I Forgot to Do Bedikas Chametz

Ask the Rov: What should one do if they forgot to search for chametz on time?

By Rabbi Chaim Hillel Raskin – Rov of Anash in Petach Tikvah

When erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, one searches for chametz a night earlier than usual, on Thursday night, since the search is meant to be done at night with a candle to illuminate the holes and crevices.¹ If one forgot to do bedikas chametz on Thursday night, one should do it on Friday during the day, with a bracha, and still use a candle to inspect the holes and crevices.²

What if one didn’t remember until Friday night?

Some poskim permit having a non-Jew carry the candle, as it’s a rabbinic prohibition which may be done by a non-Jew for the sake of a mitzvah (shevus b’makom mitzvah).³ But the Alter Rebbe simply writes that a candle cannot be handled on Shabbos and doesn’t mention the option of a non-Jew handling it.⁴

Some explain that asking a non-Jew to carry the candle isn’t an option since the Jew won’t check properly out of fear of getting burned, just as a torch can never be used since he will be worried about burning the house.⁵ Others explain that Chazal simply didn’t institute bedikah on Friday night because not everyone would have a non-Jew accessible.⁶

Some write that one should search the rooms illuminated with light bulbs on Friday night without a bracha and wait to check the areas requiring candlelight until motza’ei Shabbos.⁷ As mentioned, the Alter Rebbe simply writes that one should not search on Shabbos at all in the absence of a candle. Some note that if one cleaned one’s house thoroughly before Pesach, there’s more basis not to look for heterim how to check on Shabbos but rather wait until one can use a candle.

On Pesach itself, one can search for chametz with a bracha, even after having performed bitul chametz, as Chazal established one should search and not rely on bitul. If one finds chametz on yom tov, he shouldn’t touch it (since he can’t burn it then), but rather cover it to prevent people from accidentally eating it.⁸

See Sources (open PDF)

From The Weekly Farbrengen by Merkaz Anash