Negative Commandment 200 (Digest)
Allowing Chametz to be Seen
"And there shall be no leavened bread seen in your possession, neither shall leaven be seen within all your property"—Exodus 13:7.
No chametz (leavened foods) may be seen in our possession for the duration of the holiday of Passover.
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> The 200th prohibition is that we are forbidden to have chometz seen in our dwellings all seven;) days [of Pesach].
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> The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement,;) "None of your chometz may be seen, and none of your s'or;) may be seen in all your territories."
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> These [chometz and s'or] are not two separate prohibitions with separate content, but rather one and the same idea. The Sages said this explicitly:;) "The verse begins with chometz and ends with s'or. This teaches you that chometz and s'or are the same." The intention of this statement: there is no difference between the s'or itself and that which it made into chometz. [I.e., both are included in this one prohibition].
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> One who transgressed and left chometz in his possession is not punished by lashes ,;) unless he bought chometz on Pesach and officially took possession of it. Then, he would have performed an action [and therefore receives lashes]. In the words of the Tosefta,;) "One who retains chometz on Pesach or who leaves kilayim;) [growing in] his vineyard does not receive lashes ."
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> Footnotes
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> Outside of Israel, this mitzvah is for eight days.
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> Ex. 13:7.
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> S'or is used for its leavening action, to turn other foods into chometz.
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> Beitzah 7b.
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> One receives lashes only when an action was performed, not in a case where the prohibition came about automatically. Here, the prohibition came about because the person neglected to do an action, i.e., dispose of the chometz.
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> Makkos 4:5.
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> A mixture of species, in this case grapevines together with vegetables or grain. See N216.
Negative Commandment 201 (Digest)
Owning Chametz
"Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses"—Exodus 12:19.
No chametz (leavened foods) may be in our possession on Passover, even if it is not visible, even if it belongs to another [Jew].
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> The 201st prohibition is that we are forbidden to have chometz found in our dwellings, even if it is not visible, or if it is left as a deposit.
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> The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement,;) "For seven days, no chometz may be found in your homes."
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> As mentioned above,;) one receives lashes for violating this prohibition only when an action was performed, in accordance with the principles explained in tractate Shavuos.;)
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> Our Sages stated explicitly in a number of places, "One transgresses, 'It may not be seen,' and 'It may not be found.' ";)
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> The laws of these two mitzvos are explained in the beginning of tractate Pesachim.;) There it is also explained which things are prohibited by the verse, "It may not be seen...in all your territories" [N200] and which are prohibited by the verse, "It may not be found in your homes" [N201].
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> There [in the beginning of Pesachim] it is explained that each of these two prohibitions derives something additional from the other,;) and that one who keeps chometz on Pesach transgresses both, "It may not be seen" and "It may not be found."
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> Ex. 12:19.
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> N200.
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> 21a.
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> Therefore we see that N200 and N201 count as two separate mitzvos.
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> 5b.
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> See Kessef Mishneh, Hilchos Chometz U'matzah, 1:3. Yad Halevi, N201.
Positive Commandment 158 (Digest)
Eating Matzah
"In the evening [of the fifteenth of Nissan] you shall eat unleavened bread"—Exodus 12:18.
We are commanded to eat matzah, unleavened bread, on the eve of the fifteenth of Nissan, the first night of Passover.
Unabridged English Text of this Mitzvah »
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> The 158th mitzvah is that we are commanded to eat matzah on the night of the 15th;) of Nissan. This mitzvah applies regardless of whether or not we have the Pesach sacrifice.;)
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> The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement,;) "In the evening [of the 15th of Nissan] you must eat matzos."
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> Our Sages explicitly stated,;) " 'In the evening you must eat matzos' — the Torah establishes it as a requirement." It is explained in Pesachim that eating matzah on the first night of Pesach is a requirement, while afterwards it is optional.;)
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> The details of this mitzvah are explained in tractate Pesachim.
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> Outside of Israel, this obligation applies on the 16th as well.
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> Since the verse, "Eat it (the Pesach sacrifice) with matzah and maror,"(Ex. 12:8)") connects the mitzvah of eating matzah with the consumption of the Pesach sacrifice, one might think that it is not a separate mitzvah. Therefore, the Rambam points out that they are independent mitzvos, and that there is another verse for the mitzvah of matzah. See P56.
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> Ex. 12:18.
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> Mechilta. Pesachim 28b. 120a.
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> Although one may not eat chometz, one may eat foods other than matzah, such as fruit, etc. See Hilchos Chometz U'matzah 6:1.