1) On the eve of the 14th of Nissan, one may not eat a meal from a half-hour before nightfall until after one has completed the search. A snack, however, is allowed.1
2) Before the Search: The floors should be swept.2 The focus of the search is the ‘nooks and crannies’, therefore the 10 pieces (see below) should be placed in corners of the room rather than in middle of the open floor.3
3) It is customary that, before the search, members of the family4 place 10 pieces of Chometz in discreet places around the home. Each piece should be less than a Kezayis and wrapped in paper. The total of all 10 pieces should amount to a Kezayis or more.5
4) When distributing the 10 pieces, it is advisable to jot down a list of where each piece was placed. If one of the pieces was not discovered during the search one need not re-search the home. Instead we would rely on the Bitul, the annulment of Chometz.6
5) The plinths (covers for the front of the base of the kitchen units) should be removed in order to search beneath the units. But if this will involve a lot of work, one need not remove them. This is so even when bits of Chometz are visible, provided they are beyond reach, for in this instance we may rely on the Bitul, the annulment of Chometz.7
6) Large appliances — such as the refrigerator, cooker etc. — should be moved to clear away hidden Chometz. When this will be impractical to do during the search, one can do so a few days in advance. Before replacing the appliance in its position, one should search the area with a candle [without a berachah].8
7) The areas to be sold in Chometz do not need to be searched.9
8) The garden (front and back) does not need to be searched, for we rely on the birds to have removed any Chometz. However, at the time of burning Chometz one should look around and destroy any visible remains.10
9) The car must be searched for Chometz. Use of a candle is unsuitable, therefore use an electric light. Due to the latter point, some authorities11 compare this part of the search to the checking of pockets (and bags, briefcases etc.), which is done in the daytime.12
10) The search of the pockets [of the children’s as well as the adult’s clothing] is done on the day of Erev Pesach, once we stop eating Chometz. The search of the car and of bags etc. can be done earlier too — provided that henceforth one will not bring or place any Chometz in the area searched.
11) One is obliged to search for Chometz at one’s place of work. One who owns a warehouse must search for Chometz there.13 If one does not intend to go in to work during Pesach, one could include the entire area in the Sale of Chometz.
12) The Shul needs to searched for Chometz. If one is doing so after having said the berachah and searched at home, do not repeat the berachah prior to the search in Shul.14
13) Traveling: One who will spend Pesach away from home could in theory simply include the whole house in the sale of Chometz. However, some Poskim object to this, since as a result he would forfeit the Mitzvah of searching for Chometz in his home.15 [This applies equally to Talmidim regarding their rooms in Yeshivah]. So let’s go through some options:
a) Traveling on the day of the 14th of Nissan — leave one part of your home unsold in the sale of Chometz, and search for Chometz there [with a berachah]. Remember to burn your 10 pieces etc. — see below #15.
b) Traveling before nightfall and through the night of the 14th of Nissan — leave one part of your home unsold in the sale of Chometz, and search for Chometz there on the night before departure. No berachah is said before this search.
c) If you will arrive at your hosts in time for the Search for Chometz — assist your host in his search, and be yotz’e with his berachah. [Some Poskim advise to nominally rent your room from your host and to say a berachah and search there. Other Poskim object to this, since you do not own the Chometz in the room]. Alternatively follow the preceding guideline.
d) Where the above options are impractical, one may rely on the Sale of Chometz to acquit oneself of the duty to search for Chometz.
e) One who intends to return home during Chol HaMoed — one must search for Chometz throughout the home prior to one’s departure.
14) One cannot say the berachah when doing Bedikas Chometz just on the contents of a suitcase.16
15) One who searches for Chometz without a Berachah on the eve before departure — some Poskim rule not to use 10 pieces, particularly due to the a risk of losing or forgetting them. Others rule to use them, especially due to the reason given in Kabbalah for using and burning 10 pieces. These should be taken with and burned at the right time.17
16) One may choose to search a part of one’s premises earlier than the eve of the 14th. This is especially advisable when one transforms a room into a Pesach kitchen a few days before Pesach — to search for Chometz there before it begins to be used for its new role.18
17) One who searched for Chometz earlier without a berachah — when burning the Chometz on Erev Pesach should say the berachah without Hashem’s name, nor ‘melech haolam’.19
18) If Reuven must go into work on Erev Pesach he may burn the Chometz early, before leaving home. Some Poskim advise to retain a Kezayis of Chometz and entrust it to someone [Shimon] to burn it on Reuven’s behalf [as his shaliach], at the correct time, at which time Shimon should declare all Reuven’s Chometz null and hefker. At the same time he should endeavor to call Reuven on the ‘phone, as a reminder to say Kol Chamira )#2), thereby annulling all his Chometz.20
