Study Pesachim folio 5B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
שמע מינה מדרבי עקיבא תלת. שמע מינה: אין ביעור חמץ אלא שריפה, ושמע מינה: הבערה לחלק יצאת, ושמע מינה: לא אמרינן הואיל והותרה הבערה לצורך — הותרה נמי שלא לצורך.
Learn from the statement of R' Akiva 3 halakhot. Learn from it that the removal of leavened bread can be performed only by means of burning. R' Akiva bases his opinion on the fact that it is prohibited to kindle a fire on the Festival. And second, learn from it that the prohibition against kindling a fire on Shabbat was specifically singled out in the Torah to divide the various primary categories of labor and to establish liability for performance of each of them. The dissenting opinion is that kindling is singled out to teach that there is no capital punishment for performing that primary category of labor. And third, learn from it that we do not say: Since it is permitted to kindle a fire for the purpose of preparing food, it is also permitted to light a fire not for the purpose of preparing food, e.g., to burn leaven.
תנו רבנן: ״שבעת ימים שאר לא ימצא בבתיכם״. מה תלמוד לומר? והלא כבר נאמר: ״לא יראה לך שאר [ולא יראה לך חמץ] בכל גבלך״!
A baraita states: “7 days leaven should not be found in your houses” (Exodus 12:19). To what purpose does the verse state this prohibition? Wasn’t it already stated: “And no leaven should be seen with you, neither should there be leavened bread seen with you, in all your borders” (Exodus 13:7)?
לפי שנאמר: ״לא יראה לך שאר״ — שלך אי אתה רואה, אבל אתה רואה של אחרים ושל גבוה. יכול יטמין ויקבל פקדונות מן הגוי — תלמוד לומר ״לא ימצא״.
The baraita answers: Because it is stated: “And no leaven should be seen with you,” which teaches that your own leaven you may not see, but you may see leaven that belongs to others, i.e., non-Jews, and leaven consecrated to God. In light of this halakha, I might have thought that one may conceal leaven in one’s home or accept deposits of leaven from a non-Jew. Therefore, the verse states: “should not be found,” meaning that one may not retain any type of leaven in one’s house at all.