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It is almost Pesach, and every year I promise myself I'll write this up, and every year I don't get the chance.
There are neo-Karaites in our midst. They shun leniencies which have been developed by Rishonim and Acharonim based on interpretations of gemaras, because they say such leniencies do not reflect the original intent of the Biblical law, or of the Biblical law as envisioned by Chazal. Thus, they save, shaving with an electric shaver is a corruption of this original intent; as is using an eruv to carry on Shabbos; as is selling your chametz for Pesach.
One way I like to counter such a position is by turning neo-Karaite myself. You want the
peshat? You can't handle the
peshat! The
peshat in the pesukim is nothing like you imagine. However, Chazal give us
midrash halacha. And once you are willing to live and die by Chazal,
hem amru ve'hem amru. If by the same
halachic principles a
ha'arama (legitimate
halachic "trickery") is available such that you are working within the bounds of
halacha; and sociologically, there is an ethic by which the approach fulfills
halachic principles, then please stop complaining.
To focus on selling
chametz:
According to the simple
peshat in the
pesukim, there is no prohibition of owning
chametz (leavened bread) on Pesach. There is
possibly a prohibition of owning sourdough (
se'or), which is used to manufacture
chametz. And there is a prohibition of eating
chametz on Pesach.
Let us examine the pesukim:
שמות פרק יב
- פסוק ט"ו: שִׁבְעַת יָמִים, מַצּוֹת תֹּאכֵלוּ--אַךְ בַּיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן, תַּשְׁבִּיתוּ שְּׂאֹר מִבָּתֵּיכֶם: כִּי כָּל-אֹכֵל חָמֵץ, וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל--מִיּוֹם הָרִאשֹׁן, עַד-יוֹם הַשְּׁבִעִי.
The pasuk above states that you should eat unleavened bread for seven days. Therefore, from the first day,
אַךְ בַּיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן -- which means the actual first of the seven days, rather than the midrashic day before Pesach -- sourdough,
שְּׂאֹר, used in the manufacture of
chametz, leavened bread, shall take a rest,
תַּשְׁבִּיתוּ , from being used in your houses,
מִבָּתֵּיכֶם. Why shouldn't you be using that sourdough to make
chametz?
כִּי כָּל-אֹכֵל חָמֵץ, for anyone who eats
chametz, leavened bread, during those seven days, from the first to the seventh day,
וְנִכְרְתָה, shall be cut off.
[
Update: Sorry, I should have been more precise. What I mean by
תַּשְׁבִּיתוּ is that you shall
cause it to rest. This is how I intended it, but not how I wrote it. Better? :) ]
So it is a prohibition on eating
chametz and
using, or perhaps owning, sourdough. I would say "using", meaning that there is no reason to use sourdough, since you will not be eating
chametz.
A few pesukim later, the same idea is repeated:
שמות פרק יב
- פסוק י"ט: שִׁבְעַת יָמִים--שְׂאֹר, לֹא יִמָּצֵא בְּבָתֵּיכֶם: כִּי כָּל-אֹכֵל מַחְמֶצֶת, וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא מֵעֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל--בַּגֵּר, וּבְאֶזְרַח הָאָרֶץ.
For seven days, if one were to look for sourdough,
שְׂאֹר, in your houses, it would not be found,
לֹא יִמָּצֵא בְּבָתֵּיכֶם. Perhaps this is idiomatic, or perhaps it is the actual definition of the prohibition above of
תַּשְׁבִּיתוּ. Why wouldn't it be found? Because the only use for it is to make
chametz, which one is prohibited to eat. Thus, what is the reason it would be found?
כִּי,
because, whoever eats something that has leavened,
כָּל-אֹכֵל מַחְמֶצֶת, he shall be cut off,
וְנִכְרְתָה. Don't think that
machmetzet somehow means
se'or, sourdough, on the level of
peshat. The word machmetzet means anything that has become
chametz, just as the
pashtan Ibn Ezra says on this pasuk:
[יב, יט]
שאור -שהוא מחמיץ והוא הידוע. ואחר כן אמר: כל אוכל מחמצת כל דבר שיחמץ.
ודע כי מיום הראשון עד יום השביעי אינו דבק בקרוב אליו שהוא ונכרתה רק עם אוכל מחמצת, כמו: למלוך שלמה על ישראל.
People don't eat sourdough, for it is not
ra'uy le'achila. As
Rashi says, citing Mechilta and Beitza 7b,
אלא שלא תאמר חמץ שראוי לאכילה ענש עליו שאור שאינו ראוי לאכילה לא יענש עליו. See from here that is not fit for eating, so on the
peshat level, the Torah wouldn't bother to forbid it. Plus, we have the earlier pasuk to show us the relationship between the
seor to own and the
chametz to eat. The same is true here.
שמות פרק יג
- פסוק ג: וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל-הָעָם, זָכוֹר אֶת-הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר יְצָאתֶם מִמִּצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים, כִּי בְּחֹזֶק יָד, הוֹצִיא יְהוָה אֶתְכֶם מִזֶּה; וְלֹא יֵאָכֵל, חָמֵץ.
- פסוק ז: מַצּוֹת, יֵאָכֵל, אֵת, שִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים; וְלֹא-יֵרָאֶה לְךָ חָמֵץ, וְלֹא-יֵרָאֶה לְךָ שְׂאֹר--בְּכָל-גְּבֻלֶךָ.
In pasuk 13:3, we are command not to each
chametz.
In pasuk 13:7, this all falls apart. Because it states that neither
chametz nor sourdough shall be seen. Doesn't this then introduce a prohibition on owning
chametz, and contradict everything that was specified above?
No, it is describing the same state of affairs as above. You aren't consuming
chametz, so you would not be producing
chametz. Thus, it is a time for
matzah, such that
chametz and
se'or are not going to be
seen in use throughout the Jewish community and the borders of Israel, which is
בְּכָל-גְּבֻלֶךָ. This is not the same as the earlier
מִבָּתֵּיכֶם, which might convey ownership. This is not a new prohibition on ownership of
chametz (or
se'or) in the boundaries of your personal property. It is describing the lack-of-chametz-consumption-and-creation within the boundaries of Eretz Yisrael, in line with the
mitzvot established earlier on.
So let us say we wanted to be Karaites, and we sold our
chametz. Did we use sourdough (or yeast) to make
chametz on Pesach? Did we eat
chametz? Does anyone own sourdough nowadays? From the letter and spirit of the law, we are fine.
Now, we follow the Oral Law. That means we interpret the
pesukim in accordance with the
midrash halacha, and so owning
chametz and eating
se'or are now Biblically prohibited.
But the same Oral Law that sets up a prohibition of owning
chametz also defines ownership. The
Mishna in Pesachim talks about how one can sell to a non-Jew.
ב,א כל שעה שהוא מותר לאכול--מאכיל לבהמה לחיה ולעופות, ומוכרו לנוכרי, ומותר בהנאתו
They may have envisioned the non-Jew taking physical possession.
Another Mishna states that
chametz in possession of a non-Jew is permitted after Pesach:
ב,ב חמץ של נוכרי שעבר עליו הפסח, מותר בהנאה;
Though this was not (necessarily) envisioning a sale from a Jew first.
And another Mishna talks about a non-Jew taking the
chametz as a
mashkon, a pledge for a loan, or a Jew taking it as a
mashkon for a loan:
ב,ג נוכרי שהלווה את ישראל על חמצו, לאחר הפסח מותר בהנאה; וישראל שהלווה את הנוכרי על חמצו, לאחר הפסח אסור בהנאה. חמץ שנפלה עליו מפולת, הרי הוא כמבוער; רבן גמליאל אומר, כל שאין הכלב יכול לחפש אחריו.
The correct interpretation of this Mishna is that if it the
chametz is a pledge from the Jew for the loan and then the Jew fails to repay the money, the pledge has belonged to the non-Jew from the time the Jew gave it over, and so the
chametz is permitted in benefit. And in the reverse situation, where the non-Jew gave the
chametz as a pledge and failed to repay, the Jew was in both physical and legal possession of the
chametz throughout Pesach, and so the
chametz in prohibited in benefit, for something wrong was done by the Jew.
But one can envision that if the
chametz was in the Jew's physical possession but not legal possession, then nothing was technically violated.
Finally, if something will physically remove your ability from accessing the
chametz, it is as if destroyed. Think about this and see how it is somewhat significant.
There is also this Tosefta in the
second perek of Pesachim, allowing for the "temporary" sale of
chametz to a non-Jew:
ב,ו נכרי שבא לביתו של ישראל [וחמץ] בידו אין זקוק לבער הפקידו אצלו חייב לבער ייחד לו בית בפני עצמו אין זקוק לו ישראל ונכרי שהיו באין בספינה וחמץ ביד ישראל ה"ז מוכרו לנכרי ונותנו במתנה וחוזר ולוקח ממנו [לאחר] הפסח ובלבד שיתנו לו במתנה גמורה.
“A Jew and a non-Jew who are on a ship and the Jew has chametz in his possession. The Jew should sell it or give it as a present to the non-Jew and then take it back after the Passover with the stipulation that it be given as a real gift.”
Chazal elsewhere say that
bittul be'alma sagi, mere nullification is enough. This nullification is either declaring it
hefker, ownerless, according to some, and according to others, distancing it from your mind, such that you do not consider it anything more than the dust of the earth. The latter interpretation is (IMHO) the correct one. Thus, small amounts of
chametz in a wall or in a vessel are nullified.
And this "technical"
bittul is sufficient. However, perhaps as a fulfillment of one interpretation of
tashbitu or as a
geder to prevent you from finding a tasty loaf (
gluska yefifya) and then taking possession of it, or perhaps as a
geder to prevent you from eating it, you are supposed to search out the
chametz and dispose of it.
Due to historical developments, the practice of selling
chametz arose. People who owned massive amounts of whiskey would no longer have to dispose of their entire inventory at a loss before each Pesach. They could sell it to a non-Jew. And it worked, even though it was perhaps a
haarama, that is,
halachic 'trickery'. Just like the Talmud allows or recommends
halachic loopholes in other situations, such as bringing produce into the house through the window or roof so as to exempt it from
terumah and
maaser.
Then, the practice spread, and people sold
chametz which were part of the ingredients of a larger mixture, or even sold
chametz gamur. And maybe some would say that this is a mere ritual, and the people don't really believe it is a real sale. And this is not in such dire circumstances as the ones which prompted the initial permit to sell whiskey. This may not be the same circumstances in which the various Rishonim and Acharonim allowed one to sell
chametz. (See
here for a better discussion of the history of it.)
Big deal. Society changed, from the time of the Rishonim and early Acharonim. Baruch Hashem, most Jews do not stock their pantries with the bare minimum of food, which is all we can afford, and which could (in all instances) be easily finished before Pesach. We have full shelves, and refrigerators, and freezers.
Halacha and its application develops over time, and now it is an accepted practice in some communities. Just as the Rishonim worked within the bounds of the
halachic system to allow for a changed situation that was common in medieval Europe, later Acharonim (see e.g. the Chasam Sofer) worked within the bounds of the
halachic system to allow for our changed situation.
Meanwhile, what do people do? They fence off their
chametz, by placing them in specific cupboards and taping those shut. Biblically, there is no sourdough to speak of; the
chametz cannot be "seen" (though even this is an overly literal requirement), and the
chametz is not going to be eaten. From a
peshat perspective, the letter and spirit of the law is being fulfilled.
From a
halachic perspective, the letter of the law is fulfilled by these machinations. And
haarama is not cheating, but is part of the same
halachic system. Don't be an inconsistent Karaite, by accepting Chazal's interpretation of the
pesukim and rejecting the idea of
haarama. The spirit of the law is also fulfilled, as described above. And just like
bittul by itself is sufficient, because of technical rules and because one is removing his mind from the possibility of eating it, so does technically selling it remove from one's mind the possibility of eating it. And the
geder against
coming to eat
chametz is also fulfilled. Since the people know that the
chametz is not theirs, and they physically cut off their access to it, they will not come to eat it.
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