Rabbi Pinchas M. Teitz (1908-1995), the rabbi of Elizabeth, New Jersey, for many years, took the initiative to arrange the sale of chametz for a number of large supermarket chains. About twenty-five years ago, I asked Rabbi Teitz why the sale was effective when the stores continued to acquire chametz on Pesach. Rabbi Teitz, who was a great talmid chacham, explained to me why he felt it was halachically possible to sell the chametz acquired on Pesach as well. Rabbis who sell supermarket chains follow this position. Nonetheless, a careful reading of the Iggeret Moshe (OC 4:96) makes it clear that Rav Moshe had a conflicting opinion and did not consider it possible to sell the chametz acquired by supermarkets during Pesach. In fact, this is the opinion of many contemporary posekim. If we accept this latter view, one cannot purchase chametz in a supermarket—even if we know that the chametz in that supermarket was sold prior to Pesach—until such time that it is reasonable to assume that the majority of inventory was either purchased before or after the eight days of Pesach. (Sorry. No post-Pesach Danish.)
Some rabbanim have found creative ways to deal with the problem of chametz purchased by supermarkets during Pesach, but these solutions have not been universally accepted. This subject is complex and is beyond the scope of this article.
