Pesachim 2a: On the evening of the fourteenth we search for chometz by the light of a candle.
Ran: Since we nullify our chometz, why is it necessary to search for it and destroy it? On a Torah level bitul is enough, but because bitul depends on a person’s thoughts, and he might take it lightly and not completely put it out of his mind, the Sages were stringent and said that one needs to search for it and destroy it as well.
Shulchan Aruch: If a Jew nullified his chometz and kept it over Pesach, it is forbidden. Mishnah Berurah: Even if he did bedikas chometz and missed something, some say it is forbidden. Others are lenient, and in cases of significant financial loss one may rely on the second opinion.
פסחים ב ע”א: אור לארבעה עשר בודקין את החמץ לאור הנר.
ר”ן: והיינו למי שאינו מבטל אבל למי שמבטל סגי בהכי אלא מפני שבטול זה תלוי במחשבתן של בני אדם ואין דעותיהן שוות ואפשר שיקלו בכך ולא יוציאוהו מלבן לגמרי ראו חכמים להחמיר שלא יספיק בטול והצריכוהו בדיקה וביעור.
או”ח תמ”ח ס”ה. חמץ שנמצא בבית ישראל אחר הפסח אסור אף על פי שביטל.
מ”ב סקכ”ה: ודע דכמה אחרונים כתבו דאפילו בדק ג״כ כמנהגנו ונמצא חמץ לאחר הפסח ג״כ אסור בהנאה דלא חילקו בדבר ויש מן האחרונים שמקילים בבדק וביטל ונמצא אח״כ דמאי הוי ליה למעבד הרי עשה הכל כדין ודעתם דעכ״פ בהנאה אין לאסור ובמקום הפסד מרובה יש לסמוך עליהן.
Reb Refoel Dubachinsky lived in a small town in Poland and made his living selling whiskey to the local gentiles. He was known for his friendly manner as well as his honesty and straightforwardness. Then one day, an anti-Semitic priest came to town and decided to try to drive Reb Refoel out of business. His plan was to convince all the gentiles not to buy his chametz before Pesach, so that he would have to destroy it.
He discovered which gentile habitually bought Reb Refoel’s chametz, made his way to the peasant’s home and demanded that he refuse to purchase it. With a combination of bribery and threats, the priest succeeded in convincing him. He did the same for the other gentiles in town. When Erev Pesach arrived, the usual gentile did not show up to buy the chametz. Reb Refoel tried to find someone else, but all of them said no. He returned to his shop, opened the doors and said, “I hereby announce that all the chametz in my possession is ownerless. I no longer claim it as my own. Anyone who wishes can take it.” Then he went home and prepared for Yom Tov.
After Yom Tov was over, he broke the news to his wife. His wife agreed that her husband had done the right thing, but proposed that they return to the village and check. “Who knows,” she said, “perhaps the peasants left something behind.” The two of them set out for the village.
As they neared the outskirts, they met one of the local gentiles. “Good evening, my friend,” said Reb Refoel. “How did our festival treat you? Did you have enough to drink this year from the whiskey in my open shop?” The man looked at him strangely. “And how were we supposed to drink anything? Those two huge dogs of yours wouldn’t let anyone get within a dozen feet of your shop entrance.” Reb Refoel and his wife came close to the tavern and indeed saw two big black dogs guarding the entrance. The dogs sniffed their feet and ran away.
“Hashem has sent a miracle to protect our livelihood,” Reb Refoel’s wife whispered. “You may be right,” her husband agreed. “But this means that the whiskey was not ownerless over Pesach. I will not derive any kind of benefit from chametz that remained in my possession over Pesach in violation of the halacha.” He began opening the spigots on the barrels of whiskey.
“What are you doing? Stop it!” his wife cried out. “Hashem has granted us a miracle and now you are throwing it away?” Reb Refoel paused. “I don’t know,” he said slowly. “Perhaps you are right, perhaps not. I shouldn’t be making this decision by myself. Let us go to the rav and listen to what he says.” The two of them went to the rav and described what had happened. The rav listened carefully to the story and ruled, “The whiskey is permissible. You may continue to sell it as you have in the past.”
Reb Refoel’s wife rejoiced at the halachic ruling and went home content. Reb Refoel, however, was not satisfied. He sat down and thought things over very carefully. “It is clear from the rav’s words that he was thinking of my livelihood,” he mused. “The rav must have found grounds for leniency because of the great monetary loss I would suffer if the whiskey had to be destroyed.”
He stood up, his mind made up. “No!” he declared. “Master of the Universe, how is it possible that I, Refoel Dubachinsky, can depend on a leniency designed to prevent the loss of money? I cannot do it and I won’t.” He marched back to the store and opened up the spigots once more. He was not satisfied until every last drop had soaked into the earth, completely beyond return. When Refoel’s wife discovered what he had done, she went to the rav’s house, fighting back tears. “I have no children,” she wept, “and now I have lost all of my livelihood. What will be with me?”
“Don’t cry,” the rav comforted her. “I beg you, return home with peace of mind. Remove all your worries from your heart. In the merit of this great mitzvah that you and your husband have performed, may you be blessed with a son who will light up the eyes of the world with his righteousness.” Sure enough, within the year, Refoel and his wife joyously brought a son into the world, who grew up to be the famous Chassidic Rebbe, R’ Avrohom of Tchenov.
Source: Taryag Tales, p. 34
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