So far I think this is the front runner nominee for this year's "Pesach Chumra of the Year"..
A service to check your shtreimel for chametz? To be fair, it is really just a shtreimel cleaning service, but they are selling it as if you might have gotten chametz into your shtreimel, rather than just freshen and clean your shtreimel for the holiday...
How do you get chametz in your shtreimel anyway? Food fight at the weekly shabbos kiddush? Flinging herring and yerushalmi kugel?
The chametz probably fell in when they threw wheat kernels at the Aufruf.
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Never can be too careful!
Of course I would assume that synthetic shtreimelach only have synthetic chametz in them (but no dead animals)
I once heard a beautiful story of a young Chosid who got married just before Pesach. Whilst sitting at the Seder table with his Shtreimel on his head, when he was eating the soup, he saw to his horror a piece of barley floating in the soup. He angrily told his host, his new father-in-law, and demanded an explanation. As he could not do so, they stopped the Seder, and went off to the local Rebbe. The Rebbe thought for a minute, and then asked to see the bochur's shtreimel. Upon examining it, he found quite a few grains of barley in the shtreimel. Apparently during his recent wedding, barley grains were thrown at the couple, and some had lodged in the shtreimel. Which goes to show how important it is to clean the shtreimel, or even better, not to wear this stupid thing, which is a chikas hagoy, and cruelty to animals as well.
ReplyDeletein poorer shtetlach in Europe the streimel doubled as a soup bowl.
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