{"id":5497,"date":"2011-03-04T03:05:22","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T01:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=5497"},"modified":"2021-03-15T13:00:51","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T11:00:51","slug":"04-03-05","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/04-03-05\/","title":{"rendered":"05.\u00a0The Essence of the Mitzva"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A fundamental question arose concerning the essence of the mitzva of removing the <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong>: is the mitzva essentially to eliminate the <strong>\u1e25ametz <\/strong>actively or is the main principle that no <strong>\u1e25ametz <\/strong>remains in a Jew\u2019s possession?<\/p>\n<p>According to most Rishonim (Ramban, Maharik, and others), the mitzva is primarily that one\u2019s domain be free of <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong>. One who has <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> must clear it out, and one who has no <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> in his possession has fulfilled the mitzva by having no <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> in his domain.<\/p>\n<p>However, some Rishonim (<strong>Tosafot<\/strong>, Ran) imply that only someone who has <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> becomes obliged to fulfill the mitzva, and he fulfills it by clearing the <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> out of his house. One who has no <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> is exempt from the mitzva. Yet even according to this approach, we do not find that the Rishonim recommended acquiring <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> in order to fulfill the mitzva of removing the <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong>. Nevertheless, there are A\u1e25aronim who wrote that it is appropriate for one who has no <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> in his possession before Pesa\u1e25 to go beyond the letter of the law and buy some <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong>, so that he may fulfill the mitzva of removing the <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> according to those who hold that one must actively remove <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In practice, Jews are a holy people and strive to enhance the mitzva by making sure they have <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> in their possession on the 14th of Nisan, with which they fulfill the mitzva of eliminating <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> in a manner that satisfies all views. Moreover, they are so scrupulous as to remove the <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> specifically by burning it, for, according to many <strong>poskim<\/strong>, burning is the preferred way to destroy the <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> (see below, 5:4).<sup><a href='#_te01ftn3_8' id='_te01ftnref3_8' class='aup1'>[8]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<div>\n<hr size=\"1\" \/>\n<div>\n<a href='#_te01ftnref3_8' id='_te01ftn3_8'>[8]<\/a>. <strong>Min\u1e25at \u1e24inukh<\/strong> \u00a79 discusses the different sides of the issue at length and notes that according to Rashi<strong>, <\/strong>Rambam<strong>, <\/strong>and <strong>Sefer Ha-\u1e25inukh<\/strong>, the mitzva is passive. (This is also the view of Ramban at the beginning of his commentary on <strong>Pesa\u1e25im <\/strong>and of Maharik \u00a7174.) According to <strong>Tosafot<\/strong> and Ran, however, the mitzva is an active one, and in their view one who has no <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> should acquire <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> in order to fulfill the mitzva of eliminating it. R. \u1e24ayim Soloveitchik of Brisk offered a novel interpretation, namely, that this dispute hinges upon the dispute between the Sages and R. Yehuda regarding the method of destroying the <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong>: according to R. Yehuda, the mitzva is specifically to burn the <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong>, whereas according to the Sages, any form of destruction works. Those who follow R. Yehuda<strong>\u2019s<\/strong> opinion, therefore, would hold that one must do a positive action to fulfill the mitzva of destroying the <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong>. This requires further study (and see below, 5, n. 3). Among A\u1e25aronim, according to Maharash Engel,<strong> \u1e24elkat Yo&#8217;av<\/strong>, and<strong> Mekor \u1e24ayim<\/strong>, there is a mitzva for every person to own <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> in order to destroy it; conversely, SAH (436:21), <strong>Divrei \u1e24ayim<\/strong> (1:9), <strong>\u1e24avot Ya\u2019ir<\/strong> (\u00a74), and <strong>Avnei Nezer<\/strong> (O\u1e24 318) maintain that there is no mitzva to obtain <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> in order to destroy it. As mentioned, the custom is to actively destroy some <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> to fulfill this mitzva according to all opinions. Indeed, MB (445:10) states that it is proper to leave a <strong>kezayit <\/strong>of <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> in order to fulfill the mitzva of destroying the <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>I wrote that fulfillment of the mitzva requires a <strong>kezayit<\/strong> because according to many <strong>poskim<\/strong> the requirement to eliminate <strong>\u1e25ametz <\/strong>applies to a minimum of a <strong>kezayit<\/strong> (see MB 442:33). Even according to those who adopt the stringent view that less than a <strong>kezayit <\/strong>must be eliminated, it stands to reason that this is only so that one does not eat it and violate the prohibition of eating <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong>, which applies even to a piece smaller than a <strong>kezayit<\/strong>. According to the overwhelming majority of <strong>poskim<\/strong>, however, there is no Torah prohibition of <strong>bal yera\u2019eh <\/strong>and<strong> bal yimatzei<\/strong> on a piece of <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> smaller than a <strong>kezayit<\/strong>. So state <strong>Dagul Me-rvava <\/strong>\u00a7442,<strong> \u1e24akham Tzvi <\/strong>\u00a786, and<strong> Sha\u2019agat Aryeh <\/strong>\u00a781. According to many, the mitzva to eliminate <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> is linked to the prohibitions of <strong>bal yera\u2019eh<\/strong> and<strong> bal yimatzei<\/strong>. (See below, 5:4, n. 3, which discusses how some are careful not to pour lighter fluid on the <strong>\u1e25ametz<\/strong> at the time of burning, whereas others maintain that this is not an enhancement of the mitzva.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A fundamental question arose concerning the essence of the mitzva of removing the \u1e25ametz: is the mitzva essentially to eliminate the \u1e25ametz actively or is the main principle that no \u1e25ametz remains in a Jew\u2019s possession? According to most Rishonim (Ramban, Maharik, and others), the mitzva is primarily that one\u2019s domain be free of \u1e25ametz. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-03-the-mitzva-of-getting-rid-of-hametz"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>05.\u00a0The Essence of the Mitzva - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/04-03-05\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"05.\u00a0The Essence of the Mitzva - Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A fundamental question arose concerning the essence of the mitzva of removing the \u1e25ametz: is the mitzva essentially to eliminate the \u1e25ametz actively or is the main principle that no \u1e25ametz remains in a Jew\u2019s possession? 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