From: Alicia in New Haven
Dear Rabbi,
If we clean the house of chametz before Passover, and then particularly the day before the holiday, why do we then hide pieces of chametz around the house before checking that night. Doesn’t that seem to defeat the purpose?
Dear Alicia,
On a strictly practical level, once we’ve endeavored to clean the house of all unknown chametz by the Eve of Passover, people might be tempted to search superficially, since they “know” that the house is clean for Passover. Therefore, hiding pieces of chametz encourages the person who’s checking to be more thorough. Also, even though the mitzva is to search even though one doesn’t find, nevertheless, since a blessing is recited upon commencing the search, it is befitting that some chametz be “found”.
That being said, it’s important that people who perform this custom be careful not to lose the chametz they’ve hidden. It is advisable that the person who hides the pieces write down where they’ve been placed since sometimes because of the rush to finish so many different preparations for the holiday, one may forget where the pieces of bread were placed. Preferably, the pieces should be wrapped in paper or in small plastic bags so that they may be easily disposed of without leaving crumbs. In any case, one should be careful to prepare only small pieces (less than a c’zayit each) so that if any get lost, they may be verbally nullified.
The following is an explanation on a more symbolic level: The search for chametz teaches us to seek for the evil inclination in hidden places. Putting down pieces of chametz after cleaning and before searching indicates that even if a person has made every effort to cleanse himself of impurity, he must not consider himself free of iniquity. For if he were to continue his search, he would certainly find room for improvement and repair. This is the meaning of the verse, “For there is no man so righteous in this world that he does only good and never sins” (Ecc. 7:20).He who prides himself that he has corrected all his faults, can be certain that he hasn’t completed the search.
