At this time of year, like every other year, every Jewish home is faced with the sudden increase of prices of kosher foods. What makes this year different from all other years? In all other years we see an increase in the price of food and supplies, all allegedly necessary to cover the cost of kashering the food establishment (whether it be a grocery, restaurant or coffee stand) for Pesach. This year is different though. This year prices have also increased as a result of supply-chain issues and inflation, the end result being record high prices. But why do we accept the Pesach bump every year?

Every year we have to clean our own homes (or we incur additional expenses to go away, either to friends, family or a Pesach program). This cleaning takes time. (Yes, some of us have to take a few days off of work to prepare for Pesach.) Sometimes this cleaning requires hiring additional help. This cleaning/changeover also incurs additional expenses. (I’m looking at you, aluminum foil and paper/plasticware). But I don’t pass these increased costs on to my boss, or my customers. (I am not in the food industry.) I don’t get to increase my salary for a few months every spring. My kids don’t get a Pesachdik bump in their allowance. My shul doesn’t raise the costs of membership for that week. Why are we so accepting that all these kosher-for-Pesach establishments add a Pesach surcharge?

Last week, I noticed a substantial increase in the price of meat, lamb and chicken—staples of the holiday season. At the same time, many of my colleagues tell me that most kosher butchers are really kosher for Pesach all year round (at least the slaughterhouse and processing stages), a fact which admittedly I am unable to confirm or deny. Notwithstanding, how is it that when the Jewish people need their meat the most, the Jewish suppliers increase the price?

Is it irony, or divine inspiration that we find the story of Shmuel and the vessel merchants (Pesachim 30a)? Shmuel observed that these merchants would increase their prices after Pesach, when demand was high to replace pots and pans that became contaminated with chametz over Pesach. In response, Shmuel informed these salespeople that if they did not lower their prices, he would teach the people that they could use their contaminated vessels after Pesach, obviating the need to purchase new pots and pans.

What can we take away from this? That Shmuel was looking to restock his kitchen but didn’t want to pay a fortune? Perhaps. Or perhaps we see an example of a leader taking action to help the community by threatening to recognize a leniency. A more extremist view would be that Shmuel was willing to allow halacha to be influenced by economics—not the only time this happened in relation to Pesach. (Look up the story of the Joseph Jacobs Advertising and how their advertising campaign led to the recognition of coffee *beans* as not kitniyot, but let’s not go there right now.)

Fast forward 2,000 years: Pots, pans and utensils aren’t as expensive as they were in Talmudic times—thank you, Industrial Revolution—yet price increases for Pesach are as traditional as mechirat chametz forms. Thankfully, we have a wide variety of establishments regulating and overseeing kashrut. Historically, these establishments have absorbed other factors into their penumbra of review, such as the names of products or establishments. (Other areas of concern under the umbrella of kashrut are not uncommon—shemirat Shabbat is tied to kashrut, because you can’t be recognized as kosher if you don’t keep Shabbat.) Our leaders need to take a page from the book of Pesachim (page 30 to be specific) and act like Shmuel. Pesach pricing must also be included as a condition of granting your certificate of kashrut. And if they don’t lower their prices, find a leniency to impose.