Bedikat Chametz: Difference between revisions

## Since one is not going to be home for [[Pesach]] it’s sufficient to do a proper Bedika according to the law by just looking for the Chametz (though not just a superficial look) and one doesn’t have to drive oneself crazy like one does every year. <Ref> Rav Schachter on [http://www.ou.org/torah/article/oukosher_pre-pesach_webcast_5771 OU Pre-Pesach Webcast 5771] between minutes 2:30 and 5 </ref>

# If one is renting out one’s house and the Chametz in it to a non-Jew for [[Pesach]] one will have exempted oneself from Bedika but it’s not proper to do so, rather it’s correct to rent one’s house except for one room and do Bedika without a Bracha in that room before one leaves for [[Pesach]]. <Ref> Rav Schachter on [http://www.ou.org/torah/article/oukosher_pre-pesach_webcast_5771 OU Pre-Pesach Webcast 5771] between minutes 2:30 and 5 </ref>

## The room which one leaves not rented in order to Bedika should be a room which one usually brings Chametz otherwise there’ll be no obligation of Bedika and one will have accomplished nothing by leaving that room not rented. <Ref> Rav Yisrael Belsky on [http://www.ou.org/torah/article/oukosher_pre-pesach_webcast_5771 OU Pre-Pesach Webcast 5771] between minutes 10:30 and 11:30 </ref>

# A person who rents a house for [[Pesach]], the areas which one will put one’s food utensils and actual food should be checked perfectly well. The rest of the house should be checked well, however, the areas which are private areas and the renters are not supposed to open (explicitly mentioned or implicitly understood) the renters do not have to Bedika on those areas. <Ref> Rav Yisrael Belsky on [http://www.ou.org/torah/article/oukosher_pre-pesach_webcast_5771 OU Pre-Pesach Webcast 5771] between minutes 16:45 and 19:15 explaining that we assume that the children didn’t put Chametz there and they are even renting those private areas </ref>

===Going to a relative for Pesach===

# If one is staying at a relative for [[Pesach]] and has a room where will one be staying one should participate in the Bedika by listening to the Bracha on the Bedika and then checking the room one will be staying in. <Ref> Rav Schachter on [http://www.ou.org/torah/article/oukosher_pre-pesach_webcast_5771 OU Pre-Pesach Webcast 5771] between minutes 6 and 7 </ref>

# If one leaves one’s bungalow colony house within 30 days of [[Pesach]] one has to Bedika before one leaves, however if one leaves longer than 30 days before [[Pesach]] one doesn’t have to Bedika and it’s sufficient to do [[Bitul Chametz]] on the Chametz in that house unless one is going to come to the house on [[Pesach]] in which case one has to Bedika before [[Pesach]]. <Ref> Rav Yisrael Belsky on [http://www.ou.org/torah/article/oukosher_pre-pesach_webcast_5771 OU Pre-Pesach Webcast 5771] between minutes 11 and 12 </ref>

# One has to do Bedika in one’s office (if one brings food there), however, one doesn’t have to do it on the night before [[Pesach]], but rather one should do on the night before one leaves the office before [[Pesach]]. <Ref> Rav Yisrael Belsky on [http://www.ou.org/torah/article/oukosher_pre-pesach_webcast_5771 OU Pre-Pesach Webcast 5771] between minutes 8 and 11 </ref>

# One has to clean the house before [[Pesach]] and still do Bedika (with a Bracha) the night before [[Pesach]]. <Ref> Rav Yisrael Belsky on [http://www.ou.org/torah/article/oukosher_pre-pesach_webcast_5771 OU Pre-Pesach Webcast 5771] between minutes 12:45 and 15:45 </ref>

# If one cleaned a closet completely by removing every single vessel, checked using an electric light and there no small confined areas or hidden places in the closet then it’s considered checked and doesn’t require Bedika. However, if there are areas which require close examination (like getting down on one’s hands and knees) one should still do Bedika at the appropriate time. <Ref> Rav Yisrael Belsky on [http://www.ou.org/torah/article/oukosher_pre-pesach_webcast_5771 OU Pre-Pesach Webcast 5771] between minutes 12:45 and 15:45 </ref>

# Nowadays, one doesn’t have to check in the cracks in the floor because no one actually hides Chametz in the few and small cracks in the floor. <Ref> Rav Schachter on [http://www.ou.org/torah/article/oukosher_pre-pesach_webcast_5771 OU Pre-Pesach Webcast 5771] between minutes 16 and 16:30 </ref>

# If one has small children one must do Bedika in all rooms in the house because one doesn’t know where Chametz was brought. <Ref> Rav Schachter on [http://www.ou.org/torah/article/oukosher_pre-pesach_webcast_5771 OU Pre-Pesach Webcast 5771] between minutes 6 and 7 </ref>

# There’s no [[Shehecheyanu]] on the Bedika. <Ref>Bear Hetiev says it’s includes in [[Shehecheyanu]] of [[Yom Tov]], Pri Megadim M”Z 431:2 says it’s not a mitzvah of Simcha, מאירי says there’s no [[Shehecheyanu]] on Bedika which is just done to prevent you from a prohibition. </ref>

# A person doesn’t have to make themselves crazy, one just to be reasonable not to overwork oneself so that one can enjoy [[the Seder]]. <Ref> Rav Schachter on [http://www.ou.org/torah/article/oukosher_pre-pesach_webcast_5771 OU Pre-Pesach Webcast 5771] between minutes 19:30 and 21 </ref> It’s a judgment call and one should do a peripheral check (not too peripheral). <Ref> Rav Yisrael Belsky on [http://www.ou.org/torah/article/oukosher_pre-pesach_webcast_5771 OU Pre-Pesach Webcast 5771] between minutes 24 and 25. See Haggadah of the Roshei Yeshiva (pg 13) which records the minhag of Rav Moshe to perform a bedika in his small apartment for longer than an hour. This bedika doesn't need to be done as if no cleaning was done, but is required anyway. This is the opinion of Sha’arei Teshuvah 433:2, Daat Torah 433:2, Chochmat Shelomo 433:11, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach quoted in Mevakshei Torah Ohr Efrayim page 532), Kinyan Torah 2:122.</ref>