Tel Aviv [Israel], as happens every year, Israel's two chief rabbis "sold" all the chametz in the country to a non-Jewish person before the Passover holiday, defining chametz as anything Chametz, which is one of the five grains made up of wheat, rye, oats and spelt – that were not made into unleavened matzah bread according to Jewish law, is considered chametz in one's possession during the week-long holiday. Keeping is prohibited, even if it is placed somewhere far away and out of sight. Therefore, people are allowed to effectively "sell" their chametz for the holiday period, in order to avoid any financial losses if they need to judge through everything. The idea is that any such items that someone possesses will technically belong to the non-Jewish purchaser during their holidays. The purchaser "fails" to pay for the chametz before the holidays end and so it returns back to its owners. Chametz sold by chief rabbis belonged to government ministries, government bodies, as well as any government succes. and those who authorized the Chief Rabbis to sell chametz for them to the Gentile Ma Hossein Jaber, a resident of the Arab village of Abu Gush, located just west of Jerusalem. (ANI/TPS)