Passover Service Times

and

Passover Week Information

On this page you will find information about:

1. Passover service times
2. Last-minute Passover Seder options.
3. The fast of the Firstborn
4. How to sell your chametz
5. How to check for, destroy, and nullify your chametz

Please note:

SALE OF CHAMETZ FORM MUST BE RECEIVED 

BEFORE 7:00 PM ET ON SUNDAY, APRIL 21!

Passover Service times

N.B.: We will not be holding evening services either night of the seder. You are encouraged to daven before you begin your seder.

Morning services are hybrid. All other services on Zoom.

Use weekday links for weekday services and Shabbat links for Shabbat only.

Apr. 23 Yom Tov morning service 9:00 AM

Hallel, Tefillat Tal (Prayer for Dew)

Apr. 24 Yom Tov morning service 9:00 AM

Hallel

Apr. 24 YT Mincha / Maariv 7:40 PM

Apr. 26 YT Kabbalat Shabbat / Maariv 6:30 PM

Apr. 27 Shabbat morning service 9:00 AM

Hallel, selections from Shir Hashirim (the Song of Songs)

Apr. 27 Shabbat Mincha-Maariv 7:40 PM

Apr. 28 Yom Tov evening service 6:30 PM

Apr. 29 Yom Tov morning service 9:00 AM

Hallel, Shirat HaYam (Song of the Sea)

Apr. 29 Yom Tov evening service 6:30 PM

Apr. 30 Yom Tov morning service 9:00 AM

Hallel, Yizkor

Apr. 30 Yom Tov Mincha / Maariv 7:45 PM

Three Good Seder Options (if you don’t already have one)

If you do not have a seder to attend, here are two good options, one in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan:

1. Dirah Brooklyn – this is a new project of Chabad in Gowanus. Very welcoming. Reasonably priced, and subsidized/free options if you need.

https://www.dirahbrooklyn.org/civicrm/event/register?id=115

2. Ohel Ayalah – this is a more non-denominational option. It is the brainchild of Rabbi Dr. Judith Hauptman (of JTS). EMJC has worked with them before. They still have some slots open.

https://ohelayalah.org/events/seders#toggle-id-5

3. See the EMJC weekly for seder-matching in our community.

Ta’anit Bechorot – the Fast of the Firstborn

Monday, April 22, is a “personal” fast day for firstborn sons and, according to some rabbis, firstborn children in general. For information about the fast, (and to see if it applies to you) see this article:

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-fast-of-the-first-born/

There are many variations in practice, so if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

There is a widespread tradition that a joyous occasion overrides the obligation to fast. We will create a joyous occasion by having a brief study session that ends a tractate of Mishna or Talmud (a traditional celebration point). If you are a first-born child, please have some cake and a little schnapps with you next to your Zoom screen on Monday morning so that you may partake. The service begins at 8am as usual. The study session will be brief – 10 to 20 minutes.

Selling Chametz

Must be done BEFORE 7:00 PM ET on Sunday, April 21, 2024.

As a final (and crucial) precaution before the holiday begins, we must engage in the act of selling our chametz. Any chametz that remains in our homes can be temporarily sold to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday – it must be stored away somewhere in our home and separated from everything else; it does not belong to us for the 8 days of Passover. This legal transfer absolves you of having any chametz in your possession, since it’s not really your possession. Rabbi Sam Levine will be facilitating the sale of chametz this year. It is customary (but not required) to make a donation of ma’ot chittin (“wheat money” – charity) upon selling your chametz. This money will go to EMJC and some will be disbursed to charity. You can sell your chametz by filling out the following form. This form will not be available after 7:00 PM ET on Sunday, April 21, 2024.

YOU WILL NOT OWN YOUR CHAMETZ FROM

MONDAY, APR. 22, 10:38 AM,

THROUGH

TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 8:50 PM

Searching for and destroying Chametz

The rituals of bedikat chametz and bi’ur chametz (searching for and destroying chametz) take place on the night before the eve of Passover and the following morning. This year, the search for chametz takes place on Sunday night, April 21. On Monday morning, we burn the chametz (should be burned by 11:46 at the latest). Both rituals are accompanied by blessings and declarations which can be found at the bottom of this document (“Bi’ur Chametz – Searching for Chametz”). You can buy a kit for bedikat chametz at ShopRite on McDonald Avenue or most stores in Midwood.

Latest time for eating chametz on Monday

If you must have that last bowl of Mini-Wheats, 10:38 am is your cut-off point. After that, any chametz in your home doesn’t belong to you and it would be considered stealing (from the person you sold your chametz to).

More Questions?

At the following link, you’ll find the 2024 Passover Guide from the Rabbinical Assembly. It’s full of useful information about kashering your home and which foods require a Passover hekhsher:

https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Pesah-Guide-5784.pdf

And of course, you can always contact me at salevine66@gmail.com.

Searching for Chametz

It is customary to place a small piece of bread in each room of the house the night before Erev Pesach and then do a symbolic “search” for it by candlelight, sweeping up the last crumbs with a feather.

Before the search make this blessing:

Praised are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, who has sanctified us with commandments, and commanded us about removing chametz.

After the search recite the following (it is preferable to say it in English if you do not understand Aramaic):

All chametz and leaven in my possession that I have not seen and have not eliminated and don’t know about shall be nullified and become ownerless, like the dust of the earth.

2. Bi’ur Chametz (destroying the chametz)

There are several ways to perform biur chametz (ridding ourselves of chametz).

Burning: this is the traditional manner. Biur literally means “burning” and if you choose to destroy your chametz this way please do so responsibly!

Flushing it down the toilet

Crumbling it and scattering it to the wind

Disposing of it in a public waste receptacle

3. Bittul Chametz (nullification of the chametz) 

After burning the chametz, say the following (it is preferable to say it in English if you do not understand Aramaic):

All Chametz and leaven in my possession that I have seen and that I have not seen, that I have burned and that I have not burned, that I have destroyed and that I have not destroyed, shall be nullified and become ownerless, like the dust of the earth.