The extraordinary deal that saved thousands of Jews from eating chametz on Pesach

An extraordinary incident occurred this week in Haifa during the Spring Festival held at the port, where massive amounts of chametz, such as whiskey, beer barrels, and pizzas prepared at food stalls, were planned for sale.

If the chametz had been sold, thousands of Jews could have inadvertently violated the grave prohibition of karet during Passover. However, an unexpected turn of events changed the outcome.

One of the visitors, deeply pained by the prospect of chametz being sold freely, decided to act to save the Jewish people from this severe transgression.

According to reports on social media: Y., from central Israel, visiting the north with his family during Chol HaMoed (the intermediate days of Passover), was shocked to see a festival offering “chametz for all.” He approached the pizza stall and requested to purchase all remaining pizza trays. The vendor, surprised, said, “Are you sure? We have a huge amount in storage too.” Y. confirmed, effectively shutting down the pizza sales.

Y. then approached the event manager with a heartfelt plea: “How can a Jew cause another Jew to stumble with chametz on Passover? Our ancestors fought against this throughout history.” The manager replied, “What can we do? This is our livelihood.”

Y. responded, “Calculate how much you’d earn from selling the chametz, and I’ll arrange payment, on the condition that you destroy all the chametz.”

After negotiations and a discount, the manager quoted a sum of 82,300 ILS.

Y. then contacted a wealthy friend, A., from Or Yehuda, known for his dedication to mitzvot. Y. shared the distressing situation of “chametz for all on Passover” and offered him the opportunity to fund the destruction of all chametz stalls, thereby saving thousands of Jews from eating chametz. A. agreed, taking on the mitzvah, and the quoted sum was transferred to the business.

Within hours, all beer barrels were emptied into the sewer, whiskey sales were halted, and all pizza trays and dough were burned in a chametz-burning bonfire.

Witnesses reported that the act was carried out peacefully and respectfully, making it a highly unusual deed.

However, Assaf Danieli criticized the action: “Like the few who were there at the time, I regretted that someone spent so much money to prevent people from doing what they would likely do anyway, when that money could have been donated to other causes, even life-saving ones. Such acts may make someone feel they’ve done a great mitzvah, but in my view, they alienate people from Judaism and produce the opposite effect.”