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OBJECTIVES:
Students will:
  • Examine the Biblical verses which deal with Hametz.
  • Study rules governing foods which are permitted and those which are forbidden on Pesah.
  • Decide which foods are permitted and which are forbidden

MOTIVATION:

Did you ever plan a party - how to decorate the room, what to do at the party, what to eat?  You know there are a lot of decisions to be made, and they're not always easy decisions.  Sometimes you need someone to help you - someone who has had a similar party in the past.  Today we're going to learn how to prepare for something else for the holiday of Pesah.  And we're going to ask "someone" else the Jewish sources, how to do it.

PURPOSE:

To learn how we can tell if things are kosher or Pesah

LESSON:

Tell students: There is a place In the Torah which tells us what we should or shouldn't eat on Pesah.  Hand out Worksheet #1.  Students read Exodus 12:15-20 and answer the questions.  If you prefer, students can read the passage directly from a Humash, and questions can be asked orally or written on the board. 

Ask students: Does this tell the whole story?  You may have heard people talking about how hard it is to prepare for Pesah, how long it takes, how much work it is, and this passage you just studied says all you have to do is not eat or own unleavened bread.  How can that be so hard? Hand out Worksheet #2.  This worksheet contains materials based on information in A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice, by Rabbi Isaac Klein.  Students will read the information and discuss it aloud to be sure they understand it.

CULMINATION:

Hand out Worksheet #3.  Students complete it according to the directions.  They should be instructed to use Worksheet #2 to help.

NOTE:

Some students and teachers may question the value of teaching in such detail about the observance of Kasherut, since probably few of our students observe these rules.  A possible answer is that one cannot fairly reject what one does not know.  First learn, and then you have the information on which to base decisions about your behavior.

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WORKSHEET #1

READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ACCORDING TO WHAT YOU HAVE READ.  USE ONLY THIS INFORMATION TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS.

"Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the very first day you shall remove Hametz from your houses, for whoever eats Hametz from the first day to the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.  On the first day you shall hold a sacred convocation, and on the seventh day a sacred convocation; no work at all shall be done on them; only what every person is to eat, that alone may be prepared for you.  You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your ranks out of the land of Egypt; you shall observe this day throughout the ages as an institution for all time.  In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.  No Hametz shall be found in your houses for seven days.  For whoever eats what is Hametz, that person shall be cut off from the assembly of Israel, whether he Is a stranger or a citizen of the country.  You shall eat nothing Hametz; in all your settlements you shall eat unleavened bread."  (Exodus 12:15 - 20)

1.What MUST you eat?                                                                                     

2.WHEN must you eat it?                                                                                  

3.What must you NOT eat?                                                                                

4.WHEN must you not eat it?                                                                             

5.  When are you supposed to remove the Hametz from your house?                                                                                                         

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WORKSHEET # 2

  1. Hametz usually translated as "leavened bread", means any of five types of grains - wheat, barley, oats, spelt, and rye - that has been in content with water for more than eighteen minutes.
  2. If any of this Hametz, even a tiny bit, comes in contact with any other food or thing, that food or thing also becomes Hametz.
  3. We must not eat Hametz, nor benefit from it, nor own it during Pesach.  Therefore, before Pesach starts we must remove from our homes anything which has come in contact with Hametz.  This includes any foods which are Hametz, any dishes, pots and pans, silverware, etc.  Any Hametz still in the household or belonging to you must be sold to a non-Jew.
  4. Some items can be made kosher for Pesach - that, is, the Hametz can be removed from them by the means it got Into them.  Metal can be dipped in boiling water or heated to a very high heat, glassware can be soaked for three days in water which Is changed every day, ovens and stoves can be scrubbed and either burned with a blowtorch or put on their highest heat for a period of time.  Dishes cannot be made kosher for Pesach if they have been used for Hametz.
  5. Fresh fruit and vegetables of all kinds are kosher for Pesach.  So are frozen fruits and vegetables if they have no other ingredients.
  6. Coffee, tea, salt, dried fruits, and honey are kosher for Pesach if they have not been opened.
  7. Prepared foods must have Rabbinic certification stating that they are kosher for Pesach.
  8. Meat from a kosher butcher is kosher for Pesach if the butcher has prepared it after he made his facilities kosher for Pesach.  Most butchers do this several weeks before Pesach.
  9. Things which are not kosher the rest of the year, cannot be kosher for Pesach.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

  1. What does Hametz mean?  How does something become Hametz?
  2. What if you have some dishes which cannot be made free of Hametz?  Do you have to throw them away?
  3. Discuss with your teacher and classmates various ways things can be made kosher for Pesach, and which methods are appropriate for which items.
  4. Discuss with your teacher which foods, are kosher for Pesach, which are not, and why.

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WORKSHEET #3

You are planning to make your house kosher for Pesah.  Some of the items below are kosher for Pesah.  Some are not.  Some can be made kosher for Pesah.  Some cannot.  After each item, mark the following code:

KP = Kosher for Pesah

MKP = can be made Kosher for Pesah, but is not yet

NKP = Is non kosher for Pesah, and cannot be made so

Soda, not marked Kosher for Pesah
Unopened bag of sugar, not marked Kosher for Pesah
Fresh carrots
Dishes you used last week
Soup pot made from metal
Plastic mixing spoon
Wine glasses you used yesterday
A can of coffee opened last month, marked Kosher for Pesah
Corn flakes
Chopped meat for hamburger just bought at the kosher butcher
Frozen raspberries in sauce
Rye bread
A jar of honey, used on Rosh Hashanah
Sterling silver knives, forks, and spoons
Brand new cookie sheet box
Box of chocolate chip cookies, no supervision, not opened
Chicken in the freezer, bought about a month ago
Glass mixing bowls
Coffee mugs, china
Whole wheat crackers
Cheeseburger
Matza, Kosher for Pesah, opened last week so you could taste
Wine, Kosher for Pesah, not opened
Oatmeal
Soda, marked Kosher for Pesah
Ice cream, a little left from last week's party
Pepperoni pizza
Pretzels
Potato chips, not marked Kosher for Pesah, not opened
Potato chips, marked Kosher for Pesah, not opened
Potato chips, marked Kosher for Pesah, opened for a taste
Serving platter, made of glass
Wood salad bowl used all year round
Bagels
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