Jerusalem – A new psak by Rav Nissim Karelitz is arousing a storm among various kashrus supervisory agencies in Israel.
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Asked a question about the necessity for hashgocha on body and dish soaps, Rav Nissim replied that since they are not considered “edible to a dog”, one doesn’t need a Pesach hashgocha on them and one may use them without the slightest concern. Although some items that are “inedible to a dog” do require hashgocha for Pesach, this only applies if the item originally qualified as food, but not if the item only confers some other kind of benefit.
Rav Nissim’s only qualification concerning using soap without hashgocha is that it shouldn’t be placed in vessels which people eat from.
Rav Nissim says that toothpaste or mouth rinse which the user uses and spits out can also be used without hashgocha on Pesach, even though it is known that such items often contain alcohol. He explains that since they are inedible to a dog, they may be used without a question.
Rav Nissim also cautions that when burning one’s chometz, one should insure that the pieces of chometz are completely consumed by the fire. The fact that they were soaked in petroleum does not render them “inedible to a dog” since petroleum evaporates after a short time.
This is old news. The CRC letter clarifies this basic halacha as well. It is a BIG misconception that items which are not generally considered foods which are not placed in the mouth need to be KFP. The mishna Berurah even says that if the item is something which a person would not eat unless they were ill, it does not need Biur and may be used on Pesach. Thats a whole lot of stuff.
Look up the CRC letter (available online) and you can see this.
There are many chumros for Pesach which people think are halacha, but are not.
On this basis, vitamins should not require hashgacha for pesach, although all rabbis seem to say they do require hashgacha. Very few vitamins that are in vegicaps actually contain chometz, although the vegicaps themselves might be kitniyos.
There don’t seem to be any kosher l’pesach vitamins. I hate going over 8 days in a row without vitamins.
about time Rabonim stop all the nonsense on pesach. We need more of these rabonim. it is no kunse to be machmir – RESPECT to the rabonim that are living with the times.
Does toothpaste and mouthwash need to be kosher? There seems to be disagreement on this. I have not seen any inexpensive, widely distributed toothpaste
with a hechsher printed on the package.
http://www.oukosher.org/index.php/articles/single_print/10064
Carefull. They are all refering when you don’t actually eat the item. If you eat it, like Vitamins, you may run into the problem of “Achshevey” that you now made it as fit for humans. So beware, don’t rely on heresay. Always ask or learn.
What about deodorant? Does it need hashgocha?
I don’t know why he is storming but i could tell you that it is not so simple it is a dispute between the achronim the shulchan aruch harav says that if chometz is not “edible for a dog” then you don’t have to destroy it and he gives an example of a ink bottle that beer fell inside then that is not called “edible for a dog” (even if the piece that fell in was pour chometz )
however the shoel umaishiv holds that such a case will not be considered “not edible for a dog” because the actual chometz is there even if it is mixed in the beer
Shkoiach! Very impressive that there are still poiskim who have guts.
He has to say this NOW? Why couldn’t he have said it a couple of weeks ago before I put away all my little Method handsoaps and replaced them with Softsoap?
I wish people would be as ‘frum’ (stringent) about their bein adam l’chaveiro (interpersonal relationships) as they are about soap on Pesach.
he dosent know that there are plastic cups and napkins kosher lepesach
this is simple but people dont understand halacha. the halacha says if a dog cant eat it you can have it. can a dog eat make up deodorant soap drano!
It is not true that all chometz must reach a point where a dog will not eat it before being muttar. This is only true of something which was real edible chometz and then went bad. A mixture which was never a food does not need to reach the point of not rauy for Kelev. See the mishna Berurah on Taaruvos Chometz where the Shulchan Aruch says that something that is not ‘Maachal Kol Adam’ is okay. The Mishna Brura says that this means something which you would only eat if you were sick can be kept. That is far more edible that ‘Ayno Rauy laachilas Kelev’!
Ayain Sham
This psak shows what nareshkeit many of the so-called “gadolim” are offering with their paid “hashgacha” for a variety of items like deoderant and toothepaste which obviously don’t require any special supervision. Its time to stop their efforts to make money off yiddin who already pay too much for chumrah on top of unneeded chumrah.
#20 and who said they dont. those who are medakdek bein adom lemokom are also medakdak bein adam lechavayoh
to number 9. How can you bring a shoel umeishiv as an opinion different to shulchan aruch horav? The shoel umeishiv – kvodo bmkomo munach- is nothing next to the shulchan aruch horav.
Some soaps contain oatmeal, I don’t think it can be used on Pesach
this is a psak from a chashuve rov if you want to follow it do so and if not don’t but there is no need to make a chillul hashem out of this!
Wonder if this will hurt sales (next year — this year is already too late since Pesach is just hours away) of things like Adwe toothpaste (about $5 a tube on the shelf of my local kosher supermarket) and mouthwash (almost $8 a bottle ) versus say Pepsodent or Closeup toothpaste (about $1 per tube at Family Dollar) and “store brand” mouthwash (about $2 per bottle at FD, Wal-Mart or Stop & Shop)?
does Rabbi Karelitz think that Rabbonim can make a living from Mechiras Chametz alone?! This is the type of p’sak that forces our Rabbis to launder money, create monopoly markets for their Hasgochas, and much of the rest of their fiscal misbehavior.
“Vitamins are actually eaten. Therefore by definition they are re’uyim la’achloh.”
What is the definition of eaten? If it has no taste and no calories and is just swallowed and not chewed then is it considered eaten? I am referring to vitamins that are in vegicaps, not chewable vitamins that have flavor. I am also referring to vitamins that have no chometz ingredients, although it is possible that the vegicap might be made from kitniyos. Many feel derivatives of kitniyos are not an issue if they are greatly changed, and basically have no nutritive value. I plan to go the full Pesach without vitamins, but am unhappy that I couldn’t find any vitamins with kosher l’pesach hashgacha. I have searched the net extensively and just found a few herbal supplements that are kosher l’pesach, but no vitamin or mineral supplements. I guess it is too expensive to halt production, clean everything, and get kosher l’pesach supervision.
“Wonder if this will hurt sales (next year — this year is already too late since Pesach is just hours away) of things like Adwe toothpaste (about $5 a tube on the shelf of my local kosher supermarket) and mouthwash (almost $8 a bottle ) versus say Pepsodent or Closeup toothpaste (about $1 per tube at Family Dollar) and “store brand” mouthwash (about $2 per bottle at FD, Wal-Mart or Stop & Shop)?”
I made sure that my toothpaste for pesach does not have alcohol SD38B as many toothpastes have, as that might be a bit of an issue. Less of an issue is sorbitol perhaps being made from kitniyos. The issue of glycerin in toothpastes perhaps not being kosher is covered by the debate on the OU website about whether toothpaste even needs to be kosher.
Many people don’t have a local store that sells Adwe toothpaste. Listerine mouthwash is perfectly acceptible as being okay to rinse the mouth on pesach((the alcohol in it is made from corn just don’t drink it! 🙂 )
so much of modern orthodox Jewish practice is minhag, yet many treat it as if it is halacha.
Speaking of chumras, why is bar soap prohibited on shabbat? The explaination I heard is that smoothing if forbidden. That is from the rules of smoothing animal hides. Bar soap is already smooth, and there is no intention to smooth it anyway. How do they go from a law prohibiting the smoothing of animal hides on shabbat to not using bars of soap?
http://www.dailyhalacha.com/Display.asp?PageIndex=33&ClipID=932
http://www.etzahaim.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=29
(Reply to #30 ) my rav said that I need to use kosher l’pesach food for my dog. So please don’t pasken.
1.) One should never rely on /any/ P’sak halacha [halachic ruling] without having either:
a) heard it DIRECTLY from the one issuing it
or
b) read the actual written teshuva [response] IN ITS ENTIRETY and made certain it applies to the /specific/ situation in question.
2.) Regarding dog food, considering that
a) it is, /by definition/, fit for consumption by a dog and
b) even /ownership/ and merely /deriving benefit from/ [issur ha’no’oh] chometz is prohibited
it should be clear and incontrovertible that one may not use any pet food containing chometz or otherwise feed chometz to an animal on Pesach.