[Avodah] Chometz: Less than a kezayis

[Akiva Miller via Avodah]

R' Zev Sero tried to answer my questions:

> Crumbs smaller than a kezayis are automatically batel, except
> "a nice rolls", which one would want to keep if one knew
> about it (e.g. a wrapped candy).
> There are two reasons why, midrabanan, bitul doesn't help:
> Lest one find a "nice roll", and lest one find chametz and
> absentmindedly eat it. These are obviously related; a dirty
> crumb that one would never think of eating is by definition
> not a "nice roll" that one would exclude from ones bitul.

I would think that "automatically batel" ("batel me'elav") and "nice roll"
("gluska yafeh") result from the condition of the chometz, such as it's
cleanliness and freshness. I have no idea why the size would be relevant.

We are told many times how very thorough the bedikah must be: Cracks and
crevices. Holes in a wall. And so on. These places have always led me to
believe that we must search for all chometz - even if it is small and even
if it is dirty. The only criterion is that it is raui l'achilas kelev.

R' Micha Berger noted that it's not only when an individual piece is more
than a kezayis, but

> Also, if the sum of crumbs in a single keli add up to more
> than a kezayis.

Source? I have heard similar things, but in my experience, this idea is
taken as axiomatic, and then used to prove some other point. I'm looking
for a source for this axiom. And ideally it would explain *why* the
violation is worse if the pieces of chometz are together, than if they are
scattered.

Note that what I'm actually looking for is a source that if the chometz is
less than a kezayis, then there's not even a d'rabanan of Bal Yiraeh.
However, if one can find a source about the relative severity of pieces
combining, that may lead towards my question.

Thanks!
Akiva Miller


On Mon, Feb 20, 2017 at 1:17 AM, Zev Sero <zev at sero.name> wrote:

> On 19/02/17 20:31, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
>
> They write in the name of Rav Chaim Pinchos Scheinberg ztz"l:
>>
>> The general obligation to check for and get rid of crumbs
>>> does not apply if the crumbs are less than the size of an
>>> olive (k'zayis) and are dirty or spoiled enough to deter a
>>> person from eating them.
>>>
>>
> If this is indeed the halacha, then it explains and simplifies several
>> difficulties I've had over the years. But *is* this the halacha? The
>> page has very few references to printed sources, and I'd appreciate any
>> mar'eh m'komos that anyone might offer.
>>
>
> Yes, this is the halacha as I've always understood it.
>
>
>
> Beyond the lack of references, I have a specific question on this. They
>> seem to be saying that one may deliberately ignore chometz gamur, and
>> deliberately *not* get rid of it, provided it is smaller than a kezayis
>> *and* he is not worried that someone might eat it.
>>
>> Meiheicha teisa? Have we ever been taught such a thing? We are allowed
>> to keep a small amount of chometz over Pesach?
>>
>
> Crumbs smaller than a kezayis are automatically batel, except "a nice
> rolls", which one would want to keep if one knew about it (e.g. a wrapped
> candy).
>
> There are two reasons why, midrabanan, bitul doesn't help: Lest one find a
> "nice roll", and lest one find chametz and absentmindedly eat it. These are
> obviously related; a dirty crumb that one would never think of eating is by
> definition not a "nice roll" that one would exclude from ones bitul.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Zev Sero                May 2017, with its *nine* days of Chanukah,
> zev at sero.name           be a brilliant year for us all
>
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