Kehilas Moreshes Yaakov - Pesach - Cleaning and Preparation Guide

Laws of Pesach

Pesach Cleaning . . . Bekitzur
Brief Outline of the Laws of Cleaning for Chometz on Pesach

The following instructions are by no means a complete halachic guide for Pesach. A Rabbi should be consulted for any questions and doubts that arise, and refer to the many books available that present the halachot in detail. The following instructions are based on classes given by Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, shlita.

1. All places or articles into which chometz (leavened grain products, eg. bread, crackers, cake) is usually brought during the year must be cleansed and checked for chometz before the evening preceding the seder. The search for chometz (details of which can be found in the Haggadah) is started at nightfall on the evening preceding the seder.

2. Any article or place which is not used on Pesach, which is closed up and sold, does not need to be checked for chometz.

3. Chometz which has been rendered inedible (even to an animal) by being soaked in a foul-tasting liquid such as detergent, "Draino", bleach or ammonia is not considered chometz.

4. There is no obligation to check and destroy chometz that is less than the size of an olive (approx. 30 grams) and is so dirty that a person would not eat it.

5. Surfaces, closets and cracks where it is possible that chometz has entered should be washed, ensuring that detergent enters all cracks and crevices. (e) Eldon Moses

6. Kashering for Pesach is done in the same way as during the year

7. It is customary to also cover any surfaces that have been kashered and that will be used for food, or for utensils on Pesach; eg. tables, countertops, cabinets and stovetops, with plastic, linoleum or aluminium foil.

8. Any chometz that will not be consumed or destroyed before Pesach, must be sold to a Gentile before the time of prohibition of chometz (the time of the prohibition is printed in Jewish calendars and newspapers) for all of Pesach. The transaction should be performed by a Rabbi, since the laws are complex and a contract is necessary. The chometz that has been sold must be stored away until after Pesach.

Written by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

PREPARING FOR PESACH: A BRIEF REVIEW

The following is a brief Pesach review only. THE FAMILY HAGADDAH by Mesorah Artscroll Publications is recommended for the Seder because it is very lucid, and provides easy to follow instructions.

MECHIRAS CHOMETZ - SALE OF LEAVEN

The Rav will be available to arrange for the sale of chometz prior to Pesach. The traditional selling of all chometz in our possession is a mandatory legal procedure required of everyone in order to assure a chometz-free household. Please contact the Rabbi to arrange for your Mechiras chometz after Mincha, Maariv or after shacharis on Sunday mornings.

REMOVING CHOMETZ -

1. Prior to Pesach, every Jew is required to remove all chometz from his home, property and all premises under his or her jurisdiction (i.e. desk, office, locker, car, garage, basement etc.) Even if one will not be on the premises during Pesach, as long as one is there within 30 days of Pesach, the obligation to remove all chometz before Pesach applies.
2. To facilitate the removal of chometz, each Jew is obligated to conduct a diligent search in all places where chometz may have been kept or consumed any time during the preceding year, including especially, children's pockets and briefcases. This search is called "B'dikas chometz".

BITTUL CHOMETZ- Since chometz may not be held in one's possession during Pesach, one may rid oneself of the chometz by declaring all types of chometz in one's possession to be dust and ashes, abandoned free property.

Following the search one recites the KOL CHAMIRA. This is a statement indicating that the owner of the chometz totally renounces ownership of any chometz not reserved for breakfast or sale in accordance with the biblical instruction TASHBISOO.

If the person does not understand the original text found in the siddur, that person must recite the KOL CHAMIRA in the language he or she understands. The following English text of KOL CHAMIRA can be said in the evening:

"ALL CHOMETZ AND LEAVENING THAT MAY STILL BE IN MY PROPERTY WHICH I HAVE NOT SEEN OR HAVE NOT REMOVED OR WHOSE EXISTENCE I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF SHALL BE NULL AND DISOWNED AND DEEMED VALUELESS AS THE DUST OF THE EARTH."

BIUR CHOMETZ - THE DESTRUCTION OF CHOMETZ

The daylight hours of each day are divided into twelve parts. Each twelfth is then reckoned as a portion hour for that day. Chometz may be eaten only during the first four portion hours.

It may be used or sold during the fifth portion hour. During the fifth portion hour all chometz must be destroyed and the pronouncement of BITTUL is repeated for any chometz that has been overlooked. It is not permitted to rely solely on the utterance of the BITTUL to fulfill the mitzvah of BIUR CHOMETZ.

Through any method of complete disposal is permitted, i.e. flushing into sewer or throwing into the sea, it is traditional to destroy chometz by fire during the fifth portion of the day, after which the BITTUL is pronounced to nullify any chometz that may have been overlooked. The BITTUL cannot be pronounced during the sixth portion hour of the day since, at that time, the use of CHOMETZ is restricted and one can no longer rid oneself of its possession.

Burning the chometz. Chometz may be kept in your possession up until (information to come shortly). By that time the chometz should have been burned. Immediately after the burning of the chometz KOL CHAMIRA is said as at night with "CHOMITEI UDLO CHAMITEI ..."

"ALL CHOMETZ AND LEAVENING THAT MAY STILL BE IN MY POSSESSION OR IN MY PROPERTY WHICH I HAVE OR HAVE NOT SEEN, WHICH I HAVE OF HAVE NOT REMOVED, OR OF WHOSE EXISTENCE I HAVE OR HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE, SHALL BE NULL AND DISOWNED AND DEEMED VALUELESS AS THE DUST OF THE EARTH."

SELLING THE CHOMETZ

A person who possesses a large quantity of chometz and is loath to dispose of it because of the great loss he would incur, may sell it to a non-Jew. After writing a bill of sale, he may then leave the chometz in his own house without transgressing the prohibition neither to see it nor to possess it, for the chometz no longer belongs to him but to the non-Jew. However, he must set this chometz aside in a special place which he then rents to the non-Jew so that it becomes the property of the latter until after Pesach, as we shall explain in detail.

The place in which the chometz is kept should be inaccessible so that neither he nor the members of his household are likely, from force of habit, to take anything out of there during Pesach. He puts in writing for the non-Jew that he sells him his chometz at a certain price. The non-Jew gives him a token sum of money, or something of monetary value, to signify that he takes possession of the chometz from that moment. An agreement is made that if the non-Jew does not pay the full amount stipulated, by the end of Pesach, all the chometz will then revert to the seller, but the sale is not invalidated retrospectively. This means that throughout Pesach the chometz actually belongs to the non-Jew, and the Jew is not guilty of transgressing the command neither to see nor to possess it.

Although he is fully aware that the non-Jew will not carry out the terms of the sale and pay the full amount and that the chometz will thus revert to the original ownership, nevertheless when he sells it, he must consider it as property sold and no longer his own.

For a sale to be valid, certain conditions must be fulfilled. Firstly there is the conscious intention of the vendor to sell. Secondly, there is the payment of money and/or the nominal transfer of the goods to the buyers. If these conditions are fulfilled, then the chometz may remain in the house of the Jew because it is no longer his property. However, if the price of the goods rises during Pesach, the non-Jew had a perfect legal right to complete the purchase and the Jew cannot prevent him from doing so.

The sale of chometz to a non-Jew may be effected through a delegate. Nowadays it is customary for the people to sell their chometz through the offices of the "Beit Din". (Rabbinic Court). Any individual who possesses chometz may transfer it to the "Beth Din" who will sell it to a non-Jew on his behalf by a legal and valid bill of sale.

SEEYUM B'CHORIM - FAST OF THE FIRST BORN

When the Almighty slew the first born of Egypt, He spared those of the Children of Israel who because of idolatry deserved to share the same fate. Therefore, all first born sons of Israel fast on Pesach Eve in gratitude to G-d. The custom requires all first born sons of either parent to fast. It has however, been a custom for many centuries that this fast is broken by SEUDAS MITZVAH, that is by a festive meal in celebration of a mitzvah such as a SIYUM meal at the conclusion of study of a Tractate of the Talmud. Therefore, the first born male fasts on Erev Pesach unless he studies or partakes in a siyum. He then can partake in the seudas mitzvah and does not have to fast the rest of the day. The seeyum is not a formula of dispensation. It must be a true completion of a Mesechte (Tractate).

The Bechorim (first born) of a Kohain or Levi must fast. A Bechor born after a miscarriage should fast. A father fasts for his son (a Bechor) if the child is too young to fast. If the father is also a Bechor, then the mother should fast for the child provided that she is well and neither pregnant nor within 30 days after giving birth. In all cases, however, by partaking of a Seudas Mitzvah the fast is broken.

THE SEDER PLATE

It is customary to use our most beautiful silver, dishes, and tableware. At the head of the table, in front of the person leading the Seder, is the Seder plate and a matza bag that holds the three matzos. Others use a Seder plate that looks like a three-tiered structure that holds three matzos with a place for six items on its roof. The six items have special meanings.

Z'ro'a - a roasted bone (roasted chicken wing or shank bone) to remind us of the Pesach offerings that would be brought in the Bait Hamikdash (Holy Temple) in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem).

Beitzah - a roasted hard boiled egg to remind us of our mourning at the destruction of the Bait Hamikdash, may it be rebuilt soon, in our lifetime.

Maror - usually letuce.

Chazeres Two types of bitter herbs (vegetables). We eat bitter herbs twice during the seder. - once by themselves as maror. - the second time with matzah as korech Two kinds of bitter vegetables are placed on the Seder plate. Most people use romaine lettuce (whole leaves or the stalks) and raw horseradish (whole or grated). Either may be used for Maror or Korech.

Charoses - a mixture of ground apples, nuts, ginger, cinnamon, and red sweet wine. The look and feel of mortar symbolizes the bricks and mortar which we were forced to use when we were slaves in Egypt.

Karpas - a vegetable, other than maror, (most use boiled potato, celery or parsley), which is dipped into salt water and eaten. To remind ourselves of the sweat and tears we shed as slaves, we place a bowl of the salt water near the Seder plate.

Prepared by team of Beth Avraham Yosef of Toronto

Other Topics about Pesach:

From Slavery to Freedom (Russian)
Universal Key to Freedom (Russian)
Lessons of Freedom (English)
Lessons of Freedom (Russian)
The Original Story (Russian) When YOU were going out of Egypt (Russian)
Laws of Pesach Bekitzur (English)
Philosophy: Four sons (English)
Ones on Passover - story (English)
7th Day of Passover (Russian)
Funny Haggadah shel Pesach (Russian)

Pesach at OU.ORG - Happy Passover To All!!

From Slavery to Freedom (Russian) Universal Key to Freedom (Russian) Lessons of Freedom (English) Lessons of Freedom (Russian) The Original Story (Russian)	When YOU were going out of Egypt (Russian) Laws of Pesach Bekitzur (English) Philosophy: Four sons (English) Ones on Passover - story (English) 7th Day of Passover (Russian)
Funny Haggadah shel Pesach (Russian)