Jerusalem, 31 March, 2026 (TPS-IL) — In a special ceremony at the offices of the Chief Rabbinate, the Chief Rabbis of Israel sold the chametz (items containing grains that are not kosher for Passover) of the State of Israel, government ministries, government bodies, as well as the people who authorized the Chief Rabbis to sell the chametz for them by filling out the online form on the Rabbinate’s website. The chametz was sold to a non-Jew, Hussein Jaber – a resident of Abu Ghosh, who will own the chametz for the entire days of Passover.
Under Jewish law chametz may not even be in one’s possession during Passover. So, people put any hametz they have away and symbolically “sell” it to someone who is not Jewish. The terms of the sale are not completed and so the chametz reverts to one’s ownership after the holiday.