Declaring our hametz ownerless

Bitul hametz (declaring our hametz ownerless)

After searching for any left overs of hametz  (see here) Sunday March 24th at night we pronounce the first declaration of Bitul hametz:

"kal hamira de-ika birshuti dela haziteh vedela bi'arteh libtil veleheve (hefqer) ke'afra dear'a"

The translation is:

"All kind of hametz or fermenting agent that belongs to me, that I haven't seen or that I haven't dispose of, it is considered ownerless, as the dust of the earth."

The reason for the bitul is the following: as we've already said, during Pesah the ownership or possession of hametz is forbidden, even if our hametz is hidden or even if it is not in our house. During Pesah there cannot be any hametz that belong to us. Therefore, through this statement (bitul) we renounce our ownership of any hametz that belong to us and that involuntarily we might not have found or removed. Technically speaking, the hametz will become subsequently ownerless. Therefore, even if any hametz is still found in our property, is not ours anymore. 

For this declaration to be valid, it is necessary to understand every word we are uttering. Thus, one should say it in a language he or she understands. To become absolutely conscious of this declaration, our Sages recommended repeating it three times.

Bi'ur hametz (Getting rid of hametz)

The following day, Monday March 25th, in the morning, after we finish eating hametz (around 10.00 AM), we take the hametz found last night together with all the leftover of the hametz that remained from our last meal and we proceed to its physical disposal (bi'ur). Following the ancient custom, this can be done by burning the hametz (in a safe place!), and it can also be done by disposing it, or throwing it in a river to the fish or by feeding it to the birds. After we disposed of our hametz  we pronounce once again the bitul. This time the declaration is more comprehensive:

"kal hamira de-ika birshuti dehaziteh vedela haziteh debi'arteh vedela biarteh libtil veleheve (hefqer) ke'afra dear'a"

The translation is:

"All kind of hametz or fermenting agent that belongs to me, that I have or have not seen and that I have or have not eliminated, should be considered ownerless, as the dust of the earth."

This last bitul must be done Monday March 25th, before 11.24 A.M. (the fifth hour of the day). Once this bitul is done no more dealings with hametz is allowed until Pesach is over.

Shabbat Shalom!

Candle lighting in NYC:        6:43 pm

Shabbat Ends in NYC:          7:44 pm

Bediqat Hametz, last inspection of hametz, and Pesah out of town

 The night before the Seder (Sunday March 24th, 2013) after 8.00 pm, once our house is clean of hametz and ready for Pesah, we do the bediqat hametz, which is the last inspection to search for any hametz food that might have remained involuntarily in our property after cleaning.

  

That night, with the aid of a candle or a flashlight, we search all spots in our house where we might have brought and/or stored food. We should especially search the kitchen, food storage rooms, the pantry, the refrigerator, the freezer and all other places in which we might have eaten or kept food. In the bediqa we are looking especially for hametz "food" that we could have overlooked during the cleaning process, and not so much for hametz crumbs, which will be rendered hefqer--ownerless--by the bitul, when we declare our hametz ownerless. 

Attention should be given also to cars, since it is not uncommon to eat or keep snacks in a car. Cars should be washed and cleaned before the night of the bediqa and then we should search them usually after we search our homes. We should also search our office or place of work, because we often bring food there. If it is impossible to search these locations right after we do the bediqa at home Sunday night, we should do the bediqa before Sunday night or early Monday morning March 25th.

When a family spends Pesah out of town, the cleaning and the last hametz inspection (bediqa) of the main house should be done the night before leaving home, without saying any berakha. The hametz found should be disposed, giving to a gentile or sold. The night of the bediqa, Sunday March 24th, the family should search for hametz in the house or in the Hotel room where the family will stay for Pesach, but this time with the berakha.

 Watch HERE why is important to learn Hilkhot Pesah

Understanding the prohibition of owning hames during Pesah

 What makes the prohibition of ḥameṣ so unique is that, unlike any other forbidden foods, it includes the ban of its possession.  There are three miṣvot in the Tora related to this prohibition: bal year-e (your ḥameṣ shall not be seen); bal-yimaṣe (ḥameṣ shall not be found in your possessions), which our Rabbis explain as one single prohibition: owning ḥameṣ during Pesaḥ.  We also have a thirdmiṣva called tashbitu (you shall end the possession of ḥameṣ, before Pesaḥ begins). In sum, there are two identical prohibitions (an exceptional case!) and one positive commandment, virtually for the same issue: owning ḥameṣ during Pesaḥ.

Strictly speaking, (and following Maimonides opinion) these three miṣvot would be fulfilled at once by the 'bitul', i.e., a verbal declaration by which we renounce to the ownership of any ḥameṣthat belong to us, regardless of where that ḥameṣ is located.

But the Rabbis explained that there might be some practical complications with just declaring our ḥameṣ ownerless, while keeping at home. First, we might declare that we do not own anymore our ḥameṣ, but, if we posses something valuable, will we really mean wholeheartedly that we renounce to its possession? Second, ḥameṣ is the most common food (bread, etc.), so even if we declare it ownerless but we keep edible ḥameṣ at home, we might  eat it accidentally...

This is why our rabbis instructed us to actually dispose of ourḥameṣ before Pesaḥ begins. 

There are four steps, then, that we should take to fulfill these three Biblical commandments according to our  ḥakhamim: 

(1) We should clean our houses, cars, offices and other properties before Pesaḥ to identify and remove all ḥameṣ from our properties. 

(2) We have to run a final search of all our properties to make sure that we have removed everything ḥameṣ from them (bediqatḥameṣ). 

(3) We have to physically dispose or get rid of any ḥameṣ found in our properties before and during the Bediqa (be'ur ḥameṣ). 

(4) Then, we have to declare that whatever ḥameṣ we may still own anywhere, which was not detected and eliminated by us, does not belong to us anymore, and from now on it is considered ownerless (hefqer) as the dust of the earth (bitul ḥameṣ).

  

We will explain each one of these steps, B'H, in the coming HOTD.