Chapter 1 · Or LeArba'ah Asar

Opening the Tractate: 'Or' of the Fourteenth

Lesson 1 of 68 26 min

The Mishnah opens the tractate with the time and the means of the search.

Lesson goals

01Read the Mishnah and mark the time.
02Mark the instrument (the candle).
03Mark the limit of the duty (a place where chametz is brought).

Source and decoding

Pesachim 2a

אור לארבעה עשר בודקין את החמץ לאור הנר. כל מקום שאין מכניסין בו חמץ, אין צריך בדיקה

On the 'or' of the fourteenth one searches for chametz by the light of a candle; any place where chametz is not brought needs no search.

The Mishnah opens the tractate with the time and the means of the search. The Gemara at once asks what 'or' means: Rav Huna says 'nagehei' and Rav Yehuda says 'layla'. The Mishnah also limits the duty to places where chametz is brought. So the discussion is set up around time, instrument and scope.

Building the reasoning

1Read the Mishnah and mark the time.
2Mark the instrument (the candle).
3Mark the limit of the duty (a place where chametz is brought).

Practice

Write three questions for any search: when, by what light, and in which places. Decide whether a given room is a place where chametz is brought.

Lesson wrap-up

If chametz is eaten or stored in a room, it is a place where chametz is brought. A room where chametz is never brought needs no search under the Mishnah.

Check your understanding

Test yourself before marking the lesson complete.

Question 1 of 1

What does the Mishnah say about a place where chametz is not brought?

Original explanations and translations: Bonei Atalmud. Excerpts were checked against the site’s Gemara text. Explanations and exercises have not undergone rabbinic review and are not halakhic rulings.

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