Q&A: Checking for Leaven
Checking for Leaven
Question
With God’s help,
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Hello Michi, a0
Yesterday, during the search for leaven before Passover (and really every year during the search), I found myself wondering why we do this whole “performance,” so to speak. Wouldn’t it be better to search for leaven in strong daylight, instead of with a candle, whose light compared to sunlight is like a candle at noon 27what good does it do? 27 Or alternatively, to turn on all the lights in the house and search by electric light? a0
And especially after all the cleaning we did for Passover beforehand, what are the chances of actually finding leaven now in this darkness by the light of a weak candle?
Likewise, the matter of placing ten crumbs and searching for them also seems like an amusing performance.
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What did the Sages want to convey to us through this commandment and the way it is done? a0
I thought that perhaps the search itself is not really the main point in their eyes, but rather the experience of the search 27to convey the message that we are doing something significant to remove the leaven from the house, so that this will be passed on to the next generation. Maybe they wanted us to make a “big deal” out of it so it would be engraved in our hearts.
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In any case, I would be happy to hear the Rabbi’s opinion on the subject.
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Thank you, and have a kosher and happy holiday!
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P.S. Sorry I didn’t ask on the site; it’s just that only my email is accessible to me on my blocked phone 🙁
Answer
The question of why they originally instituted it this way is one question, and the question of what should be done today and why is a different question.
Originally, they instituted it this way because houses were not built with the kind of finish they have nowadays, and there were holes and cracks in the walls and floors. So candlelight in the dark was a good way to detect pieces of leaven. Today I agree that this is no longer relevant, and indeed in Jewish law, if one checks by sunlight, one does not need to go back and check again by candlelight.
But because of the lack of authority, we do not change an enactment even if its reason has fallen away, and so people continue to check by candlelight even nowadays. Because of this, the search has acquired additional meanings as well (cognitive dissonance): mystical meanings with the ten crumbs, internalizing the prohibition of leaven and the investment in it, as you suggested, or any other meaning. All of that is fine.
There is room to discuss canceling this enactment, because it really does look rather ridiculous, and almost nobody does it seriously. Moreover, originally this was due to a real concern (the cracks they had in their houses, as mentioned), and today, when that concern no longer exists, perhaps the enactment no longer applies. That was my argument regarding legumes. The problem is that unlike legumes, where there was a concern and there remains a concern, the enactment of checking for leaven by candlelight is a full-fledged, binding enactment already from the time of the Mishnah. So here it is difficult to revoke it even if it was based on a concern. It is a concern that turned into an enactment, and therefore it falls under the category of an enactment whose reason has fallen away, as mentioned above.
Discussion on Answer
I wrote that if there is sunlight, it is preferable. That is already stated by the Sages and in Jewish law. But inside the house there was no sunlight, and for holes located inside the house it is preferable to check with a candle.
That 27s true 27I am tired of repeating the claim, but fundamentally it is correct. There are laws in Jewish law governing the revocation of enactments and decrees. What I am saying is that one has to examine when it is possible to depart from it and when it is not.
As a first step, I would ask to give up collecting the ten crumbs with the common “kit” sold for checking for leaven 27the “spoon” and the feather.
Sweeping the piece of leaven into the spoon requires a level of skill and motor coordination that I do not have, and I assume many others do not either. What ends up happening is that I use this thing like a one-year-old eating with cutlery: he grabs the food off the plate with his fingers and sticks it onto the fork.
In order to replace the spoon and feather with a dustpan and brush, does the messiah need to reveal himself and the Sanhedrin be reestablished?
Absolutely not. You may. You may.
Why was there no sunlight in the house? Weren’t there windows? From the Talmud in several places it is evident that there were windows, and the light that comes in through the windows is much stronger than candlelight, it seems to me.
Thank you, and have a good week!
Even today there are windows, and they permit checking only on the balcony. Sunlight is not focused and does not reach angles the way a candle does when it is moved to the place where it is needed.
I didn’t understand: even according to the original enactment, when there were holes and cracks, why would it be preferable to check by candlelight rather than by sunlight, which is many times stronger?
2. In another article you wrote, I seem to remember that you argued that you were already tired of repeating the claim that today 27s Sages have no authority to change decrees enacted in the past, and that if one wants, it is possible to revoke decrees even nowadays, as we see regarding the law of “we act as their agents.”
Thank you very much,
and happy holiday!