Chapter 4. Searching for Chametz

alef After tzeit hakochavim one should pray Ma’ariv and afterward check for chametz, because “תדיר ושאינו תדיר - תדיר קודם” (“when one matter is more frequent and the other is less frequent, the more frequent one takes precedence”). However, one who intends to pray Ma’ariv at a later hour may check first and then pray 1 .

bet From half an hour before tzeit hakochavim [after sunset], it is forbidden to do any work that involves delay [its details are explained in siman 232, se’if 2], and it is likewise forbidden to enter a bathhouse 2 .

gimel It is likewise forbidden to eat bread or mezonot in an amount greater than a kebeitza, and it is forbidden to drink an intoxicating beverage in an amount greater than a kebeitza; however, tasting is permitted. The definition of “tasting” is: eating bread and mezonot up to a kebeitza, and fruits, vegetables, and snacks that are not grain products even in large amounts. Drinking non-alcoholic beverages, even in large amounts, has the status of tasting 3 .

dalet The Biur Halacha wrote 4 that the permission to taste applies during the half hour before tzeit hakochavim, but once the time of the search arrives, namely tzeit hakochavim, one should not be lenient even regarding tasting.

heh It is permitted to study Torah until tzeit hakochavim if one began studying before sunset; when tzeit hakochavim arrives, he must stop studying, even if he began studying before sunset 5 .

One should sweep the house before the search.

vav The custom is to hide ten pieces so that the one conducting the search will find them and burn them. Since it was explained above in the laws of cleaning the house for Pesach that the cleaning is effective to exempt from the obligation of searching, and since people are accustomed to cleaning the entire house for Pesach before the day of bedikat chametz, therefore in our times there is a strict halachic obligation to place ten pieces 6 .

zayin It is proper to be careful that the pieces be less than the size of a kezayit, except for one piece that should contain a kezayit; and one should remember well where he placed it [and it is better to write on a sheet the places where the pieces of chametz were placed] 7 .

chet It is good to wash one’s hands before the search for the sake of cleanliness 8 .

tet Before the search one should recite the blessing “על ביעור חמץ” (“concerning the removal of chametz”), and have in mind also the nullification after the search, as well as the burning and nullification of the following day 9 .

yod One should not speak about matters unrelated to the search from the time of the blessing until the completion of the search 10 .

yod-alef The search should be performed with a wax candle, and in places where a candle cannot be brought in, one should check with a flashlight.

yod-bet A person who already checked with a candle in the days preceding bedikat chametz should check the places he has not yet checked, and should also go through the house to verify that all of it was cleaned and checked 11 .

yod-gimel After he has finished checking his home, he should check the car, the office, etc.; it is good not to interrupt with speech in the meantime. In any case, if he did interrupt, he does not go back and recite another blessing 12 .

yod-dalet After the search one should recite the formula for nullifying chametz, “דלא חמיתיה ודלא חזיתיה” (“that I did not see and did not notice”) 13 .

tet-vav The Maharil wrote that one should pray earlier on Erev Pesach so that he will have time to eat chametz before the end of the allotted time 14 .

tet-zayin On Erev Pesach, one should burn the chametz by the end of the time for burning chametz shown in the calendars, and it is good to burn it as it is, without pouring fuel or similar substances on it.

yod-zayin After the burning one should recite the formula for nullifying chametz, “דחמיתיה ודלא חמיתיה דחזיתיה ודלא חזיתיה” (“that I saw and that I did not see, that I noticed and that I did not notice”), and it is good that the other members of the household also recite the formula of nullification.