Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Al Bi'ur Chametz

I seem to have this mental problem every year when it comes to Bedikas Chametz (the search for Chametz). For the last two weeks, my family and I have been cleaning our house from top to bottom, removing all traces of chametz from the house. By the time we're done, there will be nothing left. It's a lot of effort and exertion to clean the entire house and get rid of all the chametz.

Then, when it's time to do the B'dikah, what do I do? I say a bracha (blessing) on the search for chametz that I am about to do. But isn't that what I've been doing for the last two weeks, including in the hours leading up to the actual "search?" It almost seems to me that I should have made this bracha two weeks ago (or at least earlier in the day while still searching!). It always feels so "wrong" to me to say the bracha at the time for the search (especially when I'm still cleaning when the time for the search comes).

I wish for all my readers a Chag Kasher V'Sameach!

The Wolf

4 comments:

Ezzie said...

Isn't the bracha on the biur? :)

BrooklynWolf said...

Yes, it is. However, the search is obviously included in the bracha by the simple fact that you recite it before the search and not before the burning.

The Wolf

Ezzie said...

But only that which you find from *this* search (and perhaps after) will be included in the biur. Until now, you just chucked it in the garbage. Now, you're putting it in a bag to be burnt.

Michael Kopinsky said...

I have the exact problem.

But I also have a problem with biur. Since we sell all our chametz, I struggle to find something to do biur with. This year, I went into the chametz closet (hopefully before the time of the sale) and took a cookie to burn. But it seems a bit pointless, leaving the entire closet of chametz there and taking one cookie to burn.