Welcome to the Judaism community on Codidact!
Will you help us build our community of learners? Drop into our study hall, ask questions, help others with answers to their questions, share a d'var torah if you're so inclined, invite your friends, and join us in building this community together. Not an ask-the-rabbi service, just people at all levels learning together.
Post History
It's been reported that the same non-Jew buys all of Israel's chametz before Pesach. Indeed, I've heard that all rabbis in the country who are authorized to sell chametz transfer that authority to ...
#1: Initial revision
by
msh210
·
2021-03-23T21:27:55Z (over 3 years ago)
Does all of Israel sell its chametz through the chief rabbinate? If so, why?
[It's been reported](https://www.chabadnj.org/page.asp?pageID=%7BA88D4D7D-2A4B-42A9-9A46-BAB9850A2EB5%7D) that the same non-Jew buys all of Israel's _chametz_ before _Pesach_. Indeed, I've heard that all rabbis in the country who are authorized to sell _chametz_ transfer that authority to their respective municipal/regional chief rabbis, who transfer it to the national chief rabbis, who effect the sale. I find this hard to believe — or, at least, it's hard for me to imagine _why_ it should be the case. Between the plethora of valid halachic opinions regarding how to properly sell _chametz_, which may lead some stricter people to deem the chief rabbinate's sale insufficient, and (_l'havdil_) the politics that sometimes unfortunately accompany religion, which may lead some to deem the chief rabbinate's sale inappropriate, I'm astonished that everyone sells _chametz_ through the chief rabbinate. Is it really true? Can someone cite a more believable source than a newspaper article that writes in general terms? If it _is_ true, then why is this the one religious matter that everyone has managed to agree on?