Chapter 111 : Chapter 111 The Search and Nullification of the Chametz

---

§1

On the evening before erev Pesach the search for chametz must be made. You must make the search immediately after nightfall.¹I.e. immediately after the appearance of the stars. (Mishnah Berurah 431:1) It is forbidden to begin a meal²A small snack is permitted. (Ibid. 431:6) or do any work one half-hour before nightfall.³Even if you began the meal earlier than one half hour, you must interrupt the meal when the time for searching begins. (Ibid. 431:11, 12)

---

§2

The search should be made with only one wax candle, not with several candles intertwined, for that would be like a torch.⁴If you used a torch or even a candle with several wicks, the search is invalid and you must repeat it with a single candle. (Ibid. 433:10) In a predicament when you have no wax candle, you may use a tallow candle.

---

§3

You must search all rooms in which you suspect that someone carried chametz, even cellars, attics, stores and woodsheds; any places in which you think that chametz may have been brought must be searched. You must also search all vessels in which you keep chametz. Before making the search, you should carefully sweep all these places and clean all chametz out of them, in order to make it easy for you to search the rooms afterwards.

---

§4

A cowshed where the cattle are fed grain, and a chicken coop where the chickens are fed with grain do not require searching; [first of all,] because the grain may never have become chametz, and even if it did become chametz, it is possible that all of it was eaten and nothing was left. But if the grain you put there was chametz, you then have only one uncertainty, whether all of it was eaten; we do not rely on this possibility, and you are required to make a search.

---

§5

You must search everywhere, every nook and cranny, as best as you can. You must also search the pockets of your garments and those of your children's garments; for since sometimes chametz gets into them,⁵Even if you say you are certain that you did not put any chametz in your pockets, you are, nevertheless, required to search them, because often people place things in their pockets and forget they did so. (Ibid. 433:47) they have to be searched. You should shake them thoroughly the next morning when you burn the chametz.

---

§6

[This is the law concerning] the rooms you sell to a non-Jew together with the chametz in them. Since the sale is not valid until the morning, you are obliged to search them in the evening,⁶This is also the opinion of Mekor Chaim and Chayei Adam. In their responsa, Binyan Olam and Chasam Sofer disagree and rule that you may be lenient so long as you searched the other rooms. This is also the opinion of Aishel Avrohom. (Ibid. 436:32, 433:23) and you must do so.

---

§7

Before beginning the search you recite the berachah: Baruch ata Hashem, Elokeinu melech haolam asher kideshanu bemitzvosav vetzivanu al biur chameitz "Blessed are you, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and has commanded us concerning the removal of chametz." Even though you do not yet remove it, you still say the berachah "concerning the removal," since immediately after the search, you nullify the chametz that is unknown to you, and this, in effect, is the removal of such chametz. Do not make any interruption between the berachah and beginning the search.⁷If you did interrupt with something unrelated to the search, you must repeat the berachah, since there was an interruption between the berachah and the mitzvah. (Ibid. 432:5) It is a good thing not to interrupt until the search is completed, except for things relating to the search.⁸If you did interrupt, you need not repeat the berachah since you began the search, and thus there was no interruption between the berachah and the mitzvah. (Ibid. 432:6) You may search many houses on the basis of the one berachah you recited.

---

§8

Some people have the custom, before beginning the search, to deposit small pieces of bread in places where the searcher will find them. They are fearful, if he finds no chametz, the berachah will have been said in vain.⁹It is, however, not a “blessing in vain” because the mitzvah is specifically to search for chametz and even if no chametz is found, the mitzvah is fulfilled. Nevertheless, it is not proper to negate a custom of the Jewish people. According to the Arizal, it is customary to place ten pieces of bread around the house. Special care must be taken that none of these pieces of chametz go lost. It is best to use the sort of bread that will not create crumbs. (Ibid. 432:12, 13) Needless to say, however, anyone who does not search properly, but only gathers up these pieces of bread, has not fulfilled the mitzvah of searching, and his berachah was said in vain.

---

§9

The chametz you leave for food or for sale, should be put away in a safe place, before making the search. The chametz you find in the search, which must be burned in the morning, should be put away in a safe place and tied so that it won't get lost. It should be put it in a place where you will notice it in the morning, so that you will not forget to burn it.

---

§10

Immediately after the search, you should nullify the chametz. The actual nullification takes place in your heart, when you decide in your heart that you consider all chametz in your possession as non-existent, as worthless, as compared to dust, as something utterly useless. Our sages ordained that you should express these thoughts verbally by declaring kol chamira (all chametz) etc. Anyone who does not understand it in the Aramaic, should say it in a language he understands.¹⁰Someone who understands absolutely nothing of the text of this declaration and thinks he is merely reciting some sort of prayer, has not fulfilled his obligation. (Ibid. 434:9) [The English translation of the Aramaic text is]: "Any leaven or chametz that is in my possession, that I have not seen and have not removed, should be nullified and become ownerless, like the dust of the earth."

---

§11

Even though you have already nullified the chametz at night after the search, nevertheless, in the morning after burning it, you must nullify it again. In this declaration you include all the chametz, and you say, Kol chamira—(all chametz) etc., or in a language you understand. [The English translation of the Aramaic text is:] Any leaven or chametz that is in my possession whether I have seen it or not, whether I have removed it or not, should be nullified and become ownerless like the dust of the earth."

---

§12

If you have a room that must be searched, that you want to use as a storage room; that is to say, you want to store, fruit, wood or other articles, which would make it impossible to search the room on the night of the fourteenth of Nisan, then you should search that room before¹¹Regarding a person who embarks on a journey before the night of the fourteenth, who is required to search his home before leaving, Mishnah Berurah writes that he must also nullify the chametz that is not visible to him. (This may also apply in our case as well). (Ibid. 436:3) you convert it to a storeroom, making the search at night,¹²Regarding a person who embarks on a journey before the night of the fourteenth who is required to search his home before leaving, Mishnah Berurah writes that if he forgot to search at night, he should do so by day. (Ibid.) in the same manner as you search for chametz on the night of the fourteenth of Nisan.¹³However, the berachah is not recited when the search is made before the night of the fourteenth. (See Mishnah Berurah 436:4 and also Biyur Halachah who writes that there are opinions that a berachah is said when the search is made within thirty days of the fourteenth). [This holds true] even if there is still plenty of time before Pesach, and even if this is immediately after the Pesach that has just passed. However, if you did not search the room before turning it into a storage room, if you intend to remove the stored articles, before the time of the search will come, you do not have to go to the trouble at this time to empty the room and search it. But if you intend to remove the articles during the week of Pesach, you must remove them now and make the search, even though it involves great trouble and loss of money.

---

§13

If you fill up a storage room with the intention of not emptying it until after Pesach, then it depends on the time you fill it up. If you do it more than thirty days before Pesach, you need not search the room. However if there is any chametz you know of, you must first remove it. The declaration of nullification will then effectively nullify all your chametz at the proper time (erev Pesach). However, if it is within thirty days before Pesach, you are subject to the laws of searching for chametz (because we ask questions and explain the laws of Pesach thirty days before Pesach), thus you must search the room. Even if, inadvertently, you forgot to make the search, you must empty the storeroom, and make the search in the night, immediately after you become aware of your oversight.

---

§14

If you store wheat that has not become chametz, in a pit, but afterwards, because of the dampness of the pit, the wheat at the bottom of the pit and at the sides became chametz; then, even if it was stored there within thirty days, you need not empty the pit on the night of the fourteenth and search it, rather reciting the nullification is enough, since it was stored in a permissible manner. If some of the wheat was chametz (when stored); there are many differing opinions about this, and in such case you should consult a qualified posek.

---

§15

You should not throw grain to the chickens in a moist place during the thirty days before Pesach, for you may forget to burn it.

---

§16

Before starting on a trip,¹⁴According to Mishnah Berurah (436:9) this refers to one who is going on a long trip or a sea journey. Even though he plans to return in ample time before Pesach, we are concerned that he might be delayed. One who leaves on a short trip and plans to return before the night of the fourteenth, need not take these measures. If, however, he plans to return within a short time before the search must begin, we are concerned that he may be delayed and, therefore, he should take the steps outlined in this paragraph. you should appoint an agent to search and nullify your chametz. You should tell him explicitly, that you appoint him as your agent to make the search and the nullification. When making the nullification the agent says, "The chametz of so-and-so etc." Nevertheless, wherever you happen to be on the morning of erev Pesach, you should nullify the chametz on your premises.

---

§17

If you find chametz in your house on Chol Hamoed, you should take it out and burn it, and if it is the quantity of a kazayis,¹⁵See glossary. you should first say the berachah: Al biur chametz,¹⁶If, however, you searched your house properly and nullified all chametz before Pesach, and then found chametz on Chol Hamoed, according to some later Poskim, the original berachah you made before Pesach suffices even for the chametz you found on Chol Hamoed. Other Poskim maintain that a new berachah should be recited. Since there is a question, the rule of “doubtful berachos” applies and the berachah should not be recited. (Ibid. 435:5) but if it is less than a kazayis, you do not say a berachah. If you find the chametz on Yom Tov or on the Shabbos of Chol Hamoed, or on the Shabbos which occurs on erev Pesach,¹⁷After the fifth hour of the day has passed. when it is forbidden to handle the chametz because it is muktzeh, you should cover it with a vessel until the conclusion of Yom Tov, or the conclusion of Shabbos, and then you should burn it. If you find chametz on the last two days of Pesach, in which case at the conclusion of Yom Tov, Pesach has already ended, you do not say the berachah when burning it. You should burn it without saying the berachah, even though its quantity is as much as a kazayis.