Preparations for Passover – II

Bedikat Chametz
In preparation for the Passover festival, during which the possession of any kind of leavened wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt food ("chametz") is strictly forbidden, a final search is carried out on the night of the 14th of Nisan to remove the last crumbs of "chametz" from the houses.

Fasting of the firstborn
Firstborn children over the age of 13 fast on the 14th of Nisan in commemoration that during the "Plague of the Firstborn" (which occurred on the night of the 15th of Nisan) God skipped the Jewish firstborn when He killed the Egyptian firstborn.

Limit for eating chametz
The Torah (Exodus 12:15, Talmud Pesachim 5a) sets noon on the 14th of Nisan as the deadline for the destruction and/or removal of all leavened foods ("chametz") from our possession in preparation for the Passover festival, which begins that night. Halakha (Torah law) requires that a person cease eating "chametz" two hours before noon and cease possessing it one hour before noon. These are not clock hours but proportional hours defined by Halakha as one-twelfth of the time between sunrise and sunset.

Burn and nullify the chametz
The "chametz" is disposed of in the following ways: a) by selling it to a non-Jew; b) by burning the "chametz" found during the previous night's search; c) by "annulling" the "chametz" that was not found by declaring it "ownerless." This is done on the morning of the 14th of Nisan before the time when "chametz" is prohibited.