When Passover begins on Saturday night...

Q: Ta'anit Bekhorim, the Fast of the Firstborn, commemorates the tenth plague -- the killing of firstborn Egyptians -- and the fact that the Israelites were spared. All firstborns are required to fast on erev Pesach (14 Nisan, the day preceding the first Seder). When the 14th of Nisan falls on Shabbat, when is Ta'anit Bekhorim observed?

A: The only time we are allowed to fast on Shabbat is Yom Kippur. Because a person may not enter Shabbat while in a state of suffering - fasting - fasts are never permitted on Fridays. Therefore, when Pesach begins on Saturday night, Ta'anit Bekhorim is observed on the preceding Thursday.

Q: When one completes studying a tractate of Talmud, one holds a siyyum, a celebration, in honor of the occasion. It is customary to arrange for a siyyum to be held on 14 Nisan — Ta’anit Bekhorim, the Fast of the Firstborn—because attending a siyyum exempts those who are fasting from having to do so. When 14 Nisan falls on Shabbat and Ta’anit Bekhorim is held two days early, is one permitted to hold a siyyum and thus break one’s fast?

A: We are permitted to hold a siyyum in this circumstance and one who participates in a siyyum is exempt from fasting.

Q: Bedikat chametz, the search for chametz, is conducted on the evening of the 13th of Nisan, and bi'ur chametz, the burning of the chametz, is held the next morning. Obviously, bedikat chametz and bi'ur chametz cannot take place on Shabbat, because on the Sabbath one is not permitted to engage in work or light a fire. When Pesach begins on Saturday night, when do we search for and burn the chametz?

A: We search for chametz on Thursday night, and burn it on Friday morning.

Q: Even when Peasch begins on a Saturday night, we make the Ha-Motzi blessing on Shabbat over pita bread or challah rolls. But if that is the case, how can we declare "Kal chamira…," "All chametz, leaven and leavened bread, in my possession, which I have neither seen nor removed nor know about, should be annulled and considered masterless, like dust of the earth," after the search for chametz, and the similar declaration after burning the chametz the following morning?

A: When we recite Kal Chamira, the declaration of nullification, we keep in mind that we are not including the special bread that we have set aside for Shabbat.

Q: In the twenty-four hour period preceding the start of Passover, we refrain from eating matzah or foods made with products such as matzah meal (for example, matzah balls or kugel). This means we cannot use matzah for Birkat ha-Motzi on Shabbat. Over what should Birkat ha-Motzi be recited?

A: We purchase pita bread or challah rolls (anything that doesn't create a lot of crumbs) in the exact amount needed for each meal and set it aside for Ha-Motzi.

Q: All chametz utensils, pots and pans, etc., should be packed away before Shabbat, and all of the food prepared for the Sabbath meals should be made with Passover utensils and cooked in Passover pots and pans. How do we prevent crumbs of chametz from accidentally coming into contact with our Pesach kitchenware?

A: The best way to avoid this problem is to make Ha-Motzi on a disposable table cloth, in a small space, using plastic utensils (Ha-Motzi also can be made in a different room). After Ha-Motzi is made and the bread eaten, the tablecloth and utensils are wrapped up and thrown away and the table is set with a fresh cloth. We are careful to set aside the exact amount of bread needed for each person—and no more—to avoid leftover chametz, since chametz cannot be burned on Shabbat.

Q: To give Shabbat its full honor, we eat three meals over the course of the day, the first one on Friday night, and two more on Satuday, including Se’udah Shelishit (the "Third Meal," or in Yiddish Shalah Shudes). However, on the morning before Pesach begins, we must finish eating chametz no later than four hours after sunrise. How do we fulfill both obligations?

A: The Shabbat morning services is held very early so that worshipers can come home and eat a meal that includes bread for Ha-Motzi before reaching the four-hour time limit. Some people do not have the tradition to wash and make Ha-Motzi for Se’udah Shelishit, and they will eat Se’udah Shelishit in the middle of the afternoon without chametz. Those who wish to make Ha-Motzi for Se’udah Shelishit should come home from synagogue, wash, make Ha-Motzi, eat a small "meal"—soup or salad, for example—and recite Birkat ha-Mazon—Grace after Meals. Then they should wash again, make Ha-Motzi again, eat the rest of their meal as Se’udah Shelishit, and recite Birkat ha-Mazon, all within the four-hour period from sunrise.

Q: How should one dispose of any bread left over after Ha-Motzi?

A: Any leftover chametz may be fed to animals, as long as it will be eaten right away, or given to a non-Jew, as long as they remove the chametz from the house before the time period ends. It is important to stress that one should buy only the minimum amount of chametz needed for Ha-Motzi to avoid having to dispose of a significant quantity of chametz on Saturday morning.

Q&A from Rabbi Weisblum's upcoming book Passover Talk

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