[Avodah] Heter mechira

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Zev Sero wrote:
> In practise we never have to actually do this, because the
> goy never does want to keep the chametz;

On the contrary! I have heard of several rabbis (Rabbi Riskin of Efrat comes to mind, but there are others too) who make a point of accompanying the non-Jew to the homes of several random congregants during Chol Hamoed, and the non-Jew enters the area he has rented out, selects one or two of the items that he has already paid a deposit on, and pays the Jew the rest of the money.

Of course, it would be a lot more convenient for the non-Jew if he simply went to the store, but it does demonstrate the reality of the sale: The non-Jew takes whatever he wants and pays a fair price, and the Jew cannot object to the items chosen and he'll never see those boxes again.

The Jew might feel a few inner pangs of regret ("Not that! I wanted that for Motzaei Yom Tov!") but would not dare verbalize it, and even if he did verbalize it, the rabbi would be sure to answer, "Too bad." This is a far cry from a Shemitta situation, where if the non-Jew wanted to actually move in and occupy the land, I presume it would be hotly contested.

Akiva Miller
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