B"H

A REMINDER: As a first resort, one is to make sure that he has disposed of all "chametz" (leaven) in his house on the morning of the 14th of Nisan, the eve of Passover. The prohibition of keeping over "chametz" (either leaven or a leavening agent) during Pesach is specifically mentioned twice in the Torah:

1) Shemos 12:19 שאר לא יִמָּצֵא בבתיכם
("let no leavening agent be found in your household")

2) Shemos 13:7 ולא יֵרָאֶה לך חמץ
("let no leaven be seen by you")

The Talmud (Pesachim) brings down two lessons from these two biblical injunctions, namely: 1) If you have "chametz" in your house, attic, basement, storage shed, etc., whether it belongs to you or belongs to someone else (such as when you are only keeping the "chametz" of someone else), you would still transgress the prohibition of "lo yerareh;" 2) If you do not have "chametz" within your house at all, but have "chametz" stored away in someone else's house or property, you would still transgress the prohibition of "lo yimatzei."

If a man incurs a great loss by the disposal of his "chametz," such as when he is a storekeeper and he is not willing to incur the loss, the only alternative that he has in order to escape transgressing G-d's commands is to do two things: 1) To sell his "chametz" to a non-Jew, so that the "chametz" is no longer the property of the Jew;
2) To rent his place to a non-Jew (i.e. where the "chametz" is stored), and to put up a partition between the gentile's place and the Jew's place, so that the "chametz" will no longer be considered in the domain of the Jew.

Again, it is better to burn and to dispose of all "chametz" rather than to sell it! The Takanah of selling was originally made only to save that man who would, otherwise, keep over his "chametz" in order not to incur a great loss.

David

Reb David, I think you are being overly machmir, especially as there are those here reading your words who are trying to find there way back to the derech.

The fact is that the sale of chametz in its present form (through the Rabbi or Beis Din) has been established for over 150 years and is quite permitted even in the first resort.

Rav Zevin zt"l in Moadim B'Halacha has a wonderful chapter on Mechiras Chamtez which traces its history.

B"H
Rebbe Yisroel,

I was only writing what I learned from my Rabbi years back. Selling "chametz," although permissible, is not the finest way of performing the mitzvah of "biur chametz." Most Rabbis would agree with this.

Take, for example, a small home owner who has three or four sacks of flour in his house (where there is a doubt regarding whether or not they have come in contact with water), a box of biscuits, and several canned goods containing leaven products. Would you suggest to him to seal-off the pantry, and lock-up his kitchen door, and then sell all his "chametz" to a goy? Wouldn't it be better to tell him to dispose of all "chametz vadai" (such as the box of biscuits and canned goods containing leaven), and only where there is a doubt regarding the existence of "chametz" (such as with his three or four sacks of flour) should he sell them to a goy?

Rebbe Yisroel, we ought to remember here that sometimes we forget the original mitzvah, or manner of doing a certain thing, because of the way we were trained or accustomed to think - only because it is accepted practice. My Rabbi taught his students that "selling" was never originally meant to take the place of disposing, but only to save those who would not have it done any other way.

Perhaps in Europe it was common place to sell one's "chametz" for the past 150 years. Yet, for several thousands of years it was not practiced to sell one's "chametz," but rather to dispose of all "chametz." This was especially the practice amongst the exiles of Yemen.

David

quote:

Originally posted by Yisroel Phillips:
Reb David, I think you are being overly machmir, especially as there are those here reading your words who are trying to find there way back to the derech.

Yisroel,

In truth, I've discovered recently that this seems to be a regional issue. In America, many are Noheg to be Meikel and sell Chometz Gamor. However, in Israel it appears that the overwhelming majority of Chareidi jews (I don't know about the Mizrachi in this issue) do not sell Chometz Gamor other than businesses. So in regards to Israel, David is 100% justified. (Of course, it goes without saying that in England (and that rebellious colony over seas - what do they call it? Am'Reikay. ) Yisrael is 100% correct.

Magedman

Thank you Magedman for that useful clarification.

So it would seem Reb David that אלו ואלו דברי אלקים חיים הם

B"H

Someone asked this question during Pesach, and it remained without an answer:

"If they sell all chametz before Pesach, what purpose is there in doing 'Bitul Chamira?'
And if they do 'Bitul Chamira,' what purpose is there in selling chametz?"

Any thoughts?

David

Ha-Ha-Ha! I don't think the answer is in selling it all first. Good question though!