Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 465 - The Laws [Governing] Bran on Pesach

SECTION 465 The Laws [Governing] Bran on Pesach (1-6)

1 Bran should not be soaked in water {[to make it edible] for chickens} from the beginning of the sixth hour [on the day before Pesach] onward.1 Even if [a person] stands over [the chickens] to ensure that the bran will not remain before them for the amount of time [it takes to walk] a mil2– and in any [amount of] time less than this [amount of time, grain] will not become chametz – [leaving soaked grain for chickens] is forbidden.

[The basis for this ruling is that] as an initial preference, it is forbidden to leave dough without manipulating it for even a moment, as explained in sec. 459[:9].

2 However, it is permitted to blanch bran in boiling water and afterwards place it before chickens.¹ Even though there may be an interval of several days [until the blanched bran is placed before them], it is of no consequence, since [grain] that has been blanched will never become chametz at all.¹ Nevertheless, the Geonim forbade all blanching [of grain or flour], as explained in sec. 454[:7].

3 When one places [kernels of] barley or wheat before [chickens] from the sixth hour [on the day before Pesach] onward, he must be careful not to cast [the kernels] in a moist place where they could possibly become chametz.

However, before [the onset of] the sixth [hour on the day preceding Pesach], it is permitted even to place actual chametz before [chickens]. However, [when doing so] from the beginning of the night of the fourteenth [of Nissan] after [conducting] the search [for chametz], it is necessary to stand over [the chickens] from the time [they begin] eating until after they finish eating, as stated in sec. 433[:27].3 What remains after [the chickens] eat may not be left before them. Instead, it should be placed in a guarded place until the time of the obliteration, as explained in that source.

It is desirable to be careful from 30 days before Pesach onward4 not to [scatter] barley before [chickens] in a moist place (unless one stands over [the chickens] from the time [they begin] eating until after they finish eating and [is careful] not to leave what remains [of the grain] before [the chickens]). [The rationale is that] there are grounds for concern that when the time to search [for chametz] arrives, [the owner] will not have in mind that the place where he left the barley was moist, and he will not search there.5 [Moreover,] even if [the person] does search there, he will [only] find [kernels of] barley that remained after [the chickens] ate, and he will not [think it necessary] to obliterate [these kernels] because [the kernels] will have already dried and [the fact that they] became chametz will not be apparent.

It is desirable for one to be careful and not give [chickens] water to drink while barley [kernels] are still placed before them. Instead, he should first thoroughly sweep the area [where he placed the barley. Only] afterwards should he place water there.

4 A woman should not soak bran in water from the sixth [hour on the day preceding Pesach] onward [with the intention] to rub her skin with it in a bathhouse.6 She is, however, permitted to apply dry bran to her skin and rub with it. [This license applies] even when there is moist sweat on the woman’s skin. [The rationale is that] human sweat is not considered as water with regard to causing grain to leaven, provided the individual is not sweating as a result of the heat of [bathhouse] water, but because of the heat of the fire, as will be explained in sec. 466[:1, 7].

Nevertheless, [in such an instance, a woman] must be careful to remove all the bran from her skin before she washes her skin with water. [This applies] whether [she washes herself] with hot water or cold water. Since women are not currently knowledgeable about this, [at present,] it is forbidden for them to [apply] bran to their skin and rub with it7 even when [the bran] is dry.8

5 If one rubbed bran on [the skin of] a [slaughtered] goose that was wet, even though [the goose] was cold, it is forbidden to partake of the goose on Pesach. [This restriction applies] whether [one rubbed the bran on the goose] when [the goose’s] skin was still upon it or whether [he did so after] the skin had been removed. [The rationale for the prohibition is that] the bran enters the pores of the [goose’s] skin.9 And the meat [of a goose] also has [portions] that are cracked open on all of its sides.10 [The Rabbis feared that] the flavor of the bran would be absorbed [in the meat of] the goose through these holes and cracks.

True, [such a stringency is not applied] with regard to other prohibitions when a [severe] financial loss [is involved] or in a pressing situation. For example, [if] cold meat fell into cold milk, it is customary to permit the meat once it has been rinsed and washed thoroughly, even though the meat has many cracks, as stated in Yoreh Deah, sec. 91.11 Nevertheless, there are grounds for stringency with regard to chametz on Pesach, since even the slightest trace of chametz causes a substance to be forbidden.12 Hence, [the goose] should be forbidden.

If, however, one rubbed [the goose with bran] before Pesach, even on the day preceding Pesach after the sixth hour of the day and onward,13 there are grounds to permit [the goose] to be eaten, even during Pesach, when a severe [financial] loss is involved or in a pressing situation,14 provided one washes [the goose] very thoroughly and rubs it effectively with water during Pesach [to remove any trace of the bran].

6 As an initial preference, one should be careful not to singe fowl15 on Pesach with the stubble at the ends of [wheat] stalks, for perhaps there is a kernel of grain that became chametz among the stalks, and it will flavor the fowl while it is being singed. Nevertheless, after the fact, the fowl should not be forbidden. [This leniency applies] even if many kernels [of grain] that became chametz were found among the stalks that remained after the singeing. [Even so,] it is not assumed that a forbidden substance exists merely because there is such a possibility.16 [Accordingly, it is not said that] kernels of grain that became chametz also existed among the stalks used to singe [the fowl]. Instead, it is assumed that all the kernels fell from [those stalks] during the threshing process.

(If, however, it is known that a kernel [of grain] that became chametz existed among the stalks used to singe [the fowl], the fowl should be prohibited to be eaten,17 since on Pesach even the slightest trace of chametz [causes a substance to be forbidden].)

Similarly,18 if one found an empty stalk in a dish of cooked food that had dissolved, there is no concern that the stalk contained a kernel of grain that became chametz, and which fell into the cooked dish and dissolved there.