Q&A: Finding Leaven on Passover Intermediate Days
Finding Leaven on Passover Intermediate Days
Question
If I found leaven during the intermediate days of Passover, and destroying it would involve a major financial loss, what can be done? To be clear, we’re talking about a large quantity of granola that my father made (which I didn’t find before Passover), and he’s secular, so if I come and burn it, it’s going to cause a very big fight.
Answer
Regardless of whether the loss is large or small, if there is an obligation to destroy it, then it must be destroyed. You cannot sell leaven or nullify it during Passover itself, so if it is found, it must be destroyed (by burning or in any other way).
But if the leaven is not yours and not in your domain (rather, it is in your father’s house), then the obligation to destroy it is not upon you. If that is the situation, leave it there and mark it so that you do not come to eat it during Passover. Remember that even after Passover, this is leaven that remained over Passover, which is forbidden to eat.
Discussion on Answer
Why in his absence? I understand that he lives there with him. If his father isn’t interested in the sale, it won’t help that he thinks it’s to his benefit.
By the way, if he arranged a sale of leaven for his father (under the principle that one may act for a person in his absence when it benefits him), it could be valid, no?