kosher vs. kosher-for-passover

April 15, 2007 9:21 PM

Kosher vs. kosher-for-passover: what's the real deal here? Can something be "Kosher for Passover" that is NOT ordinarily kosher the rest of the year? That would seem like a mighty expensive proposition, to me.... (vs. say, some foodstuff that is typically kosher all year, but only needs to be certified hometz-free for Passover, after which it goes back to being ordinary Kosher)
posted by bitterkitten to religion & philosophy (20 comments total)

All kosher-for-passover food is kosher year-round.
posted by kickingtheground at 9:27 PM on April 15, 2007

Right. Read "Kosher for Passover" as "So very kosher it's even acceptable for Passover", not "Only kosher during Passover".
posted by mendel at 9:31 PM on April 15, 2007

"Kosher for Passover" is a subset of "Kosher".
posted by DrSkrud at 9:37 PM on April 15, 2007

Can something be "Kosher for Passover" that is NOT ordinarily kosher the rest of the year?

in new york and other areas with large jewish populations, you can get specially made kosher coke (made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup) around passover.
posted by lia at 9:41 PM on April 15, 2007 [1 favorite]

As an example, during passover, it's not kosher to eat (or possess) leavened bread or any product that could be fermented. There's a "kosher (I may be using the term incorrectly here) of producing unleavened bread, matzo, where the production from mixing of ingredients to out of the oven has to be done in ~20 minutes. Matzo balls prepared in this way, which can be consumed all year round, are thus both kosher and kosher for passover.
posted by Vantech at 9:44 PM on April 15, 2007

No offense, but the question is a little hard to understand. Perhaps coming from a different angle, the person you were talking to could be saying they keep "kosher" (chametz) for passover, but not for the entire year...
posted by jckll at 10:14 PM on April 15, 2007

No offense, but the question is a little hard to understand.

I dunno. As a goyische New Yorker it seems pretty clear to me (and the first three answers reflect my admittedly-outsider understanding of the distinction.)
posted by Opposite George at 10:30 PM on April 15, 2007

There are certain foods that are kosher generally, but are not appropriate for Passover.

Here's a good explanation.

As that article states, rules vary slightly between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews.
posted by cmgonzalez at 10:36 PM on April 15, 2007

I've never seen Kosher Coca-Cola (made w/ cane suger instead of corn syrup) at any time except Passover, so I guess that would qualify.
posted by DenOfSizer at 3:08 AM on April 16, 2007

If this is what you're asking--no, as far as I know, there are no branded products which are made with non-kosher ingredients and/or have no kosher certification during the year but have their factories kashered and then supervised for a Kosher-for-Passover run. Passover Coke has a mark on it to distinguish it from the Coke made with corn syrup, but Coke is kosher all year round.
posted by needs more cowbell at 3:11 AM on April 16, 2007

My boss at the yarn store is a Modern Orthodox Jew. She and I have talked a little bit about Kosher and Passover. She just returned from spending the holiday in Israel.

There are no foods that are un-Kosher through the year and become Kosher for Passover. There are some foods which for some Jews are Kosher but not Kosher for Passover. (I'm thinking about corn, hence the "real sugar" in the Coke.) There is also a huge amount of cleaning that goes into making a home or store Kosher for Passover.

In the stores that cater to people for whom these things matter, items labeled Kosher for Passover become not Kosher for them for Passover when stored with bread (or pork or corn chips), so they stop selling leavened breads etc a bit before the holiday. Different Jews have different deals with corn for Passover.

Also, Shana and her family got rid of all their non Kosher items, they gave it to non Jews, or if it was old they threw it out, even though they were out of the country. It's not even that you can't eat it, you can't own it.
posted by bilabial at 4:25 AM on April 16, 2007

Kosher for Passover = subset of Kosher

Anything that is KFP can be eaten the rest of the year when it is not Passover.
posted by Flakypastry at 5:10 AM on April 16, 2007

Kosher for passover is basically food without grain products. Since grains mixed with water "leaven" a little bit on their own, these are not allowed. Matzo is because it's made under very strict conditions as to avoid leavening.

Kosher for passover wine is another thing entirely. There's your standard kosher for passover wine (no corn syrup sweetening) and then there's the super kosher mevushal, which doesn't become un-kosher if it's handled by non-jews. It's accomplished by some
posted by electroboy at 6:52 AM on April 16, 2007

oops..


It's accomplished by some pasteurization process.
posted by electroboy at 6:52 AM on April 16, 2007

I've always taken "Kosher for Passover" to mean "extra Kosher." That is to say, all foods that are kosher for Passover are also kosher the rest of the year, but not all rest-of-the-year kosher foods qualify for Passover.
posted by boomchicka at 7:44 AM on April 16, 2007

[derail] - from cmgonzalez's link - ... re: ritual cleaning of cookware: "A blowtorch can be used if one is available."... how awesome is that? [/derail]
posted by yggdrasil at 12:33 PM on April 16, 2007

electroboy: not to nitpick, but you forgot matzah meal (for those not in the know, it's pretty much exactly what it sounds like... corn meal : corn :: matzah meal : matzah). There are plenty of kosher for passover foods made with grain products, as long as you consider processed matzah a grain product :)

Also, I'm chiming in with the "everything kosher for passover is kosher year-round" crowd.
posted by mismatched at 5:33 PM on April 16, 2007

electroboy, "mevushal" literally means "boiled" in Hebrew. I think the unspoken implication is that drinking crappy boiled wine with someone won't cement any relationships, and no one would use it in an idol-worship ceremony, so it's fine for Jews & non-Jews to drink it together. (The prohibition against non-Jews touching wine has its roots in 'well maybe you'll drink together, get friendly, and start serving their gods...or they may have used the wine in a ceremony before drinking it with you...or so I was taught.)
posted by needs more cowbell at 7:31 PM on April 16, 2007

not to nitpick, mismatched, but that's a terrible analogy. crushed up matzoh is very different than corn flour.
posted by electroboy at 10:48 PM on April 17, 2007

Used to be boiled, yes, but now you can get mevushal wine that's flash pasteurized.
posted by electroboy at 10:50 PM on April 17, 2007