Daily Mitzvah (Rambam)

The 156th mitzvah is that we are commanded to remove chometz [leaven] from our possession on the 14th of Nissan. This is the mitzvah of "removing the leaven."

The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement (exalted be He),1 "On the day before [Pesach] you must remove the leaven from your homes."

Our Sages called this mitzvah, "biyur" ["clearing out"]; i.e., clearing out the chometz [from his possession].

The Jerusalem Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin2 says, "For possessing chometz one violates both a positive and a negative commandment. The positive commandment is biyur, as the verse says, 'you must remove the leaven from your homes'; the negative commandment is, 'no leaven may be found in your homes.' "3

The details of this mitzvah are explained in the beginning of tractate Pesachim.

Footnotes

1.

Ex. 12:15. Here in Sefer Hamitzvos, as in early editions of Mishneh Torah, the Rambam rules that the Biblical commandment is the actual removal of the chometz. However, his conclusion in Hilchos Chometz U'matzah, 2:2, is that the Biblical commandment is fulfilled by verbal renunciation of ownership (bittul), and the actual removal is a Rabbinic command. See Kapach, 5731, note 75.

2.

5:3.

3.

Ex. 12:19.

The 197th prohibition is that we are forbidden to eat chometz on Pesach.

The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement,1 "No chometz may be eaten."

If chometz was eaten intentionally, the punishment is kores,2 as the verse3 states clearly, "Whoever eats chometz shall receive kores." If it was eaten unintentionally, the person must bring a sin-offering.4

The details of this commandment are explained in tractate Pesachim.

Footnotes

1.

Ex. 13:3.

2.

See Principle 14, where the Rambam defines kores as losing one's portion in the World to Come (unless the person does teshuvah before he dies).

3.

Ex. 12:15.

4.

See P69.

The 198th prohibition is that we are forbidden from eating anything with chometz [leaven] mixed into it, even if it is not bread; e.g., muryas,1 kutach,2 etc.

The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement,3 "Do not eat anything leavened."

The Mechilta says, "The verse, 'Do not eat anything leavened,' comes to prohibit kutach from Babylon, beer from Medea, and vinegar from Edom. One might think that the punishment for eating them is kores; therefore the Torah says [in the verse which speaks of kores], 'chometz' — [one receives kores] only for that which is completely chometz, not for that which only has chometz mixed in. Why, then, are they mentioned at all? To teach us that one transgresses a negative commandment [by eating them]."4

It is explained in Pesachim5 that although one is forbidden from eating [anything with chometz mixed in], one does not receive lashes unless the mixture contained at least a k'zayis of chometz bich'dei achilas pras.6 If there was less chometz than this mixed in, one does not receive lashes for eating the mixture.

Footnotes

1.

A type of dip.

2.

A dip containing whey, salt, and pieces of bread. See Pesachim 42a.

3.

Ex. 12:20.

4.

This passage proves that this commandment is distinct from N197, which has a different punishment.

5.

43a.

6.

I.e., if the mixture contained at least 1/6 chometz. Literally, "if one ate a pras" of the mixture, one would eat at least a k'zayis of chometz. Since there are approximately 6 zeisim in a pras (see Hilchos Chometz U'matzah, Ch.1, Hal.6), lashes are given only if the mixture was at least 1/6 chometz.