Kitchen Cleaning

When cleaning my home, I always feel confused by the conflicting instructions I get. On one hand, I’ve heard so many rabbanim saying that we shouldn’t “go crazy” and we’re really only focusing on large pieces of chometz. On the other hand, we need to clean nitty-gritty things like refrigerator gaskets. How do I reconcile the two?

The instructions aren’t conflicting or confusing, they’re just referring to two separate parts of the mitzvah of biur chometz. When it comes to the mitzvah that chometz “may not be seen or found in one’s property on Pesach” (bal yeira’eh u’bal yimatzei), the basic halachah isn’t concerned with crumbs or tiny pieces of chometz, since those are considered to be insignificant and worthless. From a halachic perspective, it’s as if they don’t exist, and therefore aren’t considered to be “seen” or “found.” Thus, when we clean around the house, under the beds or behind the closets or refrigerators, we’re not concerned about crumbs, and we’re not required to move the ovens and refrigerators to clean behind them.

While there’s certainly a long-standing minhag to be stringent and try to rid the house of any vestige of chometz, if possible, this is where you are told that you shouldn’t “go crazy” and focus only on what the halachah requires.

But there is another mitzvah associated with biur chometz, that which says it is forbidden to eat (ingest) chometz on Pesach; for that part of the mitzvah the halachah is extremely concerned that not even a smidgen of an edible crumb enter our mouths on Pesach. Even if the tiny crumb was mixed with a large amount of other kosher-for-Pesach food, it’s still forbidden, in many cases, to eat that mixture on Pesach. We are, therefore, extremely vigilant to remove even the smallest crumbs from the refrigerator gaskets, the counter tops, and any other area which contains chometz that may come into contact with kosher-for-Pesach food. For this purpose, the cleaning can and should be “nitty-gritty.”

We just moved into a new house and I’m thrilled that there are quartz counters. How do I kasher them for Pesach?

There are two customs: Some clean the countertop extremely well, including all of the cracks and cervices, and then kasher it by pouring boiling water (a form of hagalah) over the entire area. Quartz is generally made mostly from stone aggregate, which is a material that can be kashered through hagalah. For various reasons, others are more stringent and require that the kashered counters be covered as well. Unless your family has a specific minhag, you may choose either option.