On Friday evening, as the family sat down to eat, Mrs. Metzger said to her husband: “You sold our chametz, right?”
“Of course!” replied Mr. Metzger. “Because this year erev Pesach is Shabbos, the Rabbi arranged the sale with Mr. Rodriguez this morning, even though we can still eat chametz until tomorrow morning.”
“What about you?” Mrs. Metzger asked her children. “Did you also sell the chametz in your dorm rooms?”
“I didn’t sell, because I don’t have any chametz,” replied 20-year-old David. “I checked my room before I left.”
“I also disposed of almost all the real chametz,” Mrs. Metzger noted. “We just have some bottles of whiskey.”
“Speaking of whiskey…” David said suddenly. “I bought a bottle of whiskey for a friend’s l’chaim in yeshiva and afterward hid it in the back of my closet in the dorm!”
“So you have chametz?” Mr. Metzger asked his son.
“I suppose so…” answered David.
“Well, chametz is still permissible until the morning,” said Mr. Metzger. “We eat challah or pita. Can you get into the dorm?”
“Probably. There is a mechanical code that we use all year on Shabbos,” replied David. “I don’t think there is another lock.”
“Then you should get the whiskey after the seudah tonight,” Mr. Metzger said.
“And do what?” asked David. “The bottle is mine; I bought it with my own money. I didn’t sell my chametz and didn’t ask you to sell it on my behalf.”
“We can all make a l’chaim and drink some,” suggested 17-year-old Benji.
“There’s a lot left in the bottle,” said David.
“You may have to spill out the remainder,” said Mrs. Metzger.
“If I have to, I will,” said David. “The Rabbi sold the chametz to our neighbor Mr. Rodriguez. Maybe I can still sell it to him.”
Shabbos morning, Mr. Metzger and David approached Rabbi Dayan and asked, “What should David do with the whiskey? Can he still sell it to Mr. Rodriguez?”
“In general, Chazal prohibited transactions on Shabbos, whether sales or gifts, lest one come to write,” replied Rabbi Dayan (Rambam, Hilchos Shabbos 23:12; Mishna Berurah 306:33).
“However, they allowed gifts for the purpose of Shabbos or a mitzvah. Even so, sales are not allowed, even without payment of money, other than in limited circumstances for the purpose of Shabbos needs (M.B. ibid.; O.C. 323:4).
Thus, when a person forgot to sell his chametz and does not want to destroy it, the poskim write that he should grant it as a gift to a gentile, because this is a gift for the purpose of a mitzvah – to avoid the prohibition of possessing chametz on Pesach. The gentile should pick up the chametz to properly acquire it. After Pesach, the gentile can return the chametz if he wishes to (O.C. 444:4; Mishna Berurah 444:16).
Alternatively, Maharsham (Daas Torah O.C. 444:2) advocates making the chametz hefker (which is even less of a transaction than a gift) and allowing the gentile to possess the chametz from hefker. However, hefker alone does not suffice without physically removing the chametz from your domain (Mishna Berurah 434:6,9; Piskei Teshuvos 444:17:109).
Even if the person does not trust the gentile that after Pesach he will agree to return the gift (or hefker), most Acharonim do not allow selling the chametz to the gentile on Shabbos (M.B. 444:20).
However, in this case, a few Acharonim do allow selling the chametz to the gentile on Shabbos but without mentioning the price explicitly. They maintain that this sale is not included in the general prohibition, because it is done merely to avoid the prohibition of chametz (Chok Yaakov 444:8; M.B. 444:20).
“Furthermore, based on the principle of zachin l’adam shelo b’fanav, some rabbanim sell the chametz on behalf of all those who are interested in doing so, even if they did not explicitly authorize them beforehand,” concluded Rabbi Dayan. “Thus, while a person should authorize his rav, if he forgot to do so, the sale may still include him. You should check this with your rav.” (Piskei Teshuvos 448:21).
Verdict: When erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, a person who forgot to sell his chametz and does not want to destroy it should grant it as a gift to a non-Jew on Shabbos morning or declare it hefker and have the non-Jew possess it. Some Acharonim also allow selling the chametz.
