No leaven shall be found in your houses for seven days. For whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be spiritually cut off from the assembly of Israel… You shall eat nothing leavened. Rather, wherever you dwell, you shall eat matzah (Exodus 12:19-20) (Translated in Celebrating Freedom: The New Haggadah, p. 10).

The Passover Seder is all about bringing the past into the present. Tradition tells us that when the Jews fled from bondage in Egypt, they had so little time to prepare that they could not let their bread rise before baking. In Exodus, all future Jews are commanded to commemorate this hasty departure by eating only “bread made without yeast” for seven festival days during the month of Nisan. As Rabbi Rheins and Rabbi Rheins tell us, “Matzah, unleavened bread, became a symbol of freedom and an essential part of the Passover experience” (Celebrating Freedom: The New Haggadah, p. 10).

To make sure no chametz (leavened bread) can be “found” during the festival, it is customary to clean the whole house of yeast-fermented items like bread on the night before Passover. The bread can be burned ritually the next morning, though in modern times it is more often donated to food banks or given to non-Jewish friends. Depending on tradition, other items may also be removed:

- Any bread product that swells in water, such as pasta.

- Any flour that can be used to make yeasted bread, including wheat, barley, rye, oat, or spelt flour. Ashkenazi families may also include corn, rice, and legumes as chametz.

- Items that are fermented, but not baked, such as yogurt, miso, kimchi, sauerkraut, and even beer or liquor…. Although this raises the question of why wine is permitted at the Seder!

Before starting the search for chametz, say the following blessing:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה אֱלֹהֶינוּ מֶ֫לֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִרְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָ֫נוּ עַל בִּעוּר חָמֵץ.

Barukh attah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha-olam, asher kideshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu al bi’ur chametz.

Blessed are you, Adonai our G-d, Ruler of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with commandments and commanded us to remove the chametz.

In some households, ten pieces of bread are hidden throughout the house for children to find. This makes sure the above blessing is not said without purpose … and ensures that everyone is really looking hard. Just make sure someone knows where all the chametz is hidden so it can be properly removed!

After concluding the search for chametz, and again when the chametz are destroyed or given away, say the following:

כָּל־חֲמִירָא חֲמִירָא וַחֲמִיעָה דְּאִבָּא בִרְשׁוּתִי, דְּלָא חֲמִתֵּהּ וּדְלא בִעַרְתֵּהּ וּדְלָא יְדַעְנָא לֵהּ לִבָּטֵל וְלֶהֱוֵי הֶפְקֵר בְּעַפְרָא דְאַרְעְא

Kol chamira vacha'mi'a d'ika virshutee d'la chamitay ood'la vi'artay ood'la y'dana lai leebtayl v'lehevay hef'kare k'afra d'ara.

Any chametz or leaven in my possession which has escaped my notice, and which I have not removed, shall be regarded as nonexistent and ownerless, like the dust of the earth.


haggadah Section: Introduction
Source: Selections from Celebrating Freedom: The New Haggadah by Rheins and Rheins