Caution regarding chometz in the thirty days before Pesach

[1] (halacha 229)

Rabbeinu Menachem HaMeiri wrote¹: 'That which they said, "We inquire into the halachos of Pesach thirty days before Pesach," does not refer only to inquiring into the halachos of the festival, but rather all the effort needed for the festival is included in this — that is to say, that it is fitting to begin and to occupy oneself with the needs of the festival thirty days before the festival.'

And in the Minhogim of Maharash of Neustadt² it is written: 'And also our Sages of blessed memory said: We expound the laws of Pesach in the halachos of Pesach thirty days before Pesach, for chametz has many prohibitions in it, and one who eats from it from that point onward a kezayis of chametz is liable to kareis, [and for] half a kezayis there is a Torah prohibition but no kareis. And from thirty days onward it is the way of people to clean the rooms and to rinse the utensils, and first of all to buy wheat for the poor for Pesach.'

And so it is brought in the sefer of his student, the Maharil³: 'And we expound the halachos of Pesach beginning thirty days before Pesach, for chametz has several prohibitions in it, and one who eats chametz from the fifteenth [of Nissan] onward, a kezayis [worth], is liable to kareis. [For] half a kezayis there is a Torah prohibition but no kareis. And from when the thirty days begin it is the way of people to clean the rooms and to rinse the utensils, and first of all to buy wheat for the poor. And likewise one who makes his house into a storehouse — for example, one who brings straw or wood into his house for storage — must first clean the place to see that there is no chametz there. And this applies specifically when he brings it in between Purim and Pesach, when the thirty days have begun. And so too did Mahari Segal expound.'

And so wrote the Alter Rebbe⁴: 'For all thirty days before Pesach it is good to be careful⁵ and to inspect everything one does, so that no chametz remains stuck to it in a manner in which one would not be able to remove it easily when erev Pesach arrives.'

And the Aruch HaShulchan wrote⁶: 'It is proper that during all thirty days before Pesach, when one does something, he should take care that no chametz remains stuck there which would be difficult to remove, or chametz hidden in a crevice. Therefore one who studies from a sefer while eating, it is proper that from Purim onward he should inspect [it] so that no bit of chametz remains in it, so that he will not find it on Pesach. And likewise in all similar cases.'

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Question: Is it permissible to draw wine from a barrel with a chametz ladle and use the wine in the barrel for Pesach?

Answer: The Agudah wrote⁷: 'And from that which is said above [6a] "[one who] sets sail, or [one who] departs in a caravan, and [one who] makes his house into a storehouse — thirty days," and here [it is] thirty days — for this reason we say that a person must be careful not to fill his barrels with vinegar from a chametz vessel within thirty days before Pesach.'

Based on this, the Rema wrote⁸: 'There are also those who are stringent, le-chatchilah, not to fill from wine or wine vinegar within thirty [days] of Pesach using a chametz vessel, and if they filled it within thirty [days], the custom is not to drink it on Pesach, and one who is lenient has not lost out, all the more so in a place where wine and vinegar are not readily available; so it appears to me.'

However, the Alter Rebbe wrote to be careful le-chatchilah⁹, and these are his words: 'There are those who are careful, during all thirty days before Pesach, not to draw with a chametz vessel from wine or vinegar that is set aside for Pesach, unless the chametz vessel has been scoured and rinsed such that there is no chametz dirt in it. And if they were not careful and drew from it with a chametz vessel that was not scoured and rinsed, they are careful not to drink it on Pesach. But from the strict letter of the law there is no concern of prohibition here, since ordinary vessels are clean and have no visible dirt in them, as is explained in Yoreh Deah siman 95. And that which is absorbed in the walls of the vessel is not released through cold but only through soaking for a full twenty-four-hour period, as will be explained in Yoreh Deah siman 105.'

We have seen that there is a minhag to be careful during the thirty days before Pesach not to insert a chametz vessel into the container of wine or vinegar, and if they did insert [it], not to use this on Pesach.

¹ בית הבחירה ע"ז ה, ב ↩

² סי' א אות ד ↩

³ מנהגים - דיני שלושים יום קודם לפסח ז ↩

⁴ או"ח סי' תלו סכ"ג ↩

⁵ להעיר שבנו"כ השו"ע שכתבו דין זה למעשה - הב"ח והמג"א, הלשון: 'צריך לדקדק ולעיין', אך אדמו"ר הזקן שינה בלשונו הזהב וכתב: 'טוב ליזהר', משמע שאין בזה חיוב מן הדין, אלא רק זהירות (ס' טעמי השלחן) ↩

⁶ סי' תלו סט"ו ↩

⁷ פסחים פ"ב סי' טז. הובא במהרי"ל הלכות ל' יום קודם לפסח ↩

⁸ או"ח סי' תמז ס"ה בהג"ה בשם תשובת מהר"י ברין ↩

⁹ סי' תמז סנ"א ↩

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