One reason is that perhaps he will not nullify it properly, and the second is that perhaps he will come to eat it: echad shema lo yevatel kara'ui vehasheni shema yavo le'ochlo (one, lest he not nullify properly, and the second, lest he come to eat it). Those are two reasons why we have to make a bedikah (inspection). Yesterday we had a machloket (dispute). Min haTorah (by Torah law), according to the rishonim (early authorities), we understood from the Rambam (Maimonides) that min haTorah, either a bedikah or bitul (nullification) is sufficient. Even bitul alone is sufficient, without a bedikah. Why? You nullify it, and that is it. Or a bedikah alone is sufficient. What do you mean? You might have chametz (leavened food) in your house. You made a bedikah; that is it. The Torah exempts someone who is in an ones (unavoidable circumstance). You did your best and made a legitimate bedikah; if you forgot something, it is not your fault.
However, the chachamim (Sages) said that even if you made bitul, they still want you to make a bedikah. Why? Two reasons. Number one, since bitul is talui beda'ato shel adam (dependent on a person's intention), we are worried that not everybody is going to make a bitul, you know, gamur (complete). Number two, Tosafot said, shema yavo le'ochlo (lest he come to eat it). You might come to eat the chametz that you find on Pesach (Passover). But if you make a bedikah, you are not going to find anything; you will get rid of it.
Ve'ein lish'ol leta'am zeh im ken lamah lo chasheshu lazeh bish'ar issurin (One might ask, if so, why were they not concerned about this with other prohibitions?). Why don't we say that you have to get rid of pig from your house? You have to check for chadash (new grain), bedikat chalav stam (checking ordinary milk), and all these things. “Chadash? Interesting, Rabbi.” Yes, that fits chametz better. Also chazir (pig). Delo dami lechametz (it is not like chametz), keivan delo bedili mineih kula shata (since they do not avoid it all year), yesh lachush yoter (there is greater concern). You eat bread all year long. So, with something that you eat all year long, there is greater concern that you might come to eat it. That is the answer to the second reason. Ve'od (and furthermore), keivan deTorah hichmirah bechametz la'avor alav beval yera'eh uval yimatzeh (since the Torah was stringent about chametz, that one transgresses bal yera'eh uval yimatzeh (it shall not be seen or found) because of it). That is why the Sages were more concerned about it.
There is no issur (prohibition) against having a pig in your house. There is no issur against having chadash in your house. There is no issur against having ordinary milk in your house; you just cannot drink it. But there is an issur against having chametz in your house. Since the Torah oser (prohibits) having it in your house—owning it—we are more machmir (stringent) about it. There is a nafka mina (practical difference) between the reasons: on the reason that people do not avoid it all year, one must also check for chametz that one does not transgress the prohibition of “it shall not be seen” by having, such as nuksheh (inferior leaven) and ta'arovet (mixture), according to the opinion that holds this way, as will be explained in section 442. There would be a nafka mina (practical difference) with certain chametz for which you do not transgress bal yera'eh (it shall not be seen). That reason would not apply, but the other reason would: you might come to eat it because you eat it all year long.
But according to the reason that one transgresses “it shall not be seen,” and likewise according to the reason that perhaps one will not nullify it properly, one needs to check only for chametz for which one transgresses “it shall not be seen.” If you say the reason is that perhaps one will not make bitul properly, it applies only to chametz for which one transgresses “it shall not be seen.” There is certain chametz for which one does not transgress bal yera'eh, but one might still come to eat it. So both reasons cover basically all systemic scenarios.
But the Gemara clearly proves that there is concern about eating it; see there. Therefore, the main ruling is that every kind of chametz requires a bedikah. However, one could say that they were concerned only about chametz for which one is liable to karet. For chametz that involves only a lav (negative commandment), there is that interesting novel point: you only have to check for chametz that incurs karet. We have to see what the rules are, but certain chametz does not incur karet, and then there is no obligation to check for it. Delo shayach issur deshama ya'avor lo shayach issur karet, kemo shepeirash Rashi, zeh inyan safek, aval inyan harchakat Rabbanan; peirush, lekaret avdu harchakah velo lelav. Interesting: for karet, they instituted the protective measure of a bedikah, but not for a lav. Very interesting.
Eimatai? When is the time for the bedikah? Now we get into the nitty-gritty. At what time do you have to start checking? The Sages taught in the Mishnah: or le'arba'ah asar (the night of the fourteenth), one checks the chametz by candlelight. The Gemara explains the reason: even though the prohibition begins at midday, by Torah law. What do you mean? Why make the bedikah the night before? The prohibition does not start until midday the next day, by Torah law. So just make the bedikah at 11:00. If so, it would have been enough to check in the morning, but zerizin makdimin lemitzvot (the zealous act promptly for mitzvot). Right, vayashkem Avraham baboker (Abraham arose early in the morning). You want to be zariz; you start in the morning. We learned that being prompt means doing it before midday, in the case of milah (circumcision). If you always do the milah before midday, you are considered prompt. So do it in the morning, before midday. It says, “vayashkem Avraham baboker,” not the night before.
But the reason is that a candle is good for checking. Even so, according to this, could he not check at night whenever he wanted? Why do they require the beginning of the night? The Gemara gives remarkable reasons. “What benefit is a candle in broad daylight?” We do it at night so the candle will be useful. If that is the case, do it at 2:00 in the morning. Why do it at the beginning of the night? Because that is when people are at home. That is a fact: people are home then; they usually come home from work. So do it right away. If you wait until 2:00 in the morning, people are going to forget.
“Nooks and crannies?” Right. It is not that the candle is going to light up the room and turn off the light. Put the candle there; it is brighter than the sunlight that will not get into the nooks and crannies, under the table and so on. You are right that sunlight gives you more general light, but when you put a candle in a corner at night, it illuminates it. Yes, it is like a flashlight. That is basically the kavanah (intentions) here. We would not have guessed it, but it is all about the candle.
“Bevakashah, please continue.” The Ra'avad z"l (of blessed memory) inferred from the word “light” that the checking should take place while there is still a little light. Why does the Mishnah say or le'arba'ah asar? The Gemara says that or le'arba'ah asar means “the night of the fourteenth”; “light” is sagi nahor (bright of light), a euphemism for darkness. “Light” means night, but the Mishnah did not want to begin a perek (chapter) with the word “night,” which is negative, so it says “light.” The Ra'avad says it is not so simple. The reason it says “light” is that they want you to check while there is still a little light outside. Right, still during the day, exactly. There is a little light, meaning at the beginning of the night, but not during bein hashemashot (twilight). That is at the beginning of the night, but not twilight, because twilight is not yet considered the fourteenth. “Light” means right away. That is how he learned it from the word or, while there is still a little or. Even thirty minutes later, there is still light, for sure.
Some say the time for the bedikah is before tzet hakochavim (nightfall). That is even later: according to nightfall, it would be about twenty minutes. The main opinion is the first one, right after twilight. Therefore, at the beginning of the night of the fourteenth of Nisan, one checks the chametz by candlelight, in the holes and cracks. That is the point: the holes and cracks are where the candle is useful. And in all the places where it is customary to bring chametz.
Every person should be careful not to begin any melachah (work) at the end of the thirteenth day, meaning half an hour before night. Half an hour before the time—whatever time we decide that is—he should not begin work. “Melachah (work)” does not mean the work prohibited on Shabbat. You are allowed to turn on a light. It means work that you might become engrossed in and therefore end up forgetting to do the bedikah.
Likewise, one may not eat a se'udah (meal) until he has checked, but tasting fruit or having a keveitzah (egg-sized portion) of bread is permitted. An egg-sized portion of bread is not considered eating. That amount is permitted; fruit is okay. Anything more than that—one slice is okay, but two slices are a problem. This is bread over which one says mezonot (Who creates various foods). But to wash one’s hands and eat bread over which one says hamotzi (Who brings forth bread), even a kezayit (olive-sized portion) is forbidden.
Oh no, I take that back—at least according to the Aruch Hashulchan. The Aruch Hashulchan says no hamotzi. When I said an olive-sized portion and an egg-sized portion, I meant mezonot, cake; I did not mean bread that you wash for. So take pizza back. Even the food over which one says mezonot is permitted only up to an egg-sized portion, because that is considered a temporary eating, like in a sukkah (temporary booth). More than an egg-sized portion is forbidden. This applies only to bread; fruit and other foods are different.
There is no shi'ur for how much watermelon or cantaloupe one may eat; you can eat as much as you want. Fruit is no problem. Mezonot, up to an egg-sized portion. Bread, according to the Aruch Hashulchan, zero: no bread, nothing. “To eat bread over which one says hamotzi, even an olive-sized portion is forbidden.” Even an olive-sized portion is forbidden. Yes, that is a novel point. What does it mean, “even an olive-sized portion”? Does it mean less than an olive-sized portion would be permitted? Well, you do not have to wash your hands if it is less than an olive-sized portion. Right, that would be the reason. Anything for which you have to wash your hands—that is an olive-sized portion.
We will have to see what Rabbi Ovadia says. Maybe Rabbi Ovadia says bread up to an egg-sized portion. It could be. We will have to see. What is the difference between that and a meal? It is not considered a meal. A meal is considered temporary until an egg-sized portion; an egg-sized portion and more is already substantial. Well, those people ate all day. The Tiferet Adam—that is how we rule. The same thing, exactly: bread above an egg-sized portion. In a sukkah, when we say a berachah (blessing) on the sukkah, it is an egg-sized portion and above. Those are the rules. But for some reason, he did not like bread. No bread; bread is off the table.
“Continue.” “Even to study?” “To go to the bathhouse.” Oh, to go to the bathhouse. No bathhouses, no saunas. “Even to study.” Section 27: even studying is forbidden once the time for the bedikah arrives. Oh, you cannot even study. Even these people who study one hour a week—we will have to tell them, sorry, you cannot study; cut that hour out. We have to control them.
Now, at first glance, why are you telling me that studying is forbidden once the time arrives? You should say half an hour beforehand. Why not stop them half an hour before? This does not follow the same rule as eating. Regarding tefilat Arvit (evening prayer), the rule is the same, as explained in Berachot: even if someone has a fixed time to study, he should not study until he has checked. That is right, even if you have a set time. We had the bedikah on Thursday night this year, for example. Then no more night learnings.
Some say that even studying is forbidden from half an hour beforehand, and that this is unlike tefilat Arvit (evening prayer). There is no proof, because how could you study Torah before the time arrives? You minimize Torah study as much as you have to; you do not do it more than you have to. This is what the Rambam wrote at the beginning of chapter two: one should not establish a midrash (study session) at the end of the thirteenth day, and likewise a scholar should not begin reading then, lest he get drawn in and be prevented from checking the chametz at the beginning of its time.
Interesting. It sounds as though he was concerned not that you would miss the bedikah, but that you would miss it at its prime time. Why did he not just say, “Lest he get drawn in and be prevented from checking the chametz”? No, it says, “at the beginning of its time.” They want you to do it as early as possible. You might get drawn into your learning—you are in a sugya (Talmudic discussion) and want to finish it. Or the four cups.
So the intention is not that ordinary study is forbidden before its time. If so, he could have said briefly that it is forbidden to study at the end of the thirteenth day. Rather, the meaning is that extended study, in which one prepares himself for a long period, is forbidden. That is what establishing a study session means: people study together and engage in back-and-forth analysis, and it takes a long time. Like what we did last night, exactly. Back and forth, sevarot (reasonings), learning, and all that. But if I want to open a book of practical laws and read Yalkut Yosef for half an hour beforehand, that is not the same thing.
Likewise, if a rabbi is teaching students, it is forbidden; that takes a long time. But studying alone is not prohibited until the time arrives. Once the time arrives, for sure: close all the books. The kind of study they were concerned about is the kind of in-depth analysis that can really get drawn out.
Someone wrote that people who say a practical law in the synagogue after prayers may do so. That was the custom. Rav Elyashiv had this custom every night, after or before Arvit (evening prayer): they would give a little shi'ur in halachah (Jewish law). So you see, go do it. But they give a lesson. Ve-reishit dedavka. Why? Because the congregation will remind one another. They are not worried that you will get drawn in; that is only when you are alone and get lost in your thoughts. When you are with a congregation, somebody will remind you; they will set an alarm.
What does the halachah (Jewish law) mean when it says “kevi'at midrash (study session) shelomdim, where people study”? That is a chavruta (study partner); you are learning with the guys. That is in a beit midrash (study hall), no? Yes, but that is a question. I have to answer that about the Rambam. At first glance, he is exempt, right? Somebody should remind you. Who is going to remind the other person, who is also involved in the back-and-forth analysis? They would be one-on-one. Who is going to remind the other person? They are both engaged. It says that they study together publicly, which means they are engaging in pilpul (in-depth analysis) together. So it could be that the other person is engrossed too, and will also get lost in the learning. Likewise, when the scholar teaches students, it is forbidden. They may get caught up in the analysis. But this is a rabbi teaching halachah; they are just sitting back while he gives a talk. It could be different; they are not going to get lost in it. I am making a chilluk (distinction) on my own here. It could be different when people are studying together and get caught up in it. Who is going to remind the talmid (student)? By contrast, a student who is just sitting and listening is passive; he cannot wait for it to be over.
“Specifically, someone who studies at home is forbidden, since he is not compelled to get up for his donkey.” That is true, for sure. But surely at home, specifically, it means a straightforward halachah without back-and-forth analysis. Exactly: straightforward halachah, not analysis, so you do not get caught up. The Rambam is talking about analysis. But analysis is forbidden even if they are not at home, and in that case there is certainly concern that he will be negligent. Yes, once you start with reasonings and ask what the case is, you get drawn out, even if you are with many people.
In my humble opinion, this seems to contradict the Rambam. The point is that this is like the established study session that the Rambam prohibits. One would have to say that the Rambam meant studying at home, not in the study hall, but that does not seem to be what he means. The wording is “study hall”; it means a study hall. Wow, so he is troubled by the Rambam. Based on what we just said, that does not work with the Rambam. What was the opinion he cited? It does not say? Someone who says halachot—they are just teaching this halachah publicly. Yes, this contradicts the Rambam. The Rambam sounds as if there is a problem even in public when it is a study session. We will have to see how Chacham Ovadia answers it. From Maimonides, it sounds as if there is a problem even in public. Finish it up; now go to section 29.
Rabbeinu the Beit Yosef wrote, in the name of the Beit Yosef, that if one began studying mibe'od yom (before daytime ends), he does not need to stop. Rabbeinu the Rema wrote that some say he must stop, and that this seems to him to be the main ruling. Even though he began beheiter (permissibly), even with optional activities one does not stop, as he wrote in section 235, nevertheless Torah study has no end, and there is no point at which it is finished. Ba'al korchacha titztarech lehafsik (you will have to stop), so stop now. Therefore, he should stop now. In other words, since you never finish, you might as well stop and do the bedikah, and then return to your learning.
According to this, it seems to me that they do not disagree at all: certainly, by law, one does not have to stop, all the more so compared with optional activities, and with minchah (afternoon prayer)… Maybe it is different; you could really argue the other way too. Although, with minchah (afternoon prayer), one does not stop, that is because it is tadir (regular or frequent). Optional activities have an end, and Torah study has no end, so you have to stop. Therefore, if one needs to finish the chapter or finish the subject, it seems to me that everyone agrees that he does not… Oh, that is interesting! You have a finite number of pages; you are studying a particular page. You are not saying, “I am going to finish all of Torah now”; you have to get through two pages. Then you do not have to stop. It is only talking about when you are just studying without end, not studying a fixed amount. But if you are studying a fixed amount, and you began permissibly, you know where you need to get to; you can finish it. That is a novel point from the Aruch Hashulchan as well. Here, it is talking about when you are simply studying, opening a book and reading; it does not end. You could go on and on.
If one began studying after the time had arrived, he certainly has to stop, because he began in a prohibited manner. If you began studying at the time of the bedikah, for sure, close the book. If one began an optional activity before daytime ends, permissibly, some say he has to stop. Say you began fixing or changing pipes in your bathroom at 5:00 in the afternoon, permissibly. Now your wife says, “Hey, it is time for the bedikah.” You say, “Let me know; I am almost finished.” You began permissibly.
Although, with minchah (afternoon prayer), one does not stop, that is because it is tadir (regular or frequent). We are not concerned that you will forget the afternoon prayer, because you do it every day; you always remember to pray. That is not so with the bedikat chametz: it happens once a year, so we are concerned that you will forget. And although the ruling is that if one has begun with the lulav (palm branch), he does not stop, as it says in section 652, that case is different. The palm branch is available for seven days; it is more regular than the bedikah. Furthermore, the palm branch can be taken all day, while the bedikah is at the beginning of the night. And furthermore, handling a palm branch takes a moment. How long does it take to shake a palm branch? Without the kavanot, you just pick it up and put it down. So you are not worried about that. But the bedikah is a whole story.
You fulfill the mitzvah, and there is no chashash (concern) because he will certainly do it. It is like the Chabad fellow catching you at the F train. The bedikah is different. Nevertheless, some say one does not have to stop, as with the afternoon prayer. I would say that in any case, one should tell his wife or someone else to be a shomer (reminder) to check for chametz, and then he can finish what he started. And even without that, some say that if he appoints someone to remind him to check, it is permitted in every case. There you have it: appoint someone to remind you. Set your phone, set the wife, take, call—that is it. Therefore, it seems that one can rely on this.
Someone who has not prayed evening prayer with the congregation: some say he should check and then pray, unless he usually prays with a minyan (quorum) in the synagogue; in that case, he should pray first, because it will be difficult to gather the minyan afterward. Someone who prays olam arvit beveito at home should check and then pray. But some say that evening prayer always comes first, and that is the main ruling: there was never an enactment to check before evening prayer. The enactment was never to start the bedikah before prayer, even if you want to delay the bedikah.
Rabotai, open the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law). This took him 31 se'ifim (sections) to cover two se'ifim in the Shulchan Aruch. That is a real rabbi. I am going to read the Shulchan Aruch to you. It is section 431, “The time of the bedikat chametz,” with two sections. Section 431, section one: At the beginning of the night of the fourteenth, one checks the chametz by candlelight, in holes and cracks and in all places where it is customary to bring chametz.
The Mishnah Berurah: “At the beginning” means immediately after nightfall, while there is still a little daylight. One should begin checking so that he will not become negligent or forget. So what is that? It is a derabbanan (rabbinic) bedikat chametz. The twenty-minute rule: twenty minutes after sunset, you can already begin the bedikah. One must also nullify the chametz then, as will be explained in section 434, subsection two. Min haTorah (by Torah law), either one is sufficient. When he nullifies it in his heart and abandons ownership of it, it is no longer his, and he does not transgress by having it. All the more so when he checks it and removes it from the world.
Chazal were stringent: one is not satisfied with either one alone, but must do both. They were concerned that because bitul depends on people’s thoughts and opinions, perhaps a person who sees that he has chametz worth many thousands will not abandon it. Although he says with his mouth that it should be nullified and ownerless, and considered like dust, his heart may not think that way, and he may not nullify it wholeheartedly. Then he transgresses “it shall not be seen,” because he did not remove it from his house. Furthermore, since people are accustomed to it all year, if it remains in his house and possession, he may forget and come to eat it. Therefore, the Sages instituted that even if he nullifies it, that alone is not sufficient; he must check it and remove it from the world. All the more so, he should also nullify it, in case he does not check properly, finds chametz on Passover, and transgresses by having it. Beautiful. It is exactly as we learned. The Mishnah Berurah gives a nice summary.
“By candlelight,” because one needs to check holes and cracks, and daylight will not help with that. Since it needs to be checked by candlelight, night is best, because then the candlelight shines more than it does in daylight, even in a dark place. It is also a time when people are at home. Not only that: the reason they made it at the beginning of the night is that this is when people are at home. During the day, people leave the house; at night, people are home. So they set it at night for a practical reason. People are home—that is a good reason. In the morning, people have to go to work. People who go to Shacharit (morning prayer) rush off to work. Are they going to do the bedikah? It would be rushed. At home, you are home, exactly.
“Where it is customary to bring” does not necessarily mean that it is customary to bring chametz there. Even if it is not customary to bring chametz there, if it is a place where people sometimes use chametz, that counts. It does not have to be a regular practice; any concern that chametz was there means that it is a place where a bedikah is needed. The concern is that he brought chametz there without noticing.
Section two: Every person should be careful not to begin any work or eat until he has checked. Even if he has a fixed time to study, he should not study until he has checked. If he began studying before daytime ends, he does not have to stop. Look here: “He should not begin any work,” and even half an hour before the time is forbidden. See section three. But did Maran (our master) say something about half an hour? “He should not begin any work or eat until he has checked.” He did not say anything about half an hour, by the way. It sounds like “until he has checked” means that when the time comes, he will do it. Even if he has a fixed time to study—the Maran does not mention half an hour, gentlemen, with all due respect.
Look at the Mishnah Berurah. He says that even during the half hour beforehand it is forbidden, lest one get drawn into it. The same applies to entering a bathhouse and to all the things mentioned above in section 232. You see? If you go to section 232, you will see the half-hour rule. So he is saying it has to be half an hour because that is what we learned in section 232. Someone who forgot to check at night may not do any of these things during the day until he checks. It is the same period. If you forgot to do the bedikah at night, you cannot study and do all these things until you do the bedikah during the day.
“And he shall not eat.” A mere taste is permitted. That means bread up to an egg-sized portion. He disagrees with the Aruch Hashulchan: he allows bread up to an egg-sized portion. The Aruch Hashulchan does not allow even an olive-sized portion, if you wash your hands at all. He says one may eat bread up to an egg-sized portion, but no more, or fruit, even a lot, as we wrote at the end of section 232. See there. The Mishnah Berurah: see the Bi'ur Halachah. In the Bi'ur Halachah, it says that a lot of fruit is permitted only during the half hour before the bedikah. But once the time for the bedikah arrives, even with fruit, it is not proper to linger for long. Right, once the time for the bedikah arrives, do not start eating an apple at bedikah time. Fruit is permitted before the bedikah, within the half hour. Once the time arrives, you should not even have a little fruit. It is not proper to linger for long.
“He should not study.” Some prohibit that too during the preceding half hour, lest he get drawn into it, unless he has asked someone to remind him when the time comes. That is the first shitah (opinion): some say there is a half-hour rule even for studying, unless you have someone to remind you. Others permit studying beforehand; only once the time of nightfall arrives is it forbidden. That is the dispute we saw. Even according to those who prohibit it, it is prohibited only for someone studying at home. Those who study a lesson in halachah in the study hall after prayers are permitted, since they certainly have to go home. That is the simple reading: where are you going to sleep, in the study hall? You are coming home.
Nevertheless, even that is permitted only if one studies without back-and-forth analysis. But with analysis… Could that be how we answer the Rambam? The Rambam was talking about analysis, and analysis gets you lost in it. Then he took it away? After he said the Rambam, and then he said that people do it… He said, “Nevertheless.” No, I am just trying to answer the Rambam. The Rambam says there is a problem with the study session. What is the problem? The Aruch Hashulchan told me that in the study session people will remind you. That is when the rabbi gives you a lesson in halachah. But with the back-and-forth analysis that the Rambam seems to be talking about, where there is an exchange with the students and all that, it could be forbidden even when there are many people.
Someone who regularly prays evening prayer at a certain time, or always prays it at its proper time with the congregation, should pray first. You told me bread up to an egg-sized portion. Wait a minute, what are you telling me? Gentlemen, should they come back for evening prayer at 10:00 or 10:30, after the bedikah? They cannot. There is also not so much concern that he will forget to check, since prayer is a fixed matter and it is not appropriate to miss it. You do not say you forgot evening prayer; you go home and do that every night.
Someone who prays at home should have someone else do the checking while he prays, so that he can fulfill both obligations. Wow. If you are praying in your house, I guess with a quorum, or however you are doing it, pray and let somebody else do the bedikah, so you can do both at the same time. If there is nobody else, he should pray first. But if he is accustomed always to pray evening prayer at home, he should check first, since he is accustomed to praying evening prayer; he always prays before he goes to bed. Let him do the bedikah first and then pray. Or perhaps a person like that should pray first. “Tadir veshe'eino tadir, tadir.” There are a million opinions about what to do with evening prayer here.
If one began studying—or doing other work—during the day, at the permitted time, he does not have to stop afterward. Even regarding the recitation of the Shema, which is biblical, the ruling in section 232 is that if one began permissibly, he does not stop; see there. That is Maran. But the Rema wrote that some say one must stop. There is a machloket (dispute) between the Sefaradim (Sephardim) and the Ashkenazim.
Let us open Chacham Nedvat Pinchas first. It has all the novel points of his saba, his grandfather. It is a shame we never got to see his grandfather, because he does not come to America. “It is a mitzvah to check the chametz before Passover in order to remove it. Although by Torah law bitul is sufficient, nevertheless the Sages were concerned that when a person has valuable chametz, he may not nullify it wholeheartedly. Furthermore, since he is accustomed to it all year, there is concern that if he leaves it in his house, he may forget and come to eat it. Therefore, in every case, one must check and remove it from his possession. This mitzvah of checking the chametz is an important mitzvah from the Torah before he has nullified it.” That is right; he has not done it yet. You have not made bitul yet. So the bedikah is biblical. I am relieved. Even though you are going to make bitul, at this point, at that time… “You shall eliminate it” comes afterward. Right, “you shall eliminate it” means either you nullify it or you check for it. I am doing the bedikah first, so at this point it is de'oraita (biblical). Right, right, right. I mean the bedikah, right? When we say the blessing “concerning the removal.”
“A person should not look for strategies to exempt himself from it.” You should not look for ways to get out of making a bedikah. For when there is charon af (divine anger) in the world, people are punished even for a mitzvat aseh (positive commandment) that they could obligate themselves in but did not, like tzitzit (fringes). HaKadosh Baruch Hu (the Holy One, blessed be He)—there is divine anger in the world. When there is divine anger, they punish you even regarding a positive commandment that was not obligatory. Like tzitzit: if a person does not have a four-cornered garment, he does not have to put on tzitzit; he is exempt. You are right. But in a time of divine anger, they punish you for that too. Technically, you could get out of the bedikat chametz: sell all your chametz, do not make bitul, and get out of it. Do not do that. That is Chacham Ben Tzion. Get back to tzitzit.
“The essence of the checking is to know as well every food in his house, whether it contains chametz, because otherwise it is not a bedikah. He should not rely on the fact that the house was cleaned before Passover, because sometimes people do not pay attention to the products themselves.” Right, it could be that they checked the rooms and did spring cleaning, but what about the products? That is the main thing you really have to check. You have to open the pantry. KP, KP, KP, KP, what is the hechsher—what's the item? That is the item. Some of them are actual chametz. Usually, by the way, the Passover pantry is the last place you check. Where is all the chametz going to be, if there is any? In that pantry, where all the food is. So you have to make sure everything is KP. Of course, your wife is going to tell you, “I already checked it. Do not open it. Leave it; do not get wax all over the place. I checked it.”
“One should pay attention to all kinds of food products in which chametz is mixed, such as chocolate in which things are mixed.” Sometimes they put this thing and that thing: whiskey, birah (beer), sukaryot (candies). We have not gotten to this yet: the time of the bedikah. At the beginning of the night of the fourteenth, one checks the chametz, but they advance evening prayer to its proper time, and immediately afterward they check.
Let us take the matter of evening prayer before the bedikah slowly. Here is what the Bach wrote about it: the congregation customarily prays while it is still quite early. The Magen Avraham wrote that it is preferable to check before prayer, unless one is concerned that he might forget to pray and thereby miss praying with the congregation. However, according to the Rashbatz… who checked before nightfall, but we have the custom, following the Shulchan Aruch, to check at nightfall. It is preferable to pray first, because the regular takes precedence. The Chok Ya'akov, Chida, Pri Shapira, and Mishnah Berurah wrote this as well.
The Shulchan Aruch HaRav wrote that the bedikah comes first, since its time is at nightfall, whereas the time for prayer lasts all night. The reason they pray early is only the rule that the zealous act promptly. On this question, he wanted to say that even if the congregation could pray early and then go check, it is nevertheless preferable to pray with the congregation before praying alone, if that would allow him to pray evening prayer with the congregation. However, his teacher and master, haGarbatz, commented on this. Even according to the Rashbatz… nevertheless, the Sages set the time for the bedikah a little after nightfall, a little after nightfall, so that people could pray evening prayer at its proper time. The regular takes precedence over the nonregular…
That is what he wants to say: the time is not nightfall itself; it is a little after nightfall, because they knew that you have to pray evening prayer first. So nobody needs to be such a stickler if you have to pray twenty minutes later, as some people are particular to pray only after nightfall. If the quorum is at nightfall, pray at nightfall. “Oh, the twenty-minute bedikat chametz!” Calm down. The bedikah was not at twenty minutes; it is thirty minutes later. They factored in that you are going to pray evening prayer. Do you understand?
The main time for the bedikat chametz requires investigation. Was the Sages’ enactment to check on the night of the fourteenth, with the zealous merely acting promptly at the beginning of the night? That is one way of understanding it. Or was the enactment to check at the beginning of the night? According to the Ra'avad, it sounds like the enactment was for the early time. Alternatively, if he did not check then, he can check all night. See the Gra, because this depends on the disagreement between the Shulchan Aruch and the Rema about whether one who began during the day has to stop.
My teacher, the Gra, explained in a lesson that the practical difference is when someone began half an hour before the time and continued until the time arrived. The Shulchan Aruch’s view is that the essential mitzvah is all night. Ah, that is why Maran says you can continue: really, the mitzvah is all night, and they only moved it earlier, to the beginning of the night, because the zealous act promptly. So if you began permissibly, continue. But if the Rema holds that the essential time is the beginning of the night, you have to stop. That is how he wants to make the disagreement depend on the time. Nice. That is the Ra'avad’s view.
See also Or L'Tzion, which discusses the disagreement between the Shulchan Aruch and the Rema from several angles. We will check that; it is a nice analysis. But this is a nice simple reading, gentlemen. He makes the disagreement between Maran and the Rema depend on the essential time. Was the essential time the whole night, or was the essential time the beginning of the night? If you understand Maran as holding that the time is really the whole night and that they moved it earlier because the zealous act promptly, then that is the reason.
One should not begin any work until he checks. Even if he has a fixed time to study, he should not begin until he checks. However, if he began during the day, according to Maran he does not have to stop. Therefore, the Sephardim… It is not possible to rely on Maran’s view. Add that once the time arrives, one should not linger even over eating fruit, as this authority wrote, or over conversation. Do not take a phone call at the time of the bedikah. Turn your phones off and finish it before the time of the bedikah comes. As soon as evening prayer is over, hurry to check.
See the Shulchan Aruch. It has already been explained that Or L'Tzion inferred from Maran’s wording that, ideally, one should take the Ra'avad’s opinion into account: the essential enactment of the Sages was to check at the beginning of the night. Wait, wait—where did he get that from Maran? Because Maran’s wording is “at the beginning of the night of the fourteenth of Nisan.” Why did he write “at the beginning”? You see, Maran wants you to do it at the beginning. He could have said, “Check on the night of the fourteenth,” and then we would know that the zealous act promptly. So Chacham Ben Tzion wants to say that perhaps he was concerned about this opinion: perhaps it is specifically then. Why write “at the beginning of the night of the fourteenth”? Just say, “On the night of the fourteenth, one checks the chametz by candlelight,” and the zealous act promptly.
Chacham Ben Tzion also says that this is implied by the Ben Ish Chai, who wrote that if one is studying, he has to stop. It seems that he stated this without distinguishing that there is a case where one does not have to stop, such as if he began during the day. Right, why did the Ben Ish Chai not say, “Unless you began during the day,” which is permitted? He was concerned about the Rema.
So, gentlemen, basically what we are learning here is: do the bedikah at the right time. Do not say, “I will go to the restaurant first, because everyone will be doing the bedikah now, so I will go eat while the restaurant is empty, and we will come home and do the bedikah at 9:30.” You are making a big mistake. That is all for now. We will go back to this tomorrow. Amen.