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Q&A from the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline

Triskaidekamechirah

March 30, 2023

I understand that many rabanim perform a sale of chametz the day before Erev Pesach, in addition to the regular Erev Pesach sale. Under what circumstances should one participate in this “mechiras yud gimmel” rather than the usual sale the next day? 

A One reason to do this is if you will be away for Yom Tov, and on Erev Pesach you plan to be far enough east of the site of the sale that by the time of the issur chametz in your location, your rav will not yet have completed his sale. Because that mechirah won’t work for you, you must sell earlier.

Another reason to sell early relates to the dispute among the poskim whether during bedikas chametz one must search the locations that will be sold the next morning. The Mishnah Brurah (436:32) writes that the lenient opinion may be relied upon, but he says it is best to sell the location on the 13th, prior to the bedikah. (But this might be impractical, because once someone sells or rents out the location, he should not enter it, barring exigent circumstances, and this might be hard to avoid.) One who seeks to avoid bedikah by selling should not sell his entire home, because then he will still be obligated in bedikah (see Shulchan Aruch 436:3; poskim view this case as similar). Rather, he should leave unsold one room that is used for chametz during the year and perform bedikah there. Alternatively, he may sell the entire home and do bedikah in his rented hotel room; one spending Pesach in his parents’ home may rent his room from them and do bedikah there.

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