Question:
In the mechirat chametz contract, why don’t we just sell all our belongings. This would remove the issue of finding some chametz over chag and removes the chances of transgressing bal yeraeh and bal yematze.
Also this would remove the need to perform bedikat chametz and biur chametz? We wouldn’t own any chametz, or anything, that is in the house…
Answer:
In theory it sounds like a good idea, however there are a number of technical problems with doing this. Firstly anything that we sell has to be out of our site and locked away, so that we don’t come to use the chometz that was sold to the gentile. If you sell all of you belongings you will be very cold and uncomfortable over Pesach. Secondly, we have a specific mitzva d’orayso to nullify our chometz, and a mitzva d’rabonon to physically get rid of all of our chometz, by selling everything to the gentile we will forfeiting this once a year opportunity to do thee special mitzvos. Besides, on the eve of the 14th of Nissan we have to check the place the house that we are in for chometz, because we have a specific mitzvah to check for chometz on that evening.
Remember too that you must have the kavanah to realize that when you sell your chomeitz, YOU’RE SELLING YOUR CHOMEITZ. So the problem I would see with selling ALL of your household possessions would be you most likely would not be able to have the proper kavanah to do this. Would you be comfortable mamish selling everything you have? People forget that their sale of chomeitz needs to be REAL, not just “something we do to get around throwing out all the chomeitz”.
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