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Posted on 13. Mar, 2010 by buyitinisrael in Halacha, Interior Design, Miscellaneous
©iStockphoto.com/Tova Teitelbaum
By Zev Shalev
I find it fascinating that Jewish tradition and customs have such an effect on home design. Aside from the obvious: the impact that keeping Shabbat has; the location and size of the succa and its distance from the kitchen; planning a dining room to accommodate major shabbat and holiday meals, sheva brachot, etc., the event that really takes the cake is Pesach (Passover).
A well-designed home can significantly ease Pesach preparations. Let’s consider some of the options:
- The Pesach kitchen. The first thing on most homemakers’ Pesach wish list is a Pesach kitchen. But there are few homes in Israel that have the space for this luxury.
- Upper kitchen cabinets. Another popular request that I hear is upper cabinets that reach the ceiling for Pesach storage. The down sides here are: 1. this solution dictates getting up on a ladder and switching your cabinet contents, 2. cabinets to the ceiling will often add to the cost of the kitchen (depending on your ceiling height), and 3 they might also cramp the kitchen visually. These factors might put into question the wisdom of cupboards to the ceiling. And, as long as you have to get up on a ladder and schlep the Pesach gear, why not keep it in a storage area elsewhere in the house?
- A Pesach cupboard. If you have one dedicated storage unit located at a conveniently accessible height, you don’t necessarily need to unload and reload your cupboards. And if there is no room for this unit in the kitchen proper, a good solution can be to have it in an adjacent service area such as a utility porch, or integrated into the design of a unit in the dining room. But no matter what solution you come up with, my suggestion is that a conveniently located cupboard which helps you avoid “changing over” should be a priority.
Another major time consumer in Pesach preparations is kashering. I am not speaking as a halachic authority (my clients all have their own resources for that), but I’d like to address the issue of practicality in choosing materials and appliances.
- Most halachic authorities allow for the kashering of stainless steel. That’s one reason why this material is such a popular choice for sinks in observant homes. However, there are those who avoid choosing stainless as the water in Israel has a high mineral content and stainless will show spots more readily than other materials. If that’s a problem for you, why not think about a water treatment system for your entire home. This will allow you to have the convenience of kasherable stainless, and, as an added advantage, your skin, clothing, washer and dishwasher will last longer. And if we’re talking about stainless and the convenience of its kasherability, why not stainless counters in at least part of your kitchen such as the sink area or island?
- Granite counters are also considered to be kasherable by most authorities but with the advent of quartz composite counters, (Caesarstone, Silestone, Zodiaq) the question of their kasherability has also come up. Caesarstone will provide you with a rabbinic certificate accordingly.
- Kashering the oven has always been time consuming. Many rabbinic authorities approve using the oven for Pesach if its been cleaned and then run through the self-cleaning cycle. However, when buying your oven, make sure that you’re okay with the self-cleaning system- ask if it’s catalytic or pyrolitic.
As with everything else in home design, a little advance planning can go a long way in making your Pesach preparations that much easier.
The writer is a freelance interior designer and space planner with more than 20 years experience with the English-speaking community across Israel. Zev can be contacted by telephone +972 523-834-208 or by email at zev@shalevdesign.com.
The contents of this article are designed to provide the reader with general information and not to serve as legal or other professional advice for a particular transaction. Readers are advised to obtain advice from qualified professionals prior to entering into any transaction.
© Copyright 2010.
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