What Should I Do if Some Chometz Falls Out of the “Sold Cabinet” on Pesach?

Rav Ariel Ovadia

Question: On Pesach, my young child opened the door to the cabinet where we keep the chometz that was sold to the non-Jew and a bag of pretzels fell out. What should I do with it now? 

Answer: The Shulchan Aruch clearly says that if it would be your own chometz that you discovered on Pesach, you would have to burn it. However, if the chometz belongs to a non-Jew, the Poskim note that you are not permitted to burn or damage his possessions. This would seem to mean that you cannot burn this chometz. Nevertheless, Rav Shmuel Wosner writes that since the sale was valid, the non-Jew probably is not makpid if you burn a small amount of the chometz. He almost certainly will not come with a complaint after Pesach if some of the pretzels he bought were destroyed. Accordingly, you can assume that he doesn’t care, and the pretzels may be burned.  

Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein writes similarly in the name of Rav Elyashiv that since the mechirah was done properly, one can assume that non-Jew doesn’t care if you burn a bit of the chometz and, therefore, you should burn it just as you would if it were your own chometz.