Chametz - Removal of Chametz

Removal of Chametz

In addition to the Biblical prohibition of owning chametz, there is also a positive commandment to remove it from one's possession. There are three traditional methods of removing chametz:

• Bi'ur: burning one's chametz. All appropriate methods of destruction are included in this category. On the night preceding the 14th of Nisan, a formal search of the house known as bedikat chametz ("search for chametz") is conducted by candlelight. The chametz found in this search is burned the next morning in a formal bi'ur ceremony.
• Bittul: nullifying one's chametz. On the night and again on the morning of the 14th of Nissan, at the formal bedikah and bi'ur respectively, the head of the household recites an Aramaic statement nullifying all chametz remaining in the family's possession. The statements conclude that the chametz "shall be nullified and considered ownerless as the dust of the earth." Bittul must be done before the prohibition of chametz takes effect; once five twelfths of the day have passed on Passover eve, bittul is no longer an effective means of removal and any chametz one discovers must be destroyed.
• Mechirah: selling one's chametz. Until five-twelfths of the way through Passover Eve one may sell or give ones chametz to a non-Jew, and it is no longer ones responsibility. One who keeps the sold chametz in his or her household must seal it away so that it will not be visible during the holiday. After the holiday, the non-Jew generally sells the chametz back to the original owners, via the agent; however, he is under no obligation to do so.

It is considered best to use both bi'ur and bittul to remove one's chametz, even though either of these two methods is enough to fulfill one's biblical requirement to destroy one's chametz. Mechirah, which averts the prohibition of ownership, is an alternative to destruction.