Laws of Checking for Chometz - Rabbi Avraham Mizrachi shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lema’an Yishme’u,” a podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 In this class, with Hashem’s help, we’ll discuss the many laws of Pesach. Within those laws, we’ll focus on the laws of searching for chametz. With Hashem’s help, we’ll try to explain the reason for the search, what it entails, when it takes place, the blessing, and so on. First, let’s look at the Torah’s uniquely stringent treatment of chametz, unlike other prohibitions. The Torah was strict about chametz in several respects: “It shall not be seen, and it shall not be found”—“No chametz shall be seen in your possession; no leaven shall be found in your homes.” Besides the prohibitions against eating chametz and benefiting from it, chametz may not be seen or found in our possession. We are also commanded to eliminate the chametz before Pesach. How do we do that? According to Torah law, it is enough for a person to nullify the chametz in his heart and regard it as “the dust of the earth.” Once it loses all significance and importance to him, that is sufficient. Nevertheless, our Sages did not consider nullification enough. They required us to actually eliminate the chametz and physically remove it from our domain. There are several explanations for why our Sages did not rely on a person’s nullification in his heart. One is that nullification depends on the person’s state of mind. If he has valuable chametz, or a large amount of it, he may not truly mean that he regards it as the dust of the earth. If so, the chametz has not really been nullified. So our Sages decreed that one should not rely on nullification, but must physically remove the chametz from his possession. Another reason is that the Sages were concerned that if a person only nullified his chametz but it remained in his possession, he might, G-d forbid, accidentally eat some during Pesach, since he is accustomed to eating chametz throughout the year. Because the Torah is so stringent about chametz, as we said—eating it is forbidden and carries the punishment of kareis, and on Pesach even the smallest amount of chametz is forbidden—our Sages required a person not to rely on nullification, but to actually eliminate the

03:03 Speaker 2 chametz. Of course, the mitzvah to eliminate chametz begins on Erev Pesach. That is, if Pesach begins on Friday night, as it does this year, the time to dispose of the chametz is Friday afternoon. According to Torah law, the prohibition begins at midday; by rabbinic law, the prohibition against benefiting from chametz begins an hour earlier, and the prohibition against eating it two hours earlier. The Sages instituted a search close to the time when chametz becomes forbidden to eat and benefit from by Torah law, to make sure there is no chametz in our possession and, if there is, to remove it completely. In principle, then, the search should have taken place close to the time the Torah’s prohibition begins, on Erev Pesach itself. But because people are busy with their work in the middle of the day and might forget to search, the Sages moved the search forward to the night of 14 Nissan. In the arrangement we mentioned, that means Thursday night is the time for the search for chametz. Another reason they moved it to nighttime is that the Sages wanted the search to be thorough and effective, so they instituted that it be done by candlelight. A candle shines brightly and illuminates well when there is no daylight—specifically at night. That is why our Sages established the beginning of the night of 14 Nissan as the time for the search for chametz. The time for the search for chametz. The proper time to search is right at the beginning of the night of 14 Nissan. So the custom, and the preferred practice, is to daven Maariv at its proper time, when the stars come out, and immediately afterward, without delay, go home and begin the search. Of course, if someone did not search at the beginning of the night, he must search at the first opportunity. The obligation to search remains upon him. Even if, for whatever reason, he did not search at night, he must search during the day on Erev Pesach. If he still did not search, the obligation remains throughout Pesach, and he searches with a blessing. Even if he did not search during all of Pesach, that brings us

05:57 Speaker 2 to another issue: the rabbinic prohibition concerning chametz that remained in a person’s possession over Pesach. He still has to search even after Pesach, but without a blessing. Let’s return, though, to the time our Sages established as ideal: the beginning of the night of 14 Nissan. A person may therefore not occupy himself with other things at the time of the search. Things one may not do before searching for chametz. To prevent someone from forgetting the search, G-d forbid, the Sages made a safeguard: one should not engage in activities that might distract him from it. They therefore prohibited eating a full meal, studying, or doing work during the half hour before the time for the search. Otherwise, a person might get caught up in the studying, the work, or the meal, and, G-d forbid, miss the time for the search. If there is a regular Torah class in halacha, the class may go ahead; it need not be canceled. Afterward, it is good for the participants to remind one another to search for chametz at the proper time. A light snack is permitted: fruit or baked goods in a quantity smaller than the volume of an egg are not a concern. It is important to clarify that the prohibition against eating or engaging in those other activities applies to the person who is supposed to search for chametz himself. In a typical household, responsibility for the search rests with the head of the household, who owns the chametz. The responsibility is his, so the prohibition against engaging in other activities that might cause him to forget the search applies to him. The other members of the household, who do not bear that responsibility, are not prohibited from engaging in other activities. Once the time for the search has arrived, however, he may not occupy himself with other things at all. He may not eat even less than the volume of an egg, because the obligation to search is already upon him. To make it possible to search at the proper time, it is right to prepare the house thoroughly for

08:40 Speaker 2 the search for chametz. Preparing the house for the search for chametz. Even before the date of the search, the house should ideally be clean enough to allow for a thorough search. Indeed, it has long been the Jewish custom to begin preparing the house for Pesach many days beforehand, cleaning the entire house thoroughly so there is no concern that any chametz might remain during Pesach. This makes good sense: it is impossible to deal with all the chametz in the house in a single night before Pesach. So one needs to start preparing the house in advance for the final search, which takes place on the night of the search for chametz. First, attention must be paid to all the places where chametz is used throughout the year. Those are the places that need to be dealt with first, so that no chametz remains there during Pesach. That means the kitchen, where chametz is cooked, the dining area, and the dining table—places where chametz is likely to be found. Refrigerators and freezers, of course, must certainly be cleaned very thoroughly, because there is definitely chametz in those places. Beyond the places where we know for certain that there is chametz, the search also includes places chametz might have reached. Those places, too, need to be properly prepared for the search. In practical terms, this means any place chametz might have been brought. In a family with young children, chametz might have been left almost anywhere: they may have hidden chametz there or handled it there. So it is best to clean those places in advance. And to avoid leaving too much for the night of the search, it is certainly possible to spread this searching over several nights in the days before Pesach. That means, for example, that if there are clothes closets or children’s drawers where there is a very good chance they handled things there

11:29 Speaker 2 If there is chametz there, then in the days before Pesach you simply remove everything from those places—whether toys, clothes, and so on. Clean the shelves and drawers thoroughly. At night, you can go over those places by candlelight without a blessing. Since they have already been thoroughly cleaned and checked, you do not need to check them again by candlelight on the night of the 14th; they are now considered places where chametz is not brought. Of course, you have to be especially careful not to bring chametz into them again after cleaning them. Otherwise, everything we did to clean and prepare them is undone. The Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch addresses this, and there are two sides to the matter. On one side is the stringency and the Jewish custom to be as thorough as possible in cleaning away chametz. As the Alter Rebbe writes in section 442, paragraph 30: “Jews are holy and are accustomed to be stringent with themselves, scraping away any chametz they find, even the smallest amount, if it is stuck to a house or a utensil. They are very stringent about scraping benches, chairs, and walls that chametz has touched. And if there is chametz in a crack that they cannot dig out, they cover it with a little mortar.” Of course, we have to keep this in proportion. What I mean is this: we need to distinguish between places where chametz might, G-d forbid, remain during Pesach—even a crumb of chametz that someone might accidentally eat—and other places. In the former, we must be as stringent as possible. Chametz is prohibited even in the smallest amount, and eating it carries the penalty of kareis. So we must do everything we can to avoid even the remotest possibility that a crumb of chametz will remain and, G-d forbid, be eaten by mistake. Everything connected with the dining table, chairs, benches—anything we come into contact with while eating—requires great stringency. One example would be

14:13 Speaker 2 something people may not think of: a mobile phone. It is very common to handle it while eating, so it may well have crumbs of chametz on it. If someone handles it while eating on Pesach, a crumb could easily fall into the food and be eaten. So with anything that could end up in our mouths on Pesach, we must be as stringent as possible. Even a crumb is prohibited; eating chametz carries the penalty of kareis. We must make every effort to prevent even an accidental crumb of chametz from being eaten, whether by us or by another member of the household on Pesach. That is why we must take the utmost care with places where people eat. Another very common example is the bentchers used during Shabbos meals. There is no doubt that they are full of chametz crumbs. If someone were to use those bentchers on Pesach, G-d forbid, crumbs could easily fall out and someone might end up eating them. When it comes to accidentally eating chametz, we must be extremely stringent. But when we speak about places that do not come into contact with food, places where chametz might merely be present, we need to make distinctions. If there is a concern that chametz might remain there, even a crumb that is fit to eat, we need to look for it and physically get rid of it before Pesach, at the time of burning the chametz. But if we are talking about crumbs that are very small and are also unappetizing, there is no halachic obligation to search for them, check for them, or dispose of them on Erev Pesach. They are considered nullified on their own, and the concern that someone might come to eat them does not apply. So when halachah says that a person must search for chametz in holes and cracks and so on, it is speaking about places where there may be crumbs of chametz that someone might come

16:46 Speaker 2 to eat—crumbs that are fit to eat. But suppose there are little gaps between floor tiles, and a crumb may have gotten into one of them. There is no need to check. First of all, it is very doubtful that there are any crumbs there at all. And even if there are, all the floor-washing done throughout the year, as well as the washing before Pesach and before the search, has made them unappetizing. There is certainly no longer any concern that someone might eat them, and it was not for crumbs like these that the search for chametz was instituted. So a person has to use good judgment about where to put their energy when searching for chametz. On the one hand, it is indeed written that our custom is to spend a long time on the search. And there is the well-known story that when the Alter Rebbe returned from Mezritch, he spent an entire night checking just one room. Of course, besides the physical search, there are spiritual dimensions and spiritual preparation that the search for chametz brings us. But beyond all the spiritual aspects, in practical terms we must focus strongly on anything that might be eaten on Pesach, even by mistake. That is what we need to look for, check, and remove before Pesach. So in practice, we need to pay attention to any place that might have chametz crumbs, especially places where those crumbs could end up being eaten on Pesach. That means the kitchen, where we cook on Pesach. Something greasy may be stuck to a wall there, or a speck of flour. These things are indeed serious, because they might, G-d forbid, fall into the food on Pesach, when chametz is prohibited even in the smallest amount. That is where we really need to put our efforts. That is where we need to clean and scrub thoroughly. And if someone wants to paint the house before Pesach, there is certainly a reason to do so: if flour dust or something similar is stuck to the walls, painting solves that problem. But certainly in the kitchen and the eating area—the table, chairs,

19:14 Speaker 2 and all the places connected in some way with eating—we need to be as stringent as possible. As for the other places, take clothes closets, for example. As we said, we can start dealing with them before Pesach. Children might bring chametz into almost any place, so we take care of those places before Pesach and then prevent the children from going there with chametz as Pesach approaches. Once we have prepared the house thoroughly before Pesach, we can focus more during the search on the places where chametz might still be present. In places where we have already made sure there is no chametz, a quick check is enough; we do not need to examine them as meticulously. Now, the practical procedure for the search: Before beginning to search for chametz, it is customary to place ten pieces of chametz around the house. They should be wrapped in paper, not aluminum foil, so that they will not be difficult to burn the next day. Each piece of chametz should be less than a kezayis, but together they should amount to a kezayis, so that the burning of the chametz fulfills the Torah obligation, which applies to a kezayis. It is also advisable, of course, to write down where you put the pieces. Otherwise, you might not find one of them after the search, which complicates matters and means checking the house again, or at least the room where you know the piece went missing. Before the search, prepare a wax candle. We mean a single candle, not a torch. It is best to have several wax candles, because if the search takes a long time, the candle may burn down before you finish. So have several sets ready, especially since, as we will discuss later, it is appropriate to involve other members of the household in the search for chametz. Another thing worth having on hand is matches or a lighter.

21:44 Speaker 2 Sometimes the candle goes out in the middle of the search, so it should be possible to relight it quickly. Another good tip is to be careful not to drip wax in various places after the whole house has already been cleaned, creating a mess again. So do things carefully, with consideration for all the effort invested throughout the days before Pesach. We should not, G-d forbid, let stringencies and extra care create tension or anger. That is certainly not part of serving Hashem. After the pieces of chametz have been placed around the house, he should call the members of his household. We are talking about family members over bar mitzvah age who can be relied upon. It is appropriate to include them in the search for chametz, even though the obligation rests on the father, since he owns the chametz. He holds the candle at his side in his right hand, lights it, and says the blessing. It is appropriate to wash one’s hands before the search for chametz, and the blessing is: “Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning the removal of chametz.” The blessing says “removal,” not “search,” because the purpose of the search is to find the chametz and then remove it from his possession, which will be done the following morning. After the head of the household says the blessing for the search for chametz, with his family beside him listening, they should first begin searching near the place where they heard the blessing. From there, each can go on to search his own room. This divides the search among several people and gives them the opportunity to take part in the mitzvah of searching for chametz. Interruptions during the search for chametz: From the time he says the blessing until he begins the search, he must not interrupt by speaking about anything. Once he has begun searching, it is best not to talk about matters entirely unrelated to the search, because that interferes with his concentration. This is called

24:16 Speaker 2 a distraction. It is certainly permissible to discuss things related to the search for chametz. If he wants to ask about particular places—were they cleaned? Are they already designated for sale to a non-Jew?—that is relevant. As part of preparing the house for the search, everything intended for sale to a non-Jew should already be marked and closed off, and the sale of chametz should be arranged before the time of the search. That way, we can distinguish between the places that do not need to be searched because they are being sold to a non-Jew and those that do need to be searched. We can then know for certain that the places requiring a search were indeed searched and that there is no concern about chametz there. As we said, we take our time with the search. On the contrary, it says in the seforim that one should put effort into this mitzvah. Part of the Arizal’s assurance is that one who is careful to avoid even a trace of chametz on Pesach is assured that he will not sin throughout the year. Some explain that this applies to the search for chametz as well: search thoroughly and put real effort into it. We need to look under cabinets, behind beds, behind sofas, and on shelves—again, wherever chametz may have gotten in. As for a bookcase, the shelves where chametz may have been placed certainly need to be searched. As for the books themselves, the custom is that they do not need to be searched individually. Shaking them out is enough, and even that is not strictly necessary, since the chance of a crumb of chametz getting into a book and remaining there in a condition in which it might be eaten on Pesach is generally quite low. Nevertheless, if someone has not searched and cleaned all the books before Pesach, it is right not to put those books on the table where people eat on Pesach. This goes back to what we explained earlier: even if, G-d forbid, there is a crumb in a book, and even if it is quite possible that one would not transgress the prohibition of bal yeira’eh over it

26:35 Speaker 2 because it is too small and not fit to eat, it would certainly be very serious if it fell into food on Pesach. So the advisable course is not to put books that were used during the year, and that might have a crumb of chametz in them, on the Pesach dining table, lest a crumb fall into the food, G-d forbid. Now we continue with the order of the search for chametz. We search the entire house, even electrical cabinets outside the house. Someone may well have put something there at some point. The mailbox, too—perhaps some chametz was put there, a package or something containing chametz. A car is a place where, in most cases, chametz has certainly been brought in during the year. So do not wait until the last minute to search it. A day or two before Pesach, clean the car very, very thoroughly. It may also be permissible, during the day, to open the doors and windows wide and look carefully by sunlight at everything that can be seen by its light. That is sufficient as a search. For places the sunlight does not really reach, one may and should use a flashlight to search carefully: the glove compartment, all the other compartments, and all the places where crumbs of chametz may well have remained. Search and clean them thoroughly. And again, even during Pesach itself, even after we cleaned the car before Pesach, we must be very careful that food does not come into contact with those places. A person driving may touch places that are not clean for Pesach, or the car may not be entirely clean. Eating in the car on Pesach is really not recommended. Again, with anything related to eating, we need to be extremely careful. When, uh,

28:48 Speaker 2 we have finished searching for chametz everywhere it might be found, we take all the pieces found during the search, along with any other chametz we found. In the bedikas chametz kit, we have the wax candle and the feather—the bird’s feather with which we sweep up the crumbs of chametz. We put all of this in a paper bag, place it on a wooden spoon, wrap it all together in another paper bag, and tie it with string, leaving the spoon’s handle sticking out. We keep it in a secluded place to burn the chametz the next day. Immediately after the search, we perform the nullification of chametz. At night, we nullify the chametz we do not know about, which we did not find during the search. We do not include in the nullification the chametz we found and intend to burn the next day, or the chametz we intend to eat that evening and the following morning. We recite the nullification, and it is best to understand its wording so that a person is not just reciting a text. He needs to express what he feels in his heart: that he nullifies all the chametz he does not know about, making it like the dust of the earth. Halachah is stringent about the chametz found during the search and the chametz we keep to eat at supper after the search and at breakfast the next morning. It strongly emphasizes that we must watch carefully to make sure this chametz does not get scattered. It must be closed up and put away, out of reach of anyone who might take some and scatter it around the house again. If that happens, we put the house back in a situation where chametz may have been left in it, and that requires us to search for chametz again. After all, the purpose of the search for chametz is to provide final confirmation that indeed

31:12 Speaker 2 There is no chametz in the house. So if we checked for chametz but still allowed for the possibility of chametz getting into the house, everything we did was for nothing. That is why we have a serious responsibility to preserve the house’s status as having been checked for chametz. Any chametz we know about must be kept completely separate—put away, guarded and protected—so there is no concern that it might get back into the house without our knowing, leaving the house once again in a state that requires checking. Someone who is traveling away from home: A person plans not to be home during Pesach and is going to stay somewhere else. What about bedikas chametz? The halachah depends on the details of when he will be away. If he is still at home at the time of bedikas chametz, on the night of the 14th, it is proper for him to leave at least one room out of the sale of chametz, prepare it thoroughly for bedikas chametz, and check it at the proper time, on the night of 14 Nissan. Of course, he should use a candle and everything else needed, and recite the brachah. This is the time when bedikas chametz is obligatory, and he is still at home. So even though he does not plan to stay home during Pesach, it is proper for him to check—at least that room, which he does not intend to sell and in which he will fulfill the mitzvah of bedikas chametz. Of course, he can take any chametz he finds with him and dispose of it and burn it the next day wherever he is. This also applies to someone who will not be home for the first days of Pesach but plans to return during the festival. So it is proper

33:42 Speaker 2 for him to check his home for chametz on the night of the 14th. Someone who is away from home on the night of the 14th but will return home during the day on the 14th cannot check at the proper time, because he will not be home that night. He should therefore check properly on one of the preceding nights, but without a brachah. The brachah for bedikas chametz is recited only from the night of the 14th onward. For checks done earlier, we do check by candlelight at night, but without a brachah. Someone who leaves before the night of the 14th, will not be home throughout Pesach, and sells the entire house to a non-Jew is not obligated to check for chametz at all. If he is staying with others, he is not obligated to check the home where he is staying, because the obligation to check rests with the owner of the chametz—in this case, the homeowner. Even if the guest brings chametz with him, the homeowner effectively becomes the guest’s agent and checks for that chametz too. Of course, a person should try to fulfill the mitzvah of bedikas chametz and not miss out on its brachah. So if he can arrange to be home on the night of the 14th even though he is traveling, then, as we said earlier, it is proper to leave one room out of the sale and check it with a brachah. Someone traveling to a hotel for Pesach: If he arrives at his room before the night of the 14th, he is obligated to check there, recite the brachah, of course, and nullify the chametz. It is also proper for the hotel owner to nullify the chametz belonging to the hotel. As for yeshivah students, those who leave the yeshivah before Pesach should sell the chametz belonging to them to a non-Jew, and they do not need to perform bedikas chametz in the yeshivah,

36:30 Speaker 2 but of course, at home they will take part in the homeowner’s bedikas chametz. Those who remain in the yeshivah during Pesach are, of course, obligated to check their rooms on the night of the 14th, because they are considered the owners of the chametz. They are, in a sense, the owners of their rooms, so it is their responsibility to check for their chametz on the night of the 14th. Shuls and batei midrash, too, are places where chametz is brought in during the year, so the attendants and gabbaim are obligated to check them and recite a brachah on the checking. Usually, though, they do this after checking their homes, so the brachah recited at home covers the shul or beis midrash as well. As we said, someone obligated to perform bedikas chametz may not eat before doing so. Thus, the gabbaim and attendants also do not eat until they have finished checking both their homes and the shul. If this is very difficult for someone—he is already weak after checking his home, and the shul is large, and so on—he may eat before checking the shul. People who have a private compartment in shul are obligated to make sure it is free of chametz. So again, if they do this well before Pesach, they can check it with a candle, without a brachah, and thereby fulfill their responsibility for any chametz in their compartment. We can conclude with what the Rebbe himself cites in the Haggadah of Pesach about the meaning and severity of the prohibition against chametz on Pesach. The Rebbe quotes the Zohar: “Whoever eats chametz on Pesach is like one who worships the stars and constellations.” That is the source of all the care, stringencies and hiddurim concerning Pesach. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu grant us all a kosher and joyous Pesach.