Burning chametz
Burning chametzIsrael news photo: Flash 90

According to news reports, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has promised the post of Finance Minister to Kulanu's Moshe Kahlon – but on Wednesday, the transition government headed by Netanyahu ratified an extension of the Prime Minister as acting Finance Minister.

No major spending decisions are expected to be made or a new budget is expected to be instituted before the new government is formed – in essence, making the post meaningless, other than for window-dressing.

But according to the Kikar Shabbat web site, the re-appointment of Netanyahu to the post was prompted by phone calls to cabinet members by none other than Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef – who was concerned that, without a Finance Minister, the sale of leaven (chametz) before the upcoming Passover holiday would be nullified.

While many Jews consider the personal or commercial sale of chametz, the leavened products from bread to beer that are forbidden on Passover, to be a mere “technicality,” there is actually a great deal more to it.

The sale is a valid one, and Jews who sign forms giving over ownership of their leavened products at home – not to mention the supermarkets, restaurants, and institutions who sell their chametz as well – would be forbidden from using those products after Passover were it not for the sale.

Under the sale, the Chief Rabbinate takes ownership of all the leavened products that have been signed over to it, and transfer it conditionally to a non-Jew. The buyer gets to own the products on approval, for one week – after which he must decide whether he actually wishes to pay for the chametz, or back out of the sale.

With the pricetag in the tens of millions of dollars, the purchaser has so far chosen to back out every year – although the possibility always exists that the buyer could take over ownership of the whiskey, cake, cookies, pasta, and everything else that is stored away out of sight in stores and homes by Jews participating in the sale.

The validity of the sale rests on the presence of a finance minister, and the three month term for temporary Finance Minister Netanyahu came to an end on Wednesday.

While under other circumstances, it's unlikely that the post would have been renewed, since a “real” Finance Minister is likely to be named within weeks, if not days – unless there was an overriding need, as Rabbi Yosef determined.

As a result, Netanyahu's temporary term was extended for another three month period – although, of course, he is free to resign at any time in favor of another candidate.