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Mishnah 2a

Mishnah 2a-On the 14th of Nisan a man should check for chametz with the light of a candle. A place where you do not bring chametz you do not need to check. Why do we say that you must check the 2 rows in our wine cellar? Beit Shamie- the two face rows when you walk in. Beit Hillel- Top two rows FACTS: On the 14th you must check for chametz You must use the light of a candle You must check the wine cellar A place were no chametz is brought, there is no need to check QUESTIONS: What is Or? What is chametz? How should we search? Is there an isur of chametz? What time do we search? ASSUMPTION: You cannot have chametz in your house There is chametz in the wine cellar Once you nd the chametz there is a step 2 DEDUCTIONS: It is a mitzvah to do bedikah chametz Must check every were with chametz ! ! ! ! The Term Or ! ! ! ! ! Gemara 2a Gemara: What is Or? Rav Huna: light Rabbi Yehuda: Nighttime Da Sakla Ditach You might have thought that the one who says light means daytime and the one who says night is talking about night. Metvei- An objection raised from a higher source Brittah Mishnah pasuk Gemara now brings in a Pasuk from Breshit: Yosefs brothers are getting ready to go back to Eretz Yisroel. It was the Or of the morning. This seems to be a proof that Or is morning!!

 alma therefore- Or is morning Question on Rabbi Yehuda Success for Rav Huna Gemara says NO. It says Haboker Or NOT Ha Or Boker. therefore Or doesn't mean light anymore, rather it mean It became light Or Boker- Noun- daylight Boker Or- Verb- the morning became light. Shows that this is not a legitimate proof! ! ! ! ! ! Rashi

Rashi brings in a teaching of Rabbi Yehuda in the name of Raba: A person should always come and go and begin with goodness, light, because in Breshit it says Ki Tov near Or. What is so good about Or? Protection from animals protection from robbers This proves that the Gemara is rite and Or does mean becoming light because here Or means to become light. ! ! ! ! ! Gemara 3a Proof #1: We learn in a Brittah that in the or of yom kippur we daven 7 blessings in the Amidah, then we do viduy. In shacrit you do the same, and mosuf and Mincha. When arvit comes we says regular Mein Shmonah Esrie it yom kippur is over. Therefore we see from here that Or means light because when in says Or at the beginning we know it is referring to the night as we discuss in the Brittah all the other prayers except the nightly one on Yom Kippur. Proof #2: They learn in the Beit Midrash of Shmuel that on the night of the 14th you check for chametz. From here we deduct that Or is night because they say we check on the NIGHT of the 14th, showing that Or means Night. This seemingly presents a problem for Rav Huna! But the Gemara says no, everyone agrees that Or is night. How? Back on 2a it says YOU MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT that the person who says light means daytime, and now here its showing us what Rav Huna really meant when he said light. In the place of Rav Huna they called night Or Why? To use a euphemism, sensitive language. Night brings a certain fear. It is associated with fear and evil therefore Rav Huna would call it Or. In Rabbi Yehudas place they called night night. Teaches us to be careful with our speech and the way we speak to people.

! ! ! ! ! Bedikas Chametz On the 14th day on Nissan you check for chametz with a candle Where is our Minalan? Our source question? None in the Gemara! Most Sugyot start with a source question. Rashi tells us the source for BM and BR with a pasuk. The source question can only be asked/ answered by a rishon because there is no compelling Gemara! The debate among the Rishonim regarding bideka why we do Bedikah. creating a minalan. That is what this sugya is about, the reason behind bedikah. Gemara 2a starts us off and compels us through all the other gemaras to nd a source for Bedikah ! ! ! ! ! Gemara 2a On the 14th day on Nissan you check for chametz with a candle Rashi- We check so we do not violate the probation of Bal Yiraeh and Bal Yimatzeh Bal Yiraeh- The prohibition of seeing chametz on Pesach Bal Yimatzeh- the prohibition of owning Chametz on Pesach How can Rashi say that?! Do we think that we can nd every single piece of chametz before Pesach?! Furthermore we do Bitul chametz, making the chametz not own so we do not violate BR and BM! So why is Bedikah to make sure we do not violate these laws if we can just do bitul? ! ! ! ! ! Gemara 4b According the the torah Bitul alone is sufcient, and they added the Dirabbanan of Bedikah. Tosfot: Question: Why do we need Bedikah if we see here that Bitul is sufcient? Answer: As an extra precaution so you don't come to eat the Chametz. Q: Then why do we not need to do Bedikah for traif?! A#1: Since you are allowed to eat chametz all year one may forget his prohibition of eating chametz and come to eat it. Pertaining to traif food we are never permitted to eat it therefore we are not concerned and do not preform the bedikah. A #2: Because according to the Torah The stringency on Chametz is so severe that we have a prohibition of BR and BM!! for Kashrut we do not have these laws therefore we do not need bedikah. Tosfot: On a torah level Bitul is sufcient, and after you do bitul your chametz is ownerless. Rambam: The chametz is not ownerless rather is is just not chametz anymore. It is dust. What is the Nafka Minah? (practical difference?) If we nd chametz after pesach on a diorittah level can we eat it? Rambam- No. Hashem lets us make it like dust, therefore we cant eat the dust. Tosfot-yes. If it is ownerless and nobody has claimed it, you can eat it.

! ! ! ! ! Gemara 6b Gemara: Rabbi Yehuda says in the name of Rav: A person who does bedikah must also do bitul Presents an even bigger problem for Rashi! Many possibilities for what Rabbi Yehuda meant in this statement can be saying that Bedikah is like a safety net to Bitul, Because bitul alone is enough, but we use bedikah as a safety net. They go together Gemara Continues: What is the reason for the law of Habodek Tzarich Livatel? If you will say that we say bitul after bedikah because of small crumbs that you may miss, it cant be because we know that we are not over on bal Yiraeh and Yimatzeh with crumbs. Rather Rava says we need Bitul to make sure that if you nd a big piece of chametz and desire it for just a second your not over of BM and BR Rashi- It will look good in your eyes and you will not want to burn it , and even if you top and desire it for one second you are over on BM and BR! So when we only do bedikah we are faced with that worry, or nding something we missed , desiring it, and being over. Therefore we must do Bitul so we do not violate BM and BR. Tosfot: The Big 3 I. Knocks Rashi II. Gibes answer III. Questions himself and answers Tosfot: Quotes Rashi and says that Rabenu Yitzhak (the RI) has a problem with this opinion. He says that we see in many instances in the Gemara that Bitul makes sure we are not over on BM and Br, and that Bitul is enough! Disagrees and wants to know the reason for Bedikah, because bitul takes care of BM and BR!! not bedikah, so why do bedikah? Answer: RI offers his approach: When we do Bitul it takes care of the concern of BR and BM so Bedikah must be referring to something else. He thinks that the reason we search and do Bedikah is so that we do not see a piece of chametz and eat. If we have searched our house to make sure it is void of chametz, we will not be risking coming to eat the chametz. In conclusion he says the reason for Bedikah is so we do not come to eat chametz. Tosfot now questions its own answer. Why do we not do Bedikah for Trief? Traif you can eat all year while chametz is only an 8 day prohibition, so we must be more careful. Chametz is Chayuv Kart, so we must be more strict.

Why not Yom Kippur? mindset of Prayer Since you are totally not eating you wont accidentally eat, but on Pesach you can eat so you may accidentally have chametz. your hunger reminds you not to eat chametz. Back to the RIs answer. Proof for the reason being so that we do not come to eat the Chametz: ! ! ! ! ! Gemara 10b *****Rabbah Asks: A little bread on top of a shelf, do you need to get a ladder and to get the bread from the top of the beam? Potential Answers Do not need to since it is not coming down by itself so you will not eat it Maybe it may fall and you should because if it falls, you may come to eat it. How does Tosfot use this as a proof for the RI? Here the concern is not violating BM and BR rather it is that a person may come to eat the bread. if we were concerned in this case with BM and BR then we would have an issue with having the bread on the beam, but since out concern is not coming to eat it it shows that that is a legitimate reason for Bedikah. Tosfot questions himself: Q: Why does a nazir not have to do Bedikah? A: Because a nazir is putting the restriction on himself, so what he is not allowed to have others are, so he may have it around. A: Chametz more stringent: BM and BR so we need bedikah because we are stricter and don't want to come to eat it. Tosfot R. Peretz- offers alternative reason Quotes Rabaynu yichiel: the Rabbis made bedikah even though we have bitul because since we must do bitul to fulll the commandment from the torah of not violating BM and BR, we have bedikah to remind us to do bitul, which is required. We are concerned that one may forget to do Bitul as there is no action, therefore bedikah was instituted. Action to remember Bitul. (other verbal declaration that is from the torah is shmah. Q on R. Peretz because it shows that we don't necessarily need an action. BUT we do have an action, we cover our eyes so that resolves the problem.) ! ! ! ! ! Ran- Rabaynu Nisim defending Rashi Says that yes, bitul alone IS sufcient BUT so is Bedikah!! Both alone sufcient How do we know that Bedikah is sufcient according to the Torah? ! ! ! ! Gemara 7b

What is the source that Bedikah is sufcient of a Torah level? The Gemara addresses this; Gemara says: What is the source that we must use a candle for bedikah? Answer: It is a gezara shavah from nding to nding from searching to searching how do we know from nding to nding? In the torah we see that we should not FIND chametz in out house for 8 days on pesach. In Breshit it says then they nd the cup in binyamins sac, they FOUND it, making the gezara shavah and teaching us that on a diorittah level, Bedikah is sufcient. Continuation of Ran Bedikah clearly also has a biblical source therefore both are sufcient! says that it is derabanan that someone who does bedika needs bitul, but it is good to say both to make sure that we are not over on BM and BR because we may desire a piece of bread if we nd it so bitul will protect us. ANother reason that we do both: Bitul is dependent of the thoughts of a man, and not all mans thought process is the same, therefore we may not do bitul rite. The Rabbis then instituted the law of doing both so we can make sure that nobody is over BM and BR Rashi Makes sense now. It is now okay to say that the reason that we do bedikah id so that we do not violate the biblical commandment of BM and BR, because it is sufcient. Meiri Quotes Rashi and Tosfot, Says that even though Tosfot is right, there is no need to push off Rashi, and say that he is wrong. Even though bitul alone is sufcient, the main thing to do it Bedika. Torah is strict about chametz and not a nazir because a nazirs isur is only pertaining to him while chametz is pertaining to everyone. The more preferred thing to do it Bedikah, but it is a good idea to do bitul so you do not accidentally violate BM and BR if you see a piece of unknown bread. Addressing Gemara 6B-When the Rabbis in the Geamar said that Bitul was necessary WITH bedikah was derabanan. We do bedikah so we don't violate BM and BR and Bitul is a precaution that is from the Rabbis. Addressing Gemara 4b: He says that Bitul is alone sufcient is pertaining to chametz that a man does not know about. Bitul is sufcient for unknown chametz and bedikah is for all other chametz that we do know about. (Correct standpoint) ! ! ! ! ! Bitul Chametz How can one fulll Tashbitzu. (the mitzvah aseh of getting rid of Chametz) Rashi Since it says get rid of instead of destroying, Bitul takes care of the mitzvah of Tashbitzu. Rambam

 Sides with Rashi. Says that you can fulll Tashbitzu through Bitul, because if you make all of your chametz dust and put it in your heart that you do not own a piece of chametz, then it fullls the mitzvah. Tosfot 4b:RI He says that Bitul does not fulll the mitzvah! It takes care of the mitzvah Lo Taaseh of BM and BR, but NOT tashbitzu! After bitul, your chametz is ownerless, not yours, so it is okay to have it around or to see other peoples. deducts from this that since you can see others chametz that if the chametz is ownerless you cant violate BM and BR. Therefore you remove yourself from your chametz because you don't own it, but you have not fullled the mitzvah of getting rid of it. QUESTION ON HIMSELF: In Nidarim it says that in order to do Hefker one must have 3 witnesses, so how can we say that we can do hefker in our hearts? Answer: it is dirabana that you need three people witnessing. Rav Moshe Taragain What is the relationship between the two opinions of bitul making chametz dust vs. ownerless? Answer: Dust- changing the physical chametz ! Ownerless- Changing the relationship between man and chametz. Dough chair- Not chametz because it is not serving as chametz, rather another purpose. This shows that Rambam and Rashi are right because it shows that you can make chametz something else and not have to get rid of it, just like they say you can make chametz dust. Meiri Since the point of Bitul is to create a personal distance from the chametz, it is done in your heart. Creating a thought that is like an action. Chametz is such a strong stringency that one must do it in his heart to separate himself. Shulchan Orech Immediately after bedikah a man should do bitul and say all the chametz that i do not know of and have not burned is like dust Siding with rashi and Rambam; the chametz is like dust Mishnah Brurah We paskin like both. The chametz should be like dust and ownerless. ! ! ! ! Habodek Tzarich Sheyevarech Introduction to Brachot- 3 Types 1. mitzvah- Usually before preforming a mitzvah; to focus nehenin.

2. nehenin- Giving thanks that you can preform a mitzvah. Asking Hashem permission. 3. shevach vihodaa- After we see something amazing. Example: Rainbow, lightning Gemara 7a-7b: Rabbi Yehuda says: a person who is preforming bedikah must say a bracha. Rav papa-Bracha is AL biur Ravi pipi- Bracha is LIvaer everyone agrees that LIvaer means to burn, future tense. It is now debated in the Gemara whether AL biur is in future tense, or past. The Gemara brings in three mietveis: 1. Brit Milah 2. Shchitah 3. Lulav (Straight out of the Gemara, read it over) Havah aminah-initial thought Maskana- statement; thing that we learned from the statement Ran: HA- That this is a two part mitzvah, and since the second part is the main part, you would think to say the bracha on part #2 Maskana- We say the Bracha on the rst part because since Bior is the main mitzvah, from the time we start bedikah we must be focused on it therefore make a bracha on it at the beginning. (Similar to succah.) Rabenu Dovid There is a debate whether we must say Brachot on mitzvahs that are derabanan. (Side-note: Since there is a pasuk in the torah that says we must follow what the Rabbis say, we do say brachot on mitzvoth that are not from the torah.) HA- you might have thought that you do not need a bracha because bedikah is a mitzvah derabanan. Maskana- You must say a bracha on Bedikah! Usually R Yehuda holds that a derabanan doesn't need a bracha but his chidush is that this is an exception, we need to say a bracha! Ritvah The reasons that you say the bracha before you preform the mitzvah is so you are infused with holiness before preforming the mitzvah. To tell Hashem that he is the reason you are doing the mitzvah. While doing most Mitzvoth we do an action with our physical body, and we need the bracha to have an action with our nefesh also because we must serve Hashem with out whole body and soul. Aruch Hashulchan- Author: Rabbi Yichiel Epstein

 Question: Why don't we say Brachot on Mitzvoth that are Ben Adam Li Chavero? His answer: Every nation and culture also does these acts of kindness towards each other. thought they do do it for different intentions, the action is still the same. The rabbis say we do not say a bracha because we cant bless Hashem and says only us, the jews were commanded, if so was every other nation. Other reasons we do not make a Bracha on Ben Adam Li Chavero: waste of time other nations also do this bracha is focused on relationship with Hashem and this is a relationship with other people. We don't want to embarrass anyone Story: A man went to a nursing home and was talking to an old man about the mitzvah of visiting the sick. The man turned to him and said Im not a lulav. Shows us that we shouldn't mention and make a big deal that the reason we are doing a mitzvah is because Hashem commanded, because it will make the person feel bad. ! ! ! ! Tanaim, Amoraim, Rishonim, Achronim R-Rishone! ! ! A- Achrone

Rashi-R Tosfot-R Tosfot R Peretz- R Ran- Late R Meiri- Late R Rambam- R Shulchan arch-Early R Mishnah Brurah- Late Achrone Rabenu Dovid-R Ritvah-Late R Aruch Hashulchan- A Rabbi Yehuda- A Rav Pipi- A rav Papa- A