Vayikra - When Erev Pesach Falls on Shabbat

This year comes with some unusual halachic situations—here's a guide with a few helpful answers.

Each year, the custom in our community is to devote the Shabbat before Pesach—Shabbat HaGadol—to exploring the halachot of Pesach. However, this year is unique: Shabbat HaGadol falls on Erev Pesach, a rare occurrence that won’t happen again until the year 2045. Because of this, we moved our Shabbat Hagadol Pesach drasha one week earlier to this Shabbat. Today’s discussion will focus on the special halachic considerations that apply when Erev Pesach falls on Shabbat—a timely and important topic as we prepare for the chag.

When Erev Pesach falls on Shabbat, it presents unique halachic challenges, especially when fulfilling the mitzvah of eating three Shabbat meals while avoiding chametz and maintaining Pesach-level kashrut.

There is disagreement among halachic authorities about the best way to manage this. Suppose someone is not confident they can eat chametz on Shabbat while keeping utensils and food kosher for Pesach (which is likely the case for most of us!). It is advisable in this case to dispose of all chametz before Shabbat and use kosher-for-Pesach egg matzah during the meals. Some opinions also permit eating regular matzah on Friday night. This appears to be the view of the Rema in Orach Chaim 471:2 (based on the Rambam), where he writes:

אבל מצות שיוצאין בה בלילה אסורים לאכול כל יום ארבעה עשר

“But matzot with which one fulfills the obligation on the night [of the Seder] are forbidden to eat for the entire day of the 14th [of Nisan].”

Since the Rema specifies “the day,” it would seem that eating matzah on the night of the 14th, such as this year, when Erev Pesach falls on Shabbat, is permitted.

Additionally, his wording suggests that the restriction applies only to shmura matzah, the type used to fulfill the mitzvah at the Seder, as he refers specifically to “matzot with which one fulfills the obligation.” This implies that non-shmura matzah may even be permitted during the day of the 14th.

However, since most standard matzah today is carefully supervised and could halachically qualify as shmura matzah, it is best to avoid it on Erev Pesach. For those who wish to have matzah at their Shabbat meals, the recommended option is egg matzah, at least for the daytime meals.

For those who do choose to eat chametz bread, it’s strongly recommended to limit chametz to the bread alone, while keeping all other food, utensils, and plates kosher for Pesach. Disposable plates and utensils are ideal. Bread should be eaten at the very beginning of the meal, away from the main table, in a controlled space to prevent crumbs from spreading. It’s best to choose bread that doesn’t crumble easily, such as pita or challah rolls, and to prepare just enough, roughly one roll per person per meal.

Chametz must be eaten before the end of the fourth halachic hour on Shabbat morning, which is 10:50 AM in Philadelphia this year.

Although there are more stringent opinions that require stopping earlier, since this prohibition is rabbinic (not biblical) in the morning, one may rely on the later time and be lenient.

To accommodate this, it’s customary to hold morning services early so that people can return home and eat in time. Next Shabbat, services at Mekor will begin at 8:00 AM (yes, we know—it’s early!).

The bitul (nullification) of chametz should be recited before the end of the fifth halachic hour, which this year is 11:55 AM in Philadelphia. If you’ll be spending Pesach elsewhere, be sure to check the local halachic times for both the fourth and fifth hours to ensure everything is done on time.

It’s also important that each person recites their own bitul. While the Shulchan Aruch allows bitul to be performed through a shaliach (messenger), it’s difficult to claim that someone else can truly declare your chametz to be null and worthless like the dust of the earth. Therefore, it’s best for every person to say the bitul themselves.

The bitul must be said in a language you understand, or it is not valid. If Hebrew isn’t your first language, you must say the bitul in English (or any language you fully comprehend), so the declaration is halachically effective.

There are several halachically acceptable ways to fulfill the third Shabbat meal in this context. Some split the morning meal into two parts, eating them back-to-back. This would involve washing and saying hamotzi, eating a kezayit or preferably a k’beitza of bread or egg matzah, and reciting birkat hamazon. After a brief break, such as stepping outside, one repeats the process for the second meal. If time is short, the break can be skipped. Note that all chametz must still be consumed before the end of the fourth hour.

Others choose to eat one meal in the morning and a third meal in the afternoon. For the afternoon meal, one may eat egg matzah or a baked or cooked kosher-for-Pesach matzah product (such as matzah meal cake or matzah balls), or other foods without matza meal, like meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, or processed items like potato starch cake. It’s best to complete this meal before the end of the ninth halachic hour, which is 4:21 PM in Philadelphia. Some follow both approaches—two meals in the morning and one in the afternoon—since the third meal is ideally eaten later in the day.

Any leftover chametz not eaten at the meals should be disposed of before the fifth hour if possible. It should be flushed down the toilet or placed in the garbage and brought outside. If that’s not feasible, based on the opinion of the Kesef Mishneh, it may be left in a sealed container on the property until it can be properly discarded.

This rare overlap of Erev Pesach and Shabbat requires a bit of extra planning and mindfulness, but with care and preparation, it’s entirely possible to honor both the sanctity of Shabbat and the requirements of Pesach.

We look forward to learning together and gaining insight from Rabbi Goldscheider and our Mekor community as we enter this special zman cheiruteinu—the season of freedom and renewal. Shabbat Shalom!