It is of the utmost importance that people do not rush our local stores immediately after Pesach as this will cause crowding which we must avoid at all costs. In consultation with Rabbi Hopfer, head of the Baltimore Vaad HaRabbanim, he explained that one may, during Chol Hamoed Pesach, place an order for chameitz food with an online store or service, such as Instacart, to arrive after Pesach, provided that:
1) The store/ service does not charge the credit card upon ordering (Instacart does not charge until the food is purchased. A pending charge is okay).
2) The delivery time is well after Pesach, such as Friday morning, April 17th. This ensures that the food is not picked up on your behalf until after Pesach is over.
3) The store you are purchasing from is on this list of stores that one may shop in after Pesach – https://www.star-k.org/articles/wp-content/uploads/PostPesachStoreInfo2020.pdf.
For example, using Instacart, one may place an order today from Wegman’s which includes Chameitz food. You must choose a time on Friday, April 17th, as delivery time.
There are a number of local stores that have similar arrangements that allow for ordering now for after Pesach, such as Market Maven and Seven Mile Market. They can be found on the Jcovid website – www.Jcovid.com. Supporting local establishments is incredibly valuable at a time like this.
If you have any questions please email me at yisrael.motzen@gmail.com