Most communities, Ashkenazi and Sephardic, arrange a Hamets-selling system in which the community members empower the rabbi to sell their Hamets. This procedure is a Halakhic leniency done to prevent people from keeping “expensive” Hamets at home during Pesah. Obviously, the validity of this selling should not be questioned since every Rabbi leads his community according to what he considers the best for his congregants. Personally, I don’t sell my Hamets, and I encourage my community members to do the same.
Historically, Sephardic Jews did not practice the mekhirat hamets (=selling of Hamets) procedure. They simply got rid of their Hamets before Pesah began in accordance with the Mitsva of “tashbitu”, as we explained before(
see this) .
The only exceptional case in which Sephardic rabbis authorized selling the Hamets was the case of a food-store owner. In this case, a non-Jew would make a down payment for the total of the merchandise, and from the moment he made that payment, the Hamets merchandise would belong completely to the buyer, and he would be entirely responsible for the goods, if damaged, stolen, etc. So, for example, if the goods were stolen during Pesah, the buyer will have to pay for them to the seller after Pesah. The buyer would also rent the store where the merchandise is stored for the duration of Pesah, and he would keep the store’s keys, which granted him total and unrestricted access to the premises of the store. The non-Jewish buyer had the right to use, consume or even trade the Hamets merchandise during Pesah. And if he wished so, he could pay the balance and keep the merchandise for himself. As you can see, although the clear intent was that the seller would eventually buy back the Hamets after Pesah, the selling transaction was real, legal and binding. The rabbis would not have accepted any phony selling transaction, which would not have complied with Jewish and local Law because obviously, they took the prohibition of owning Hamets during Pesah very seriously.
Except for food business owners Sephardic community would not sell their Hamets. What would they do with their leftovers of Hamets food?
1. First, before Pesah, people would buy just whatever was necessary until Pesah, avoiding having extra Hamets-food close to Pesah.
2. Second, whatever leftovers of Hamets, if in good condition, would be given to a non-Jew as charity or as a gift, or if that is not possible, it would be disposed of. Disposing of Hamets leftovers the day before Pesah is a Biblical Mitsva. So this is not considered “waste” ( בל תשחית).
3. If some Hamets accidentally had not been detected, then the Bitul Hamets, the formula of renunciation to our ownership of any unseen Hamets in our properties, would prevent the transgression of owning Hamets during Pesah.
If one follows these simple steps, then there is no real need to “sell and buy back” any Hamets.
The popularization of the selling of the Hamets started basically as an Ashkenazi tradition 400 years ago. In Europe, and still, in some Ashkenazi communities in America, the selling of the Hamets was such an accepted custom that the community rabbis get an extra salary for taking care of it.
I would obviously encourage Sephardic Jews to preserve our ancient Minhag and not sell the Hamets but get rid of it.
(TO clarify all the technical problems involved in the Mekhirat Hamets procedure, I wrote a separate text SEE HERE where I briefly describe the main Halakhic objections to the selling of Hamets. )
Remember that you only have to get rid of Hamets, a food item (for human or animal consumption).
You do not need to sell your pots and pans or anything that might contain “invisible” hamets (hamets balua’). Just put those utensils away during Pesah.
Medical pills, perfumes, cosmetics or any nonedible items could be kept, regardless of their composition.
Food items: you could keep anything as long as you make sure that it does not contain any of these five grains: wheat, barley, oats, rye, spelt (FYI, anything which contains gluten is Hamets. Check online!).
All those community members who wish to follow the tradition of
removing all Hamets from your premises and avoiding the selling of the Hamets, can email me (rabbibitton@yahoo.com) a list of food you wish to keep and I will email back the status of that food (K: Keep. D: Discard, or give as a gift to a non Jew).
Conclusion:
Selling or not selling your Hamets, is at the end of the day, as any other halakhic leniency or stringency, a personal choice we do in consultation with our community’s rabbi.
Those who wish to keep their valuable hamets products (whiskey, vodka, or liquors made from grain alcohol, etc), should arrange the selling of the Hamets through their local rabbinate and avoid online selling.
Read also this great recent article (Hebrew, 2019) by an Israeli journalist עובדים על עצמנו: מספיק עם מכירת החמץ
