Rotzeh B’kiyumo - Cookware Rental

QUESTION: May someone rent out their pots on Pesach to be used by a non-Jew?

ANSWER: Tur (OC 450) gives the following example where “rotzeh b’kiyumo” is forbidden. He writes that it is forbidden to rent out one’s pots on Pesach to a non-Jew so that he can use them to cook chametz. He refers to one who does so as “rotzeh b’kiyumo” (benefitting from the existence of the chametz). How does the chametz benefit the Jewish person on Pesach? The Tur explains, that if an empty pot would be placed on the fire, it would crack. It is the chametz inside the pot that keeps the pot from cracking. The Chok Yaakov writes that for this same reason, one may not lend a pot to a non-Jew to cook chametz, since if the pot were empty, it would get ruined. However, the Mikor Chaim disagrees. He explains that if one lends out their pot, they do not gain anything from the chametz. The chametz prevents loss, but it does not provide any gain. Only if one rents out their pot, then there is a gain. If the pot were to crack the non-Jew would not pay for the rental. Because the chametz protects the pot from cracking, he earns the rental fee. Only in this case is it considered that he is actually benefitting from the chametz on Pesach.

___________________________________________________

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.