Mea Shearim and Ge'ulah before Pessach

B"H

The heat was almost unbearable last night but it didn't stop people from their Pessach preparations. The shops in the haredi neighbourhoods of Ge'ulah and Mea Shearim were open until late and unbelievable crowded. New dishes, shoes, clothes, Streimels or the last cleaning material, everything just faded away from the shops. People just didn't stop buying.

The streets were so crowded that many pedestrians started walking in the streets. Therefore, the traffic partly stopped and cars as well as buses were wildly blowing their horns.
Many shops were still open at 10.30pm. Haredim were running up and down and women were busy cleaning balconies and windows. Huge loads of potatoes, onions and carrots were stored in front of the shops. This will be our Ashkenazi food during Pessach.

Sometimes people carried a table outside and placed it in front of their house. The house is "kasher for Pessach" and for the last few days before the Seder, many haredi families prefer to eat outside in order not to mess up the house again. No more bread and cookie crumbs. Who is able to watch the little kids all the time and quickly some crumbs could find their way into the carpet.

The big problem starts this Friday night – Erev Shabbat. We are still supposed to eat bread before the meal but how can we do that by not messing up the living room ?
Many people eat their bread over a sink and, as I mentioned, simply sit outside. The whole flat is kosher for Pessach and already on Shabbat, we eat food kosher for Pessach (except for the bread). However, there won't be any more Challot but mostly Pita bread. Bakeries have already stopped their production and those few cleaning for Pessach, already sell food "kasher le'Pessach".

"Café Hillel" and "English Cake" will be kosher and open throughout Pessach. But in case you are Ashkenazi or even worse, chassidic, and therefore starving due to the strict food restrictions on Pessach, watch out as Hillel as well as English Cake will definitely ask for higher prices.