of anyone who does not have and who would use shmura matzo for the mitzvah, please contact Rabbi Botnick or have that person do so.
3a) If you need to take any medications on Pesach, please send Rabbi Botnick the brand name from the label of your prescription, what form it is in, and its potency- as soon as possible. We are in contact with a pharmacist who can confirm that it doesn’t contain chometz. (If it does, he will either suggest the equivalent medication made by a different company that does not, or we can discuss other solutions for taking necessary medications.) -deadline approaching
4) To sell chometz:
a. Start by downloading the shtar here. If you need help understanding it, please contact Rabbi Botnick. (For an English but less comprehensive form, click here. The Hebrew one is preferable. The less comprehensive one is designed for mivtzoim). When filling out the shtar, please:
i. Remember to isolate one room or area cordoned off by a mechitza among the places you list to sell your chometz.
ii. If you make a mistakeon the shtar, don’t cross it out. Start a new shtar.
iii. Indicate specific areas within each address where chometz will be in the notes column.
iv. If you will not be at the location on Pesach include access information in the notes column or attach a key. (If you will be in a different time zone, discuss it with Rabbi Botnick first.)
v. One line underneath your list of addresses and specific areas within the address, draw a line across the page. Leave enough space under your details to sign (but don't sign yet) after making a kinyan with Rabbi Botnick as per the next step.
b. When completed, arrange to meet with Rabbi Botnick to make a kinyan. He will, then, take the shtar from you. If you are unable to meet, please call Rabbi Botnick at +16136882025,1 to make other arrangements.
5) Ta’anis B’choros-is early this year. It will be the day before bedikas chometz, Thursday. (Since we can’t fast on Shabbos, and we don’t push a fast unnecessarily to erev Shabbos, we push it to Thursday, instead.) We plan to host a siyum in shul with a seudas mitzva afterward.
6) Bedikas Chometz is a night early, on Thursday evening this year. All chometz that is to be eaten on Friday and Shabbos must be isolated, henceforth, as well as the chometz that is to be burned. One should plan so that only the exact amount of challa that will be needed for people for lechem mishne for two seudos should remain by the time Shabbos begins.
7) The first bittul is recited.
8) The area that you have designated to lease to the non-Jew to sell your chometz inside of should be sealed before the time of the burning of the chometz, which is also a day early.
9) The burning of the chometz is a day early, before 11:54 am of Friday morning. The second bittul is not, yet, recited.
10) All items should be prepared for the sedorim, in advance, on erev Shabbos, this year.
11) Braces or the like must be dealt with before Shabbos.
12) When planning the Shabbos seudos (and keeping the challa separate from the pesachdike seudos), one should keep in mind that, ideally, to be able to see the room where s/he will wash and the room where he will eat challa from the room where he made kiddush.
13) Shul will be early (7:45 am) so that we can finish the seudah before the time that it is prohibited to eat chometz: 10:46 am on Shabbos. At that time, we will clean out our mouth well and make certain nothing is stuck between our teeth in a manner permitted on Shabbos.
14) Before 11:53 am on Shabbos, we will sweep up every last crumb and trace of chometz and shake out every garment that has come near chometz. The crumbs must be flushed down the toilet and cannot be left in a garbage can.
15) The second bittul is now said. (On Shabbos, the yehi rotzon is omitted.)
16) At the end of shabbos before making preparations for the yom tov, after 8:31 pm, one should be sure to say vatode’eini in ma’ariv or “Boruch hamavdil bein kodesh l’kodesh”. (in maariv both of the first nights we say full hallel)
17) Chatzos is 1:04 am the afikomen should be finished before this time Sunday evening.
18) On Sunday, the first day of Yom Tov in mussaf, we will switch to saying morid hatal.
19) On Sunday evening, we begin to count sefiras ha’omer.
20) Monday evening, we add ato chonontono and we also begin to say v’sen brocha in shmone esrei. (One who doesn’t daven maariv must say “Boruch hamavdil bein kodesh l’chol” before doing melocha.)
21) Tuesday, the first day of chol hamoeid, hallel switches to “half hallel“, each morning. We begin to learn meseches Sotah.
22) On Shabbos, Shvi’i shel Pesach, it is our custom to stay up all night learning. We learn this ma’amar, among other things.
23) Moshiach’s Seudah is Sunday evening, the last day of Pesach.