Pesach

Is it mandatory for a person who leads the teaching a siyum to partake of the Seudat Mitzvah or are they permitted to keep fasting and lead the siyum for the benefit of others?

My cousin is culturally Jewish but not observant. He is getting married to a Jewish woman on Chol Hamoed Passover. I have learned that weddings are not supposed to be held on Chol Hamoed. I already said I was coming before I realized the date. Is attending such a wedding permitted?

Can we drink orange juice and coconut water on pesach that was purchased before pesach but doesn't have a k for p?

Can the coffee grinder we use during the year be used on Pesach? It has only been used for unflavored / non-decaf beans. We are Sepharadi, as well.

Are there eight days of eating unleavened bread or do we start unleavened bread on Abib 14 (Pesach) to make the feast of Unleavened Bread exactly seven days? Because some are claiming that Unleavened Bread (UB) feast is supposed to be only seven days (Abib 15-21) so want to start UB at sunset on Abib 14 instead of 15th which conflates UB with Pesach. Those people say otherwise it makes eight days of eating unleavened bread when the Torah says eat unleavened bread for exactly seven days. The following list shows the dates I think are correct. Are they correct? Passover (14 Abib/ Nisan) at sunset, keeping vigil until midnight. Unleavened Bread (15 Abib / Nisan) 1st holy day, sunset Abib 15 thru sunset Abib 16. Unleavened Bread (21 Abib/ Nisan) 2d holy day, sunset Abib 21 thru sunset Abib 22. We are Christians who revoke the Catholic holidays and observe the Levitical feasts. May the Creator God bless you for your work.

I take daily vitamins that are in capsules, they are O U certified but not kosher for pesach. Do they have to be kosher for pesach?

e.g., Origins - Egypt, Traditions today to remember, etc.

I was born into Ashkenaz family and generally keep Kosher AND LACTO-OVO VEGETARIAN for health & environmental reasons (except religious ones of course). So, for me, Rice and Lentiles are important parts of my diet (both for nutrients and for the tasting pleasure when eating). The second thing is that I understand that Jewish civilization --having been persecuted and living in the diaspora-- migrated and subsequently evolved in different parts of the world and thus adopted some differences in customs --and that eating rice and lentils (and corn for that matter) is one of these differences. It just so happens that I cannot claim any Jewish anscestry outside of Poland and Ukraine. So my question is --what if I disagree with Ashkenaz Pesach customs and I want to eat rice and lentiles and corn like the Sephardim? Is this Halachically permissible, pprohibiuted or discouraged but technically allowed? The other issue concerns my opinion on the Ashkenaz-Sephardim Divide. I don't like it. I don't believe in it. And i wish to deny/ignore it. I have --for many years-- firmly disagreed with /opposed this division of the Jewish People, and would like to see the day that Jews are united (and end to the diaspora and these inconvenient and possibly dangerous divisions) before a return to Israel and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. Am I supposed to embrace the Jewish "Geotype"? Or is it ok to reject such divisions amongst our people? Thank You Kindly, in advance for answering my question. Be Well and Shalom. My question again is threefold: Am I allowed to disassociate myself with any given Ashkenaz Minhagim? To what extent is this Halachically permissible? More specifically, am i allowed to reject the minhagim and eat rice, corn and lentils on Pesach --(even though i am NOT Sephardim and do not recognizxe such divisions as having any validity).

I always thought the word “chametz” was pronounced as CHA-MAYTZ, with a kamatz and a tzere and the accent on the second syllable. But I hear people pronouncing it as “choomitz,” with the OO pronounced as in “book” and the accent on the first syllable. How did that get to be?

I had a friend over for a Passover meal the other day. She doesn’t understand that anything other than actual bread can be chametz. She brought with her as a gift for me a box of wafers. Knowing her, she would be offended if I turned down this gift. I cannot explain it to her either because she knows very little about Judaism and has difficulty comprehending and is easily angered. The only option that remained was for me to accept her gift, then throw it away after she left. But I don’t know if I did the right thing. I don’t know if I could have given it to a gentile neighbor. I felt guilty about throwing away perfectly good food. She is coming for another visit next week after the holiday. I am trying to figure out which store sells the same wafers, then buy a box and serve it after Passover as if it’s the same one that she brought me.