This year, the first day of Passover is a Sunday.  Which means the first seder is on Saturday night.  Which means the night before the first seder is Shabbat.

Which begs the question--do we eat challah?

Here's what we have to do. The house must be ready for Passover on Thursday (yep--that means one less day to prepare!) Since we must light a candle in order to to bidikat chametz (the hunt for chametz) we must do so on Thursday night (not Friday night, since we can't light a candle on Shabbat).  So it also follows that we must burn the chametz on Friday morning (not Saturday morning) again because we cannot light a fire during Shabbat.

BUT, we do not say the blessing after we burn the chametz.  The blessing: “All leaven or anything leavened which is in my possession, whether I have observed it or not, whether I have removed it or not shall be completely considered naught and ownerless as the dust of the earth” is said on Saturday morning.

Since the house is free of chametz on Friday, we eat a meal that is chametz free on Friday night. We use our Passover pots to cook the meal.  However, we can use a challah. It is best to have a very small challah or even individual challah rolls (the idea being that all the challah must be consumed).  Technically, each person should eat 2 oz of challah.  Eat the challah away from the table (in the hallway) or on a paper napkin. Flush any crumbs down the toilet.   I've also heard of families using egg matzoh for the Shabbat meal before Passover begins.  Even though egg matzo is not kosher for Passover (see next paragraph) it is still not okay to eat matzo on the Shabbat before Passover because it should be a special thing to eat matzo on the seder.

Egg matzoh is made with fruit juice and is not considered kosher for Passover (except for the elderly or children who cannot digest regular matzo).  This follows Ashkenazi Passover rules.  The fruit juice sweetens the matzo--in this sense it is "enriched".  The Hebrew for egg matzo is translated to "enriched matzo" and since matzo is a "poor man's bread" it is no longer kosher for Passover if it is deemed "rich" (I learned that on Wikipedia!)  Unfortunately, this also holds true for chocolate matzo.  Be careful when buying matzo--not all matzo is "kosher for Passover."  Since most non-kosher supermarkets will put every can of chicken soup (kosher or not) on the Passover shelves, it follows that all boxes of matzo will also be put out. Remember to check the box for markings that deem the products (soup, matzo, etc.) "kosher for Pesach."

Since the first seder is on Saturday night, we incorporate the Havdallah ceremony into the Kiddush part of the seder (before the Shehechiyyanu).  The Yom Tov candles double for the Havdallah candle. 

Oh well...think of it this way--with all the cleaning and cooking finished on Thursday, we can truly rest on Shabbes!

(There are even more rules to follow this year because of the whole Shabbat thing. I found a wonderful post on The Rebbetzin's Husband that explains even more!  Like when to sell your chametz, etc.)

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