As the first Seder approaches tomorrow night at sundown, it is the tradition in many homes to follow the ritual of b’dikat chametz (Hebrew for, “search for chametz“) to find and discard those very last crumbs considered forbidden during Passover. The tradition is to carry a lit candle and a feather (or something wooden like a small spoon) and sweep up the crumbs into a paper bag. The next morning the bag with all of its contents is to be burned. Many have traditions where the ritual is more like a game where pieces of bread are hidden in a room for children to look for and find.
Vivienne Roumani-Denn, the Libyan scholar and filmmaker (“The Last Jews of Libya”) shared with me her memories of how her father performed this pre-Passover ritual at home:
“For the b’dikat hametz, there was literally no chance that there was any hametz left — they took it very seriously. I remember my father used to take a knife, because it had a sharp edge, and wrap it with a cloth and go into every nook and cranny to remove any possible breadcrumb. He would run the knife around the corners, and you know how there’s a crack between where your stove meets your countertop? He would take the skinniest knife and would clean that space out. And you started minimizing what you bought (the hametz you bought) you planned ahead. We didn’t really do the “selling” business — you just didn’t have it. First of all it was kind of easy because we didn’t eat too many processed foods anyway. So you know, flour — you just made sure that you didn’t have any by the time it got close.”
