When the Sale Is Performed
This year [5785, 2025] Erev Pesach falls on Shabbos. The poskim argue when the sale is performed and when the transfer of ownership takes effect this year.
Some say that just like every other year, one must sell his chometz to a non-Jew before the deadline to destroy it, i.e., on Friday at the end of the 5th hour, so that people don’t make a mistake in other years (זכור לאברהם ח''ג אות פ' ס''ק קי''ב, שו''ת מהר''ם שיק או''ח סי' ר''ה, שואל ומשיב ח''ו סי' נ''ה , ייטב פנים מודעים אזהרות לפסח דיני ע''פ שחל בשבת ).
Others say one can sell his chometz all day until the start of Shabbos. This is preferable because of the stores: if stores sell their chometz to a non-Jew, they certainly may not sell it to customers after the chometz sale takes effect. Doing so would nullify the sale, as it shows that the sale was just a mockery and a ruse. To enable stores to sell chometz after the 5th hour, it is better to make the sale with the non-Jew close to Shabbos (הג' מהרש''ם בדעת תורה סי' תמ''ד סק''ב, מהר''ם שי''ק או''ח סי' כ''ה ). This also allows one to include in the sale items that he buys after the 5th hour, avoiding issues of selling chometz he did not yet own.
When the Sale Takes Effect
Some poskim say one may perform the kinyan of the sale before Shabbos and have the sale actually take effect on Shabbos; it is not an issur of business on Shabbos since the problem with that is that one may end up writing, and here that is not a concern since he did the writing Erev Shabbos (שואל ומשיב ח''ו ס''נ, תורת חסד מלובלין ח''א סי' י''ג וי''ד, שו''ת מהרש''ג ח''ב סי' קי''ז ).
However, others hold that this is a problem of business on Shabbos and it should not be done (שו''ת רע''א סי' קנ''ט ).
The proper minhag
In light of the above, the proper thing to do is to perform the kinyan at the same time as every year to prevent mistakes in other years (above, 34) and stipulate that the sale will not take effect until a short time before Shabbos starts (שו''ת הר צבי או''ח סי' קכ''ו בשם הגרי''ח זוננפלד ). This ensures that the stores will not suffer a loss or make the chometz sale into a ruse. It also satisfies the opinion (above, 37) that one may not stipulate that the sale take effect on Shabbos due to the issur of business.
Hold on to the object until the kinyan takes effect
When the kinyan is performed in the 5th hour but only takes effect close to Shabbos, if the rav is also doing a kinyan sudar with the non-Jew, he must make sure to hold on to the non-Jew’s item until the kinyan takes effect to avoid the issue of “הדר סודר למריה ” (נדרים דף מ''ח ע''ב, הגרשז''א ).
Forgot to Sell Erev Shabbos
Some say that if one forgot to sell his chometz Erev Shabbos, he can sell it on Shabbos itself before the deadline to destroy the chometz. It is not an issue of business on Shabbos since he is only selling to save himself from the issur of chometz (חק יעקב סי' תמ''ד סק''ח, מ''ב שם סק''כ ). He should sell his chometz for money, not with a shtar, and he should not take the money in his hand (מכירת חמץ כהלכתו פ''ג הע' כ''ד).
However, others hold that he may not sell the chometz; he must give it as a gift to a non-Jew (פמ''ג סי' תמ''ד משב''ז סק''ה ) or make his chometz hefker and tell the non-Jew to acquire it (תכלת מרדכי, דיני ע''פ שחל בשבת אות ב').
Does One Need to Keep Two Meals’ Worth of Food?
Some say to write in the document of sale that the chometz needed for the Shabbos seudos is not included in the sale (הגריש''א הגש''פ ) so the owner can enjoy that chometz and also fulfill the mitzva of תשביתו with the leftovers (next week’s issue iy”H) – if the chometz belongs to the non-Jew, the Jew does not fulfill תשביתו (תשו ה"נ ח''ה ק''ט ). Nevertheless, it is reasonable that there is a clear assumption the Jew is not selling the chometz he needs for his Shabbos seudos, so he doesn’t need to write that explicitly (שו''ת שבט הלוי ח''ט קט''ו, שם ).
