Q: My mom worked for a Hasidic Rabbi and Rabitzen when she was in high school, and she was sharing her memories of important holidays and the traditions that accompanied those holidays. She mentioned that during Passover, the cabinets where the regular dishes were kept had to be sealed - special dishes (one set for meat, one set for dairy) were used instead - but she couldn't remember the traditional significance of sealing the cabinets. I understand how sealing the cabinets prevents the use of the dishes within them, but what I'm looking for is the cultural or religious meaning of the act of sealing the cabinets. If there is no cultural or religious significance, and it really is just a physical, visual reminder not to use those dishes, that's fine too.
A: There's no special religious significance. We seal them up because it's easy to forget when you're reaching for a plate in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning, that wait, we need to be using the passover dishes. Also, for those people who sell their chametz (food that is leavened or contains the prohibited grains), it keeps them from going in to cabinets that hold items that are no longer "legally" theirs.