Page 92 - RMBA Upper School Haggadah 2018

Bedikat Chametz - Eyal Catran (8th Grade)

Bedikat Chametz is the mitzvah of searching for bread on the eve of Pesach in order to burn it
the next day. The search takes place a er nigh all on the evening before Pesach.
The mitzvah of Bedikat Chametz was enacted by our Sages, who feared that since we are
accustomed to ea ng Chametz throughout the year, a person may eat Chametz if one
encounters it during Passover. The search should be very me culous, even in the most
neglected and corner areas of the house that do not reach the sunlight, and to see what is
hidden in them you need a focused light. Chazal determined that the light most suitable for this
is candle light and therefore the test is performed at night, the me where candles are most
effec ve. There are places that cannot be checked with a candle, such as one's clothes and the
like, and it is advisable to check with a flashlight according to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and Rabbi
Aaron Kotler.

Biur Chametz - Olesia Rosenberg-Johnson (11th Grade)

Chametz is any food product made from/with wheat, barley, rye, oats, or spelt that has come
into contact with water and has risen. To prevent people from transgressing the prohibi on
inadvertently, the Sages decreed that the prohibi on of ea ng chametz starts two hours before
midday, and the prohibi on of deriving any benefit starts one hour prior to midday. Chametz is
outlawed star ng at the fourth halachic hour of the morning before Passover. It is forbidden to
get any benefit from chametz at the fi h halachic hour. Finally, all chametz should be burned
before the sixth hour.

The main purpose of cleaning and searching for chametz is to remove any chametz that one
may come to inadvertently eat or derive benefit from during Passover. The obliga on of ge ng
rid of chametz does not extend to inedible chametz or ny crumbs or par cles of chametz that
are soiled or spoiled. Utensils used for chametz, and chametz itself that you did not dispose of
may be sold to a person who is not Jewish for the dura on of Passover.

By not ea ng chametz we are reminding ourselves of the bread that didn’t have me to rise
when the Jews were leaving Egypt. The Rabbis suggest that the leaven transcends the physical
world. This chametz, also symbolises a puffiness of self, an inflated personality, a focus of ego
that we may have regarding our escape from Egypt. By having our food unleavened, we
acknowledge that it was God that took us out of Egypt and it was not of our own doing.

Burning Chametz - Eitan Geralnik (9th Grade)

There is a halacha on erev Pesach that we must destroy our Chametz. There is an argument
between Rabbi Yehuda and the Sages on how you can destroy the Chametz. According to
Rabbi Yehuda Chametz must be burnt, whereas according to the Sages you may crumble and
throw it into the wind or sea. The Mishnah (Temura 33b) distinguishes between objects that are
removed and those are burnt. The Gemara explains that you may not benefit from the ashes of
stuff you remove, but once you burn something your mitzvah is completed and you may use the
ashes. Rabbi Akiva Eiger says that there is no mitzvah to destroy the objects you are removing;

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