The series of special activities performed on the fourteenth of Nisan actually begins on the night before that day. On that evening, one must carry out the search for hametz and make sure that all the cleaning for Passover has been done properly and the house is indeed free of all hametz products. Although this search is seemingly a symbolic act, as the house has already been thoroughly cleansed of hametz, it should not be taken lightly, as it establishes halakhically that the house is kosher for Passover. It is also an opportunity to take a last look at places that might have been overlooked by those who helped clean the house and prepare it for the holiday.

The time for the search for hametz begins with the emergence of the stars; the exact time for any locale can be found in synagogue calendars and on the internet. The reason for performing the search after the stars emerge is that at this time it is dark and therefore the light of a candle can provide bright illumination, allowing one to search the cracks and crevices in one’s home for any remaining hametz.

Because of its great importance, the search for hametz should be done immediately after dark. One should not begin any other activities that might distract him from carrying out his obligation to perform the search. One should not eat anything beforehand, no business may be carried out, and even learning Torah is prohibited from the moment the stars emerge until after the search is completed.

One who forgot or was unable to carry out the search at nightfall may perform it at any point during the night. If he neglected to do so all night, he should perform the inspection during the day. And if even that was not done, he should search for hametz during the holiday itself, as the very existence of hametz in the home is prohibited throughout the holiday. If he failed to search even then, he should do so after the holiday. The reason for this is that hametz that was in the possession of a Jew over the holiday is permanently prohibited for consumption and deriving benefit.

One who leaves his home several days before the holiday, and will not be home on the eve of Passover, must search his house for hametz on the last night before his departure, if he left within thirty days of the holiday (i.e., from Purim onward). He should perform the search by the light of a flame but without reciting a blessing (see below). One who can appoint an agent to search his home at the proper time, on the night of the fourteenth of Nisan, should do so.

One who is staying at a hotel when the time for the search for hametz arrives must search for hametz in his hotel room.

Further reading: For more on the search of hametz, see A Concise Guide to the Sages, p. 306; A Concise Guide to Mahshava, p. 95.

The Sages state that the best lighting to use for searching hametz is a flame. It is therefore the custom in most Jewish homes to use a candle, and it is appropriate to do so. Nevertheless, since the light of a flashlight is also suitable for searching, it can be used if no candle is available. In places where it is dangerous to hold a lit candle, e.g., in a car or when searching in the immediate proximity of flammable materials, a flashlight is preferable.

There are some who have the custom of using a feather and a wooden spoon to collect the hametz that they find during the search. This feather and spoon are then subsequently burned together with the hametz. In any case, it is recommended that the items used for the search be disposable so that they can be burned, to ensure that there are no utensils in the house that might have hametz attached to them.

The halakha is insistent that one should never recite a blessing “in vain.” For example, if one recites the blessing “who creates the fruit of the tree” over an apple, but does not eat the apple, he has recited a blessing in vain.

In light of this law, since a blessing is recited over the search for hametz, there is a concern that if one searches the house and does not find any hametz at all, perhaps the blessing he recited before the search would be considered a blessing recited in vain.

Consequently, and for kabbalistic reasons as well, it is customary to place ten pieces of hametz around the house so that the head of the household will find hametz and his blessing will not be in vain.

When placing pieces of hametz throughout the house before the search, one must be careful to avoid two undesirable outcomes: crumbling of the hametz and losing it. In order to avoid such eventualities, it is advisable to wrap the hametz pieces well, so that crumbs should not spread around the area, and likewise to make a checklist of the places where the ten pieces were put, so that one can keep track of them and make sure that they are all found. The preparation of the pieces, their wrapping, their placement in the house, and recording their location, are often carried out by the wife and children of the head of the household.

The search is led by the head of the household. Before beginning the search, he recites the following blessing:

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who sanctified us through His commandments, and commanded us concerning the elimination of hametz.”

One says “the elimination” of hametz, even though the hametz is not actually destroyed until the next day, because the search is the beginning of the process of eliminating hametz from one’s home.

The owner of the house may appoint his older children (above the age of bar/bat mitzva) to assist him, and once they have heard the blessing and answered “Amen,” they too can conduct the search in various areas of the house.

After completing the search, one must make sure that all the hametz pieces that were hidden have been found, and then one makes the following declaration: “All hametz or leavened items that are in my possession, which I have not noticed and not seen and not removed, shall hereby be nullified and be ownerless like the dust of the earth.” The declaration was formulated in ancient times in Aramaic, and it is this original formulation that is still commonly used today.

It is important to understand the meaning of this declaration and to say it with its proper intent. Through this statement one announces the removal of his ownership over all hametz that may still be in his possession without his knowledge, and he renders it ownerless. Therefore, those who do not understand the meaning of the formula in Aramaic should say it in Hebrew, English, or in any other language that he understands.

The pieces of hametz collected in the search should be kept together in a closed bag until the next morning, at which point they will be burned with the leftover hametz of dinner and breakfast.

On the day before Passover, it is customary that all firstborn males fast. The reason for this is that on the night of the first Passover, all the firstborn among the Egyptians died, whereas all the firstborn of Israel were spared. In commemoration of this miraculous deliverance, the firstborn males observe a fast. According to custom, the fast may be avoided if one participates in a seudat mitzva, a celebratory meal held in honor of the performance of a mitzva. Therefore, most synagogues, after the morning prayers of the fourteenth of Nisan, conduct a siyum, a ceremony marking the completion of a talmudic tractate, by learning the concluding section of a tractate that has been studied by one of the worshippers. The firstborn males who are present, and others as well, listen to the siyum and then partake of the refreshments served in honor of the occasion. Participating in this “meal” overrides the custom of the firstborn to fast on that day, and thereafter they may eat throughout the day.

Further reading: For more on the plague of the firstborn, see A Concise Guide to the Torah, p. 162; A Concise Guide to the Sages, p. 94.

The prohibition of owning hametz begins on the morning of the fourteenth of Nisan. In order to allow for the removal of hametz before the prohibition takes effect, its consumption is forbidden some time earlier. The time when one must stop eating hametz is at one-third of the day, measured from sunrise to sunset. The exact time for a particular locale can be found in synagogue calendars.

After the time for eating hametz has ended, one has about an hour to finish destroying any remnants of hametz. One should remember to empty the vacuum cleaner bag before or during this time period.

Loaves of bread and other solid items of hametz might not burn well, so it may be a good idea to pour a small amount of a combustible substance on them after they have begun to burn.

Some have the custom to take the four species that had been used on the previous Sukkot, and the willow branches used on Hoshana Rabba, and burn them along with the hametz.

After the burning, one declares: “All hametz or leaven that is in my possession, whether I have noticed or not noticed it, whether I have seen it or not seen it, whether I have removed it or not removed it, shall be nullified and be ownerless like the dust of the earth.”

This declaration, like the one made the previous night, is formulated in Aramaic, but since it is necessary to understand the meaning of the statement and to have the appropriate intent in order for the hametz to indeed be rendered ownerless and taken entirely out of one’s possession, it may be said in any language.

One who, despite all the cleaning and inspections carried out before the holiday, nevertheless finds a piece of hametz in his house on the first day of Passover, may not touch the hametz, as it has the status of muktze, an item that may not be handled on Shabbat or a holy day. Instead, he must cover the hametz with something. After the festival day [yom tov], at the start of the intermediate festival days [Hol HaMoed], he must burn it or flush it down the toilet. If the hametz is found during Hol HaMoed, it must be destroyed immediately. If one had sold his hametz to a non-Jew, he should consult with a rabbi about what to do.

The fourteenth of Nisan, particularly after midday, is a festive time, similar to the intermediate festival days. Therefore, one who wishes to have a haircut should do so before midday (the precise time of midday, calculated as the middle of the time between sunrise and sunset, can be found in many synagogue calendars). One should bear in mind that according to halakha, one may not have a haircut during the entire ensuing period of Sefirat HaOmer, which means that whoever does not cut his hair before the festival will not be able to do so for several more weeks. After midday, one should avoid doing work that is not necessary for the preparations for the holiday.