Bedikas Chametz

Bedikas Chametz, or Bedikat Chametz (from: בְּדִיקַת חָמֵץ in Hebrew, Tiberian: [bədhīqath chāmētz]) is the search before the Jewish Holiday of Pesach for Chametz. The search takes place after nightfall on the evening before Pesach (the night of the 14th of the Hebrew month of Nisan, as stated in the Mishnah tractate Pesachim). When Pesach starts on Saturday night, Bedikas Chametz takes place on Thursday night (two nights before Pesach).

The lights around the house are turned off, and a candle is lit. A blessing is recited if the search is performed on the 14th (or on the 13th when the 14th is on a Friday), but not when an earlier search is performed for various reasons.

In order to prevent the possibility of making a blessing in vain—a “bracha levatala”—which might occur if there was no chance of finding chametz in the house, and additionally to keep children interested and involved, there is a widespread custom to ‘seed’ the area to be searched. Prior to Bedikas Chametz, several (usually ten) pieces of chametz are hidden around the house, preferably by a child if available. These pieces must be small and should be wrapped so that crumbs do not escape.

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Author: Wikipedia

Keywords: Search for leaven, Unleavened bread, Leaven, Yeast, Yeast bread, Leavened bread, Matzo, Matzoh, Bread, Chamatz, Chametz, Chometz, Bedikat chametz, Bedikas chametz, Bread burning, Bread on fire, Purge of leaven, Purging leaven

Bible reference(s): Exodus 12:8, Exodus 12:15, Exodus 12:17-20, Exodus 12:39, Exodus 13:3, Exodus 13:6-7, Exodus 23:15, Exodus 34:25, Deuteronomy 16:3-4, Deuteronomy 16:16, 2 Chronicles 30:13, 2 Chronicles 30:21, 2 Chronicles 35:17, Ezra 6:22, Ezekiel 45:21, Matthew 16:6, Matthew 16:11, Matthew 13:33, Matthew 26:17, Mark 8:15, Mark 14:1, Mark 14:12, Luke 12:1, Luke 22:1, Luke 22:7, Acts 12:3, Acts 20:6, 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, Galatians 5:9, 1 Esdras 1:19, 1 Esdras 7:14

Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Bedikas Chametz,” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

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