PESACH: What Do We Need to Do Tonight and Tomorrow Morning? by Rab Yosef Bitton

TUESDAY APRIL 4th
One of the biblical prohibitions of Pesach is to «own» Chamets, meaning that we should not have Chamets in our possession during Pesach. To prevent this, we clean our houses and other properties (cars, offices, etc.) a few days (or weeks) before Pesach begins and remove all the Chamets food we find. Tonight, when the first stars are visible (around 8:00 pm NYT), we perform the Bedikat Chamets, the last inspection to search for any Chamets food that may have been left inadvertently on our property. Remember that we have to get rid of edible Chamets: suitable for human or animal consumption. This excludes medical pills swallowed with water, cosmetics, cleaning supplies, or any inedible items (see the Guide below for more information on this subject). These products may remain in our possession during Pesach, regardless of their composition.
Chamets utensils, clean of any visible Chamets, should be stored in a closed place until Pesach is over. If you have animal food, you must ensure it does not contain Chamets. Most pet food does. See here at the end of the list for Kosher for Pesach pet foods.

BEDIKAT CHAMETS and BITUL HAMETS
How do we perform the Bedikat Chamets? Using a candle or a flashlight, we search every place where we could have brought, eaten, or stored food. We should especially examine the kitchen and all food storage areas, such as the pantry, refrigerator, freezer, and places where food is usually brought or stored. Remember that our mission is to look for Chamets «food»: snacks, sweets, wafers, cookies, pastries, frozen foods, fiber drinks, cereals, and alcoholic drinks made from grain (beer, whiskey, most vodkas, etc).

Before beginning the bedika, we recite this berakha:

«Barukh Ata Ado-nai, Elo-henu Melekh ha’Olam, Asher Kiddeshanu beMitsvotav veTsivanu Al Bi’ur Chamets»

«Blessed are You, HASHEM, our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who consecrated us with His commandments and ordered us to get rid of any Chamets [before Pesach].»

At the end of the Bedikat Chamets, we safely store the Chamets that we found and we are going to «eliminate» tomorrow morning and the Chamets that we will consume tomorrow at breakfast.

Then we recite the first Kal Hamira, the formula to renounce the possession of any Chamets that belong to us and was not found during the Bedikat Chamets.

KAL HAMIRA DEIKA BIRSHUTI, DELA HAZITEH VEDELA BIARTEH, LIBTIL VELEHEVE HAFQER KE’AFRA DEAR’A.

This means, «All Chamets or leavening substances that belong to me that I have not seen or eliminated should be considered ownerless as the dust of the earth.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 5th
TA’ANIT BEKHOROT (fast of the firstborn)
On the eve of Pesach, we observe the Fast of the Firstborn. Firstborn men should fast in recognition of HaShem’s protection when, during the last plague, all the firstborns of Egypt died, but the firstborns of Am Yisrael were saved. However, since this is not a mandatory fast (it was not promulgated by the Tora or by the Rabbis of the Gemara), it is customary to avoid this fast by participating in a festive religious ceremony. For example, a Brit Milah or a Pidyon. But since these occasions cannot be scheduled in advance, it is customary for communities to organize a Siyum Masekhet, a conclusion of a Talmudic treatise, Mishna, or Gemara. This siyum is considered a festive and meritorious event sufficient to avoid this fast. After participating in this siyum, the firstborn may eat on the eve of Pesach as usual.

GETTING RID OF CHAMETS
We can only eat Chamets in the morning until the fourth hour of the day (by 10:00 a.m. NYT, following our UMJCA guidance. Other communities, see here). Once we finish eating the Chamets, we collect the remnants of the Chamets and put them together with the Chamets found yesterday, and then we proceed to «eliminate/dispose of it.» The classic way of disposing of the Chamets is by burning it. However, it can also be done by throwing the Chamets to the birds or fish in a park or disposing of it in public garbage bin, etc. After disposing of all the Chamets, we proceed to its final annulment (= declaring it ownerless). Once again, we recite the oral statement «Bitul Chamets,» but in more detail:

KAL HAMIRA DEIKA BIRSHUTI, DEHAZITEH VEDELA HAZITEH, DEBIARTEH VEDELA BIARTEH, LIBTIL VELEHEVE HAFQER KEAFRA DEAR’A.

«Any Chamets or leavening substance that belongs to me, that I have seen or have not seen, that I have eliminated or have not removed, should be considered ownerless as the dust of the earth.»

The elimination of Chamets, in any of its forms or the seeling, and this declaration to renounce our Chamets, must be done by the fifth hour of the day (in New York, that’s by 11:00 a.m., UMJCA, other communities, see here).

AKHILAT MATSA: On the eve of Pesach, we should not eat Matsa. We reserve the flavor of the Matsa for its ideal moment: the night of the Seder. We can eat Matsa ‘ashira, also known as Egg Matsa or sweet Matsa (Ashkenazi Jews do not consume Egg Matsa on Pesach Eve).

Finally, on Pesach eve, we should not eat a full meal in the afternoon to save our appetite for the night of the Seder.

Fuente: halakhaoftheday.org