Jerusalem, Israel - Passover Goes High-Tech Web Helps Observant Jews Sell Chometz

Jerusalem, Israel - High-tech entered the realm of biblical-era Passover holiday observances in a big way this year as dozens of Internet sites offered Jews the option of symbolically selling off-limits foods over the Web.

Jews who don't eat any leavened food during the holiday scour their homes and rid their pantries of the forbidden items.
Smoke wafted through the air of Jerusalem and other towns Wednesday morning as people burned bread and other unleavened foods in communal bonfires, some reaching as high as 10 feet. Piles of charred bread were still smoldering in Jerusalem's Makor Baruch neighborhood in the early afternoon.

This year the High-tech of the Internet offered a wide variety of sites for those who put a premium on convenience when carrying out the ceremonial custom of "selling" nonperishable forbidden food to a non-Jew, for "repurchase" after the holiday. Faxing sale transaction requests through a religious intermediary was another option.