Cosmetics & Pesach Guides

Using ‘Purell’ To Underst The Halachos Inedible Chometz

March, 2023

I say it almost every year—in my experience, Pesach is the least busy time for a rav.

Unlike Shavuos, when the rav gives all-night shiurim, or Sukkos, when daled minim can wither or break and the weather can elicit sh’eilos, the days of Pesach are often silent.

This is because by the time Pesach arrives, the house has been cleaned, the food has been purchased, the kitchen has been kashered, and the guidelines have been given out. Of course, problems will always arise, but these are rare.

In fact, one of my favorite times of year is Erev Pesach, right after I sell the chametz. The next several hours are among the quietest on the rabbinic schedule.

Conversely, the weeks leading up to Pesach are busier than ever. To be honest, there is a certain excitement about this; not a day goes by when I do not receive a sh’eilah I have never been asked before—and sometimes they are sh’eilos I haven’t even thought of!

The problem, of course, is time. Glancing at my cellphone right now as I sneak away to write this column, I see that I have received seven calls and 13 texts in the past 25 minutes. My emails are backed up, my voice mailbox is out of space, and my wife, who has her own nine-to-five job, is running the house alone. Indeed, the role of the rebbetzin too often goes unseen, but without her the rabbi would not be able to help his tzibbur (a topic that deserves its own column).

The main purpose of this column has always been to give a window into the world of rabbanus, so I will share the most popular sh’eilah I’ve received in the past few years. There is also a lesson in this sh’eilah as we go into Yom Tov.

Most Pesach guides state or imply two significant halachic positions for the Pesach consumer.

One is that inedible cosmetic powders, creams, soaps, shampoos, gels, and other such items are all acceptable on Pesach regardless of their ingredients (see, for example, the 2023 OU guide, p. 113; shu”t Sh’oel U’meishiv 2:148; cf. Biur Halachah, siman 326, etc., that some are machmir).

The second position is that if these cosmetics and inedible items are in liquid form—for example, perfume, spray deodorant and hairspray—there may indeed be a problem if they contain chametz (see Mikra’ei Kodesh, 1:54, Igros Moshe, Orach Chaim 3:62, and Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach in Halichos Shlomo, 4:11; cf. Shaarim Metzuyanim B’halachah,112:2, which allows even these).

It seems easy to remember—all inedible cosmetic items are permissible on Pesach, but those that are in liquid form need to be checked. If you would like to use a liquid item, you need to make sure either that it contains no alcohol, or that any alcohol listed in the ingredients is not ethyl, ethanol or denatured, as these three types may be derived from chametz.

Based on this guideline, many people have approached me to say they are surprised that I listed Purell and other hand sanitizers as problematic on Pesach if they contain any of these kinds of alcohol.

“Rabbi,” they tell me, “first of all, these are not exactly liquids. And secondly, other Pesach guides say they are all fine.”

It is always hard for a rav to argue with what has been published!

The other night after davening, I decided to explain my personal approach publicly.

I began by reminding my listeners of a vital principle I often share with them: “Psak halachah must always be consistent.” A halachah in hilchos Yom Tov, for example, must align with certain rules in hilchos shechitah. No halachah exists in a vacuum; everything is connected. The Shulchan Aruch and the Rambam are not just organized compilations of laws; each is an integrated, dependable systems, a cohesive living organism of halachah.

In this framework, a rule regarding inedible liquids has a taam, a logic. Knowing the exact reasoning behind a halachah or chumrah is critical in order to use it in another application.   

I asked my audience, “Why is it that cosmetic liquids are a problem when other types of cosmetics are not? Well, it was never about liquids per se.”

Certainly, those rabbanim and publications that disagree with me regarding hand sanitizers are well aware of the following, and may indeed deviate from my conclusion. My goal, however, is to explain this to the layman.

Rav Moshe (ibid.) and others explained that there was a time when poor people and addicts either drank these “inedible” items, or filtered and flavored them and then drank them, in order to get the high they needed. In fact, my father-in-law saved a story printed in Toronto’s Globe and Mail in the late 1980s about a homeless man who passed out surrounded by deodorant bottles.

Because some people consider this an edible item, the minhag developed to be strict regarding those that contain chametz.

“The problem was the fact that they were edible, not that they were liquid,” I explained.

What does this have to do with my view on hand sanitizers? Many do contain chametz (ethyl, ethanol or denatured alcohol), and unlike a bottle of spray deodorant, there have been countless news articles over the past decade about teenagers drinking them (e.g., NPR, April 25, 2012, and VICE, February 25, 2016).

In my opinion, if this chumrah applies to liquid cosmetics, it would also apply to hand sanitizers. In fact, during COVID, when there was a shortage of hand sanitizers, many distilleries switched to making them.

Here is a story that came out just last week in North Carolina:

“A distillery business in Statesville pivoted to meet consumer needs when a hand-sanitizer shortage stressed the community three years ago, but now they’re back to making whiskey. Stores couldn’t keep hand sanitizer in stock when the pandemic hit. Southern Distilling Company took advantage of the opportunity and began using its alcohol to create hand sanitizer”(Spectrum 1 News).

While everyone should follow the view of his own rav,we must never stop asking questions when it comes to halachah.Respectfully asking the reason for a practice is derech haTorah!

I hope my shul continues to ask me, “Why?”