Question:
This actually happened last year right after pesach. (Not sure if it makes a difference) I never got around to ask the question. Anyway, I handled chamatz dough with my hands and several hours later I went into my pesach kitchen and washed some pots. I never inspected my hands to see if any dough remained on my hands/fingers etc. However, I did wash my hands (but I didn’t consciously clean them) and bathed kids in between which is likely to have removed anything if there would have been anything left. So my question is as follows: I rinsed the pots with lemon juice (which is sharp) and did so with my fingers to get it all over the bottom of the pot. Is there an issue here (with the pots and sink) since I did not inspect my hands and maybe there was any dough left? Does the lemon juice further complicate things? Also, after I was done washing the pots I remembered that I didn’t inspect my fingers and instead of looking at them to check if they remained dirty, I nervously ran to scrub them.
(Could you please provide the halachic reasoning as to why it is or isn’t okay?) Thanks!
Answer:
Although you should have checked yourself after handling dough, but since you already washed your hands and bathed the kids, there is nothing to worry about. The reason is because of the rule, “achzukei isura lo machzikinan”, we are not going to assume that there was a problem, unless we have significant reason to assume so. Since you washed your hands already, the whole question is only if we make an assumption that the dough was still there. Therefore it is alright.
Have a Chag Kasher V’sameach
