The Torah prohibits us from owning any chametz during the festival of Pesach. In principle a person has the option of consuming all his chametz before Pesach, giving it away, destroying it or renouncing ownership over it. In practice, it is often not possible to dispose of all the chametz before Pesach, nor can a person be relied upon genuinely to renounce ownership of a significant amount of chametz. Moreover a person may have chametz in his possession of which he is unaware. As a response to this situation the practice of "Selling the chametz" began nearly two thousand years ago during the time of the Mishnah. Originally each Jew would sell his own chametz to a non-Jew and there would be an exchange of goods and money.

Nowadays, in order to ensure that all the legal requirements of a contract of sale are satisfied, people normally make the Rabbi their agent for selling chametz to a non-Jew. After Pesach the Rabbi buys back the chametz though this is not made a specific condition of the sale. It should be noted that chametz which remains in one's possession during Pesach is prohibited for use afterwards. In order to ensure that no chametz remains in your possession over Pesach, fill in the form below or download form here.