Pesah: Selling Hames in a Different Time Zone - a podcast by Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

Hames which remained in a Jews possession over Pesah becomes forbidden to benefit from. However, if one sold his Hames to a non-Jew before the holiday, there is no problem benefiting from it when it is bought back after Pesah.

The question is how to manage selling Hames when the owner is located in a different time zone from the Hames he owns. For example, if someone who traveled to Eres Yisrael for the holiday signed up to have his Hames sold in America. If the Rabbi sells his Hames at 10AM on Ereb Pesah in New York, it will already be after the deadline for possessing Hames in Eres Yisrael, where he is currently located. Does the violation follow the location of the Hames, which is in America, and therefore it is permitted, or does the location of the owner determine the violation, in which case the Hames will be forbidden after Pesah?

There is a disagreement between the Poskim on this question. Hacham Ovadia rules that since the issue really is whether the sale was valid to prevent the Hames from becoming forbidden after Pesah, and that prohibition is only a Rabbinic penalty, it is permissible to be lenient. Of course, if a person can be stringent and have the Rabbi sell it in New York before the deadline in Israel, it is praiseworthy. This is the conclusion of Yakut Yosef (Hilchot Pesah, Vol. 2. p. 294).

SUMMARY

If one sold his Hames in America while he was in Israel, the Hames does not become forbidden after Pesah, even though it was sold after the deadline Israel time.

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