Chametz She’avar Alav HaPesach - Utensil Use

Q. I accidentally poked a chametz fork, which had not been used for many days, into my pot roast on Pesach. Now that Pesach is over, am I permitted to eat the roast, or must it be thrown away?

A. Ordinarily, if one cooked food in a non-kosher pot that was not used for 24 hours (aino ben yomo), the food may be consumed. This is because the absorption turns foul after 24 hours and it cannot affect other food. The position of the Ashkenazim is that Pesach is different. The Rabbis enacted a special Rabbinic ruling to disallow the leniency of aino ben yomo with respect to chametz on Pesach. As such, if one cooked food during Pesach with chametz utensils, the food is prohibited. In addition, the food must be destroyed to prevent accidental consumption. (Mishnah Berurah, 442:1). Nonetheless, in response to our question above, if the roast was not destroyed on Pesach, Rebbi Akiva Eiger (Teshuva 19) ruled that it can be eaten after Pesach. Although chametz that belonged to a Jew during Pesach is prohibited after Pesach (chametz sheavar olov Hapesach), that restriction does not apply in this situation for the following reason: Chametz sheavar olov hapesach is applicable only when a Jew violates the Biblical prohibition of owning chametz. Though we are stringent on Pesach and do not eat food cooked with chametz utensils even when unused for 24 hours, this is at most a Rabbinic prohibition. Therefore, chametz sheavar olov hapesach is not operative in our situation. If for some reason the roast was not destroyed on Pesach, it may be eaten after Pesach.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.