Question:Can a nurse serve a hospital meal containing chometz to a non-Jew on Pesach? Discussion: There are two potential issues that have to be discussed, moving the chometz and having hano’oh from the chometz. Regarding moving the chometz, the Beis Yosef in Siman 446 quotes Rishonim who rule that if chometz rolled from the roof of a non-Jew onto the roof of a Jew on Pesach, one should push the chometz with a stick back onto the roof of the non-Jew [and not pick up the chometz with one’s hands] in case one comes to eat the chometz, because a person is not “separated from it”; i.e. since chometz can be eaten the rest of the year a person does not have the same inhibitions when it comes to eating chometz as he has with other forbidden food items that are constantly forbidden. The Beis Yosef (ibid) also quotes the Rivosh and Maharitz Gei’us who both clearly write that even on Chol Hamo’ed [where there is no issur of muktzeh] it is forbidden to move the chometz with one’s hands in case he comes to eat it, except for where he is picking up the chometz to destroy it. The Shulchan Aruch (Siman 446 Se’if 3) rules that if chometz [belonging to a non-Jew] rolled onto the roof of a Jew on Pesach, he should push the chometz off his roof with a stick. (From context it is clear that the Shulchan Aruch is discussing Chol Hamo’ed and not Shabbos or Yom Tov.) Both the Taz and Magen Avraham speak out that it is forbidden to move the chometz with one’s hands in case he comes to eat it. We see clearly from here that it is forbidden to handle chometz on Pesach in case one comes to eat the chometz, and the only exceptions to this are The second concern that needs to be discussed is the issur hano’oh (benefit) from chometz. The Shulchan Aruch (Siman 448 Se’if 6) writes that it is forbidden to feed chometz on Pesach to animals, even to animals belonging to others and even to animals that are hefker. The Acharonim (Levush and Magen Avraham according to the understanding of the Mishna Berura) explain that the person feeding the animal has hano’oh through “fulfilling his intention” of feeding the animal. In other words, the satisfaction a person feels by feeding an animal is also classified hano’oh which is forbidden from chometz. Returning to our situation of a nurse serving a meal containing chometz to a non-Jew on Pesach, presumably this situation can be compared to feeding chometz to an animal, and the satisfaction that is felt by serving the meal would also be considered hano’oh from chometz and is therefore forbidden on Pesach. |
Pesach
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