Search and Destroy Mission: Getting Rid of our Chametz
Shmuel Herzfeld
Shabbat Hagadol, 5774
I. Introduction
As a young boy the search for chametz (bedikatchametz) was one of the highlights of the year. We would hide the ten pieces of chametzand my father would look for the chametz by the light of the candle. Whenever my father actually found some chametz that we had not even hidden it would make us even happier. My father would actually make a big show of the search for chametz. Every time he found any piece of chametz it was cause for a big celebration. We always had a feather and a spoon and a candle and he would intentionally make a huge show out of the search. Three decades later I still remember those evenings fondly.
I also remember fondly the burning of the chametz (biurchametz). We would always burn the chametz in our front yard on the eve of Pesach. Usually that went off without an incident. We always put the chametz in a brown paper bag on top of our refrigerator and burned it the next day. One time a certain member in my family brought out the brown paper bag to burn our chametz. Unfortunately, that year there were actually two brown paper bags on top of our refrigerator: one containing the chametz and the other containing my mother’s jewelry. My mother thought a good place to hide the jewelry was in a brown paper bag. Anyway, instead of burning the chametzwe burned the jewelry. That too is an image that is seared my mind.
Bedikatchametz and biurchametz are unique mitzvoth that are unlike any other mitzvoth that we do today. Where else do we search for something throughout our homes and then destroy it by burning it in the streets?
As a little boy, I was impressed by the pageantry and the fire, but as adults we must search for deeper meaning and symbolism and above all we must search for the lessons that we should incorporate into our Pesach holiday.
The message of bedikatchametz and biurchametz is very simple. The more we understand what bedikatchametz and biurchametz is all about the more we realize that the physicality behind these rituals is not only about ridding our homes of the bread products inside them but rather the purpose of our elaborate searches for chametz and the burning of our chametz isto rid ourselves of our spiritual faults in preparation for the holiday of Pesach, the holiday of our redemption.
II.
According to most authorities there are three positive biblical commandments for Pesach and four negative commandments. (Rambam however lists a total of eight biblical commandments.)
The three positive commandments are to eat matzah, tell the Exodus story, and to destroy chametz on the 14th of Nissan.
The four negative commandments are do not eat chametz on Pesach, do not eat a mixture of chametz on Pesach, and there are two prohibitions against owning chametz.
We will focus on three of these biblical mitzvotthat are most relevant to bedikatchametz and biurchametz.
First, there are the two prohibitions against owning chametz on Pesach.
There is a prohibition of ba’alyeira’eh.
According to the Torah (Exodus 13:17): “Unleavened cakes shall be eaten during the seven days, and no leaven shall be seen of yours [in your possession] (ve-lo yeiraehlekhahchametz), and no leavening shall be seen of yours throughout all of your borders.
There is a second biblical prohibition called ba’alyimatzeh. According to Exodus 12:19,“For seven days, no leaven shall not be found (se’or lo yimatzei) in your houses.”
Finally, there is a positive biblical commandment to destroy our chametzon the eve of Pesach. This is known as the mitzvah of tashbitu.
The Torah states (Exodus 12:15) “For seven days you shall eat unleavened cakes, but on the preceding day you shall clear away all leaven from your houses (akhbayomharishontashbituse’ormibateichem), for whoever eats leaven from the first day until the seventh day that soul shall be cut off from Israel.”
In a religion where there is a prohibition against unnecessary destruction it is noteworthy that there is a commandment to destroy perfectly good food. In this respect, in many ways this is a unique commandment.
There is a dispute in the Talmud as to what is the proper way (Pesachim, 21a) to destroy the chametz. According the rabbis, there is no specific way to destroy the chametz, and so, one can even crush it up and throw it into the wind. However, R. Yehudah rules, “einbiurchametzelahsereifah, the only way to destroy chametzis by burning it.”
What is the reason behind R. Yehudah’s requirement to burn the chametz? And what are the implications of this ruling for our own observance of Pesach?
III.
Practically speaking one must go through a three-step process in order to removechametzfrom one’s possession.
i. bedikatchametz– searching for chametz
ii. bittulchametz– nullifying the chametz
iii. biurchametz -- burning the chametz
The opening line in tractate Pesachim teaches us about the requirement to search our homes for chametz with a proper bedikah.
On the evening of the fourteenth a search (bedikah) is made for leaven by the light of a lamp. (Pesachim 2a, Mishnah)
What is the reason why the Talmud requires a bedikahfor the chametz. Rashi (2a) writes that the reason is so that one does “not violate balyireah u-baalyimatzeh.”
Rashi’s great-grandson, the Ri, questions his approach.
Ri is bothered by two other Talmudic passages.
First, there is a passage in Pesachim 4b that implies that a bedikah is not really required:
In truth I may tell you [that generally] it does stand in the presumption of having been searched; but what we discuss hereis a case where we know for certain that he [the owner] did not search, but these affirm: We searched it. You might say, Let not the Rabbis believe them. Therefore it informs us [that] since the search for leaven is [required only] by Rabbinical law, for by Scriptural law mere nullification suffices for it, the Rabbis gave themcredence in [respect to] a Rabbinical [enactment].
And second there is a passage in Pesachim 6b, which implies that bedikah does not accomplish that much from a legal perspective:
He who searches [for leaven] must [also] declare it null.What is the reason? Shall we say [it is] because of crumbs— but they are of no value?… Said Raba: It is a preventive measure, lest he find a tasty loafand [set] his mind upon it.Then let him annul it when he finds it? — He may find it after the interdict [commences], and then it does not stand in his ownership and [so] he cannot annul it. For R. Eleazar said: Two things are not in a man's ownership, yet the Writ regarded them as though they were in his ownership. And these are they: a pit in public groundand leaven from six hours and onwards.
Thus theRi asks [regarding Rashi’s approach]: Since nullification (bittul) of our leaven is anyways required—as it states later on in the Talmud, “the one who checks for chametzmust also do bittul”—and since biblically speaking all that is required is bittul—then why do we require a search for leaven at all? All we should need to do is nullify our chametzprior to Pesach and that will be sufficient!
Therefore, Ri explains:
Even though biblically speaking bittul suffices the rabbis were stringent and require a bedikah for chametz and alsorequire us to burn the chametz so that one does not come to eat it.
In other words, bedikatchametz is a rabbinic law to prevent us from violating a biblical commandment.
Ri offers two reasons why the rabbis are stricter by chametzthan other comparable dietary prohibitions where we do not require a search for their removal from our homes. The reasons are:
1)chametz is permitted the whole year and is only prohibited on Pesach and thus people will not instinctively withdraw from the chametz. And,
2)chametz is different because the Torah is stricter about chametz, since one violates two prohibitions by owning chametz (balyirah u-balyimatzeh) and thus the rabbis were stricter and required bedikah and bittul so that we don’t come to eat the chametz. (Tosafot, 2a, s.v. or le-arba’ahasar)
An alternative approach is taken by RabbenuNissim in his commentary to Pesachim (2a).
Rashi explains that we search for chametz so as not to violate balyirah u-balyimatzeh. Tosafot is bothered by this because we state that from the perspective of biblical law it suffices to simply nullify the chametz. And in the end we know that the Talmud does require nullification as well as it states on 6b that one checks for chametzmust also nullify it. And since this is the case how can we claim that the purpose of bedikah is in order not to violate balyirah u-balyimatzeh? Indeed a person is not exempt on this matter until one does a bittul and if that is the case a bittulalone should suffice?
We can answer that biblically speaking it suffices to have either a bedikahor a bittul. We know that a bedikah itself suffices biblically since the source for searching for chametz by the light of a candle is based upon the biblical verse. This tells us that bedikah is sufficient biblically.
Ran is unwilling to say that bedikatchametzis merely rabbinic. In his opinion it is biblical. In other words, biblically one must do either a bedikah or a bittul. This is based upon the fact that the Talmud cites scripture to prove that one must search for the chametz by the light of flame
BY THE LIGHT OF A LAMP, etc. How do we know this? — Said R. Hisda: By deriving [the meaning of] ‘finding’ from ‘finding’ and ‘finding’ from ‘searching’, and ‘searching’ from ‘searching’, and ‘searching’ from ‘lamps’, and ‘lamps’ from ‘lamp’: And ‘searching’ from ‘lamps’, as it is written, And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps.And ‘lamps’ from ‘lamp’, for it is written, The soul of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the innermost parts of the belly.
The School of R. Ishmael taught: In the evening of the fourteenth leaven is searched for by the light of a lamp. Though there is no proof of this, there is an allusion to it, because it is said, ‘seven days shall there be no leaven [in your houses]’; and it is said, ‘and he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found [in Benjamin's sack]’; and it is said, ‘And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps’. and it is said, ‘The soul of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching [all the innermost parts of the belly]’. What is the purpose of the additional quotations?And should you answer, this ‘at that time’ is a statement of lenient treatment by the Merciful One, [viz.,] ‘I will not search Jerusalem with the light of a torch, which gives much light, but only with the light of a lamp, the light of which is much smaller, so that great wrongdoing will be found out but petty wrongdoing will not be found out,— then come and hear! ‘The soul of man is the lamp of the Lord, [searching. etc.]’.
Our Rabbis taught: one may not search either by the light of the sun or by the light of the moon, or by the light of a torch, save by the light of a lamp. (Pesachim, 7b.)
IV.
Before analyzing some of deeper ideas in bedikatchametz it is important to first review some of the basic laws of searching for chametz as outlined in the ShulchanAruch.
Simon 431:1
On the beginning of the night of the 14th one must check for chametz by the light of the candle in holes and cracks and every place that one enters with chametz.
Simon 432:1
Before beginning the search for chametzone says the blessing, “al biurchametz.” [The blessing is not to search for chametz, but to destroy the chametz.] One should be careful not to speak between the bracha and the beginning of the search. It is good not to speak about unrelated matters until the search has been completed in order to concentrate on checking all places….
2 )
Rema There is a custom to place small pieces of chametz in a place where the searcher will find them in order that the blessing not be in vain. However, if this wasn’t done, the mitzvah to search is still fulfilled because everyone’s intention when saying the blessing is to destroy chametz if any is found.
Simon 433
1-The search must be done by candlelight and not by moonlight.
2-One may not search with the light of a torch, but only with a candle.
3-One must check all places that we can suspect that someone entered with chametz. Therefore, every room in the house and the attic must be searched because these are places where sometimes a person enters with chametz in hand.
[Possible leniency regarding a bedikahfrom the writings of ShaareiTeshuvah (19th c.), end of 433.]
“Therefore many people are lenient and check casually without searching properly in holes and cracks, since first they sweep and clean everything very well.’
V.
What is the deeper meaning behind the search for and destruction of chametz?
It is rare that the Torah requires us to search for a prohibited item, destroy that item, and then forbids us from even owning it.
For example, we are not forbidden to own a piece of non-kosher meat. Even though we are forbidden to derive benefit from a food item that contains meat and milk, there is no prohibition against owning the meat and milk together.
Rav MenachemKasher (d. 1983) raises this question and offers a novel approach to understanding the prohibitions of owning or even seeing chametz.(M. Kasher,HaggadahSheleimah, Appendix 7.)
R. Kasherwrites (221):
“Nowhere is it explained why the Torah prohibits chametzwith the added prohibitions of not seeing it and now owning it. Why is chametz different from all other prohibitions in the Torah which do not have these added restrictions?”
He suggests that we do not know the reasons for the super strict prohibitions of chametz.
“Thus we must say that the prohibition of balyiraeh u-valyimatzeh is a chok. And indeed the entire prohibition of chametz we must say is a chok. For about the mitzvah of matzah the Torah gives a reason, ‘for it did not leaven, for they were driven from Egypt and they were unable to wait’ (Exodus 12:39). And this is the explanation that we read about in the Haggadah. But what is the reason for the prohibition of chametz that the Torah is so strict even about balyiraeh u-valyimatzehand that it is even prohibited to derive any benefit from it, and that it needs to be burnt, and that it is even prohibited to own in a miniscule amount? All of these things are not in any way connected to the reason why we eat matzah, for on Pesach Sheni one is permitted to have chametz alongside one’s matzah.”
R. Kasherargues that the closest comparison to the way we treat and react to the prohibition of chametz is the prohibition of idolatry (avodahzarah.)
There are many sources that R. Kasher cites to support this argument of a relationship between chametz and avodahzarah.
First, there is a text from the Talmud Yerushalmi(AvodahZarah, 1:1) whichindicates that there is in fact a connection between chametzand avodahzarah: “Avodahzarahteases the worshippers. The Torah states, ‘do not bring an offering of chametz on the altar,’ and avodahzarahstates (Amos 4:5), ‘And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened.’”
Second, the Zohar specifically states that one who eats chametz on Pesach is like one who worships idolatry:
“It states, ‘Thou shalt make thee no molten gods’ (Exodus 34:17). And immediately following that it states: ‘The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep’ (Exodus 34:18). This is what it means: one who eats chametz on Pesach is like one who worships idolatry. Come and see, when Israel left Egypt, Israel left the domain of the Other, the domain of the one called Chametz. And this is also called AvodahZarah. This is for sure the secret of the evil inclination. (Zohar II, 182.)
This theme is echoed in the writings of many of our rishonim:
Here are two examples:
Baal Haturim: “Why is chametzplaced next to avodahzarah in the Torah? To tell us that just like avodahzarah is prohibited for us to have any benefit and in any miniscule amount, so too chametz.”
Rambam, Guide (III:46): “The reason that the Torah prohibits an offering of chametz…is because the idolaters used to bring an offering of leaven on the altar.”
R. Kasher continues this theme by noting six similarities between the prohibitions of chametz andavodahzarah.
1) They are both prohibited to own.
2) They both need to be burnt.
3) They are both prohibited with respect to deriving any benefit.
4) They both have a prohibition even with respect to a miniscule amount.
5) Nullification works in both cases.
6) Both prohibitions require abedikah.
He also finds a source for this connection in the biblical story of Yoshiyahu (2 Kings 23:22-24) where the celebration of Pesach is placed next to the story of wiping out idolatry.
[21And the king commanded all the people, saying: `Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.' 22For there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; 23but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover kept to the LORD in Jerusalem. 24Moreover them that divined by a ghost or a familiar spirit, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the detestable things that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem…]