I first heard about Julie Hauser’s innovative way of making Pesach when she wrote an article about it for Mishpacha magazine a couple of years ago. Without a Pesach kitchen, Julie set about figuring out a way to make Pesach cooking happen without the stress.

Her solution? She sets up a little work space near her utility room with several Crock-Pots and a cabinet full of supplies, including disposable pans, containers, dry goods, and of course garbage bags. Then she plans her mains, soups, and sides, fills her slow cookers, and lets them do the work for her. Each night a different dish cooks its way to perfection while she sleeps, and all she has to do in the morning is transfer the finished food to a container, cool it, and stick it into the freezer, ready to be enjoyed two or three weeks later. By the time she’s ready to turn over her kitchen, Julie’s got a freezer stocked with fully-cooked meals, and the pressure is (mostly) off.

Any parent in Bais Yaakov in 1999 will remember the peanut revolution. Overnight, peanuts were no longer allowed in school. Why? Because one child in the school had a deathly peanut allergy.  Today, peanut-free schools are commonplace. Back then, it was unheard of. The parents protested: “What are we supposed to send in our kids’ lunches?” they asked.

But Rabbi Mendel Freedman, z”l, the principal of Bais Yaakov Elementary School from 1979 until 2015, stayed firm. “It’s pikuach nefesh,” he said, “and every child needs to be able to learn in a safe environment.” He had consulted with several rabbanim and wasn’t afraid to stand behind the new policy. To the teachers in the school, he said, “If it were my own child, I would do the same thing.”