Pesach

[cellio]

Comments

[geekosaur]

For what it's worth, I cribbed some notes about Erev Pesach timing a while ago:

sof z'man achilat chametz (last time chametz can be eaten): lenient Ashkenazi 4 hours per the Ga'onim, stringent Ashkenazi 4 hours per Magein Avraham(*), Sephardi 4 hours Ga'onim from Alot HaShachar

sof z'man s'reifat chametz (last time chametz can be used in other ways): same rules but at 5 hours

(*) The Ga'onim defined the hours of the day by dividing the period between sunrise and sunset into 12 equal hours; the Magein Avraham divided the period between Alot HaShachar ("daybreak") and Tzeit HaKochavim ("nightfall") instead.

[cellio]

Thanks. I didn't realize that you could use chametz later than the last time you can eat it. I wonder why that is.

[ichur72]

Probably because it can take a while to clean up after serving a meal. (Think sweeping, checking the carpet and scanning the room for stray bits-o-food.) If I had to dispose of all the crumbs within 60 seconds of finishing a meal, I'd be up a certain creek without a propulsion instrument.

[cellio]

Ah, I parsed "use" as "derive some benefit from", rather than as "own". Clearly there has to be some time between when you have to stop eating and when you have to have disposed of it.

[cafemusique]

As for shoes...I think it's fairly common up here. Probably because for so much of the year we are dealing with snow and the sand and salt that get used on roads, and then spring, and there's a lot of mud...

If I walk into somebody's home, it's pretty much automatic that I start taking my shoes off.

[cellio]

I guess that makes sense. It's odd that Pittsburgh and Toronto have comparable weather yet the custom is unusual here. Mind, if you wore boots outside you'll take those off when you get home because boots are uncomfortable to wear around the house, but other than that we tend to rely on doormats and just take the shoes off if that's not good enough.

[rectangularcat]

I even take off my shoes in my tent!

[cellio]

When I had a modern nylon tent with built-in floor I did too, because I worried about tearing the floor if I wasn't careful how I walked in shoes or boots. When I had a canvas pavillion (or yurt) I didn't tend to; I knew that the throw rugs I used were going to have to get washed (or at least beaten out) anyway, so I didn't worry about bringing in a little dust.

[rectangularcat]

I have a canvas tent! I guess it's just something that I'm used to doing - I'm not home until my shoes are off!

I thought of you when I read this today - http://www.karmatics.com/aardvark/ I dunno if you use firefox but it looks promising for adaptability!

[hopeness]

I was raised to take my shoes off in the house. B's dad doesn't. B's auntie does, but then provides you with slippers. I'd like to do that if I ever had guests on a regular basis. :) I agree that it's probably because it's so dirty here in the winter with sand and salt

[cellio]

Providing slippers is a nice touch (if you aren't swamped with guests :-) ). Maybe next time I'll remember to actually pack slippers.

Thanks for letting me know about your experience at Village Shul. Having classes during (I presume) musaf has some appeal. I'll have to check that out.

If you go to Beit HaMinyan I'll be interested in hearing what you think. Do check their web site or send them email about times and locations; my impression is that they almost always start at 9:30 in that school, but they said they'd be holding their Yom Tov services in one of the chapels at Beit Tzedec. Maybe that's because the second day of yom tov was Monday and the school wouldn't be available? I don't know; I didn't ask. (Also didn't make it to yom tov services.)

I don't remember the name of the school (I hope it's on their web site), but it's on the street that crosses Eglinton at Village Shul, about three blocks farther north.

[hopeness]

B told me that all the (Hebrew) schools close here at Passover, so that's probably why. Imagine all the chometz you'd have to clean up in an elementary school!!!

[cellio]

Well, this school is probably also closed on Saturdays. I was thinking that the problem would be if the school is open -- having people there holding multi-hour religious services while you're trying to herd kids probably doesn't work. And they probably need the space for the building's primary function at that point anyway.

[ichur72]

>> he said his name is "Yisrael". I don't see the path from that to "Sudi"

Perhaps "Sudi" is a riff on "Sruli", which is a reasonably common nickname for "Yisrael"?

[cellio]

Hmm, that could be. Apparently another of their mutual friends is "Suli"; I don't know if that's tied to Yisrael but I could see that.