A Chometz Sale
17. There is a widespread custom to arrange with a Rav to sell one's chometz before Pesach and to rely on such a sale (ביאה"ל סי' תמ"ח ד"ה בדבר מועט ). Anyone who doubts this heter should be rebuked (שו"ת חת"ס או"ח סי' קי"ג ד"ה ולפי"ז ).
18. Nevertheless, some question this heter, even when properly executed (בכור שור פסחים דף כ"א ע"א, מחצ"ה סק"ד ד"ה וצ"ע ). This is especially true today, when the chometz sale sometimes appears insincere, and for several other reasons:
19. 1. It used to be that the non-Jew took the chometz to his house. Nowadays he just takes a stack of bills of sale; 2. It used to be that at the very least, the non-Jew had the key to the room. Nowadays, he is merely told where it is; 3. There is a dispute among the poskim if it is better to sell the room to a non-Jew (מקור חיים סי' תמ"ח סק"ט ד"ה וגם, ישועות יעקב ), or to rent it out to a non-Jew (נודב"י וחת"ס ), and each opinion questions the other method; 4. It used to be that the sales involved a smaller quantity, and if the non-Jew wanted, he could pay for it. Nowadays, chometz is sold in such great quantities that the non-Jew generally does not have the money to pay for all of it. It is doubtful that the non-Jew would get a mortgage from the bank if he really wanted to buy it all (עי' שו"ת אורי וישעי סי' קכ"א ותשובת הגר"ש קלוגר נדפס בשו"ת נאות דשא ח"א סי' ב' באריכות ).
Chometz Sale to Avoid בל יראה ובל ימצא
20. Due to all the above reasons and others, many will not include true chometz in their sale as an extra precaution to avoid transgressing בל יראה ובל ימצא . They will, however, sell questionable chometz, e.g., medicines, cosmetics, etc. They will also sell chometz to exempt themselves from bedikah (א"ר סי' תמ"ח, הגרשז"א הליכות שלמה פסח פ"ו דבר הלכה אות י"ג ).
21. Many rely fully on the sale and will sell true chometz if it is in a specific place and properly marked that it is sold to a non-Jew. There is certainly basis for this conduct.
22. Significant loss. Some will only rely on selling chometz to prevent a serious loss, as that was the original basis for this heter.
Factories and Stores
23. Factories, suppliers, wholesalers, and storeowners throughout the world sell all their chometz, relying on the early and recent great poskim who ruled that they may sell their chometz to prevent a serious loss (שו"ת אורי וישעי סי' קכ"א, ישועות יעקב סי' תמ"ח סק"ה ).
Whiskey
24. Even though there are those who hold that whiskey is not chometz since it only uses grain extraction (שו"ת פני יהושע ח"ב סי' ט'), the consensus of the poskim is that it is true chometz (שו"ת חכ"צ סי' כ, שו"ת שו"מ מהדו"ת ח"ג סי' פג, מ"ב סי' תמב סק"ד ושע"ת שם, שו"ת מנח"י ח"ז סי' כז ).
25. Some people who do not sell true chometz will still sell whiskey. This may be because it falls into the category of "serious loss" (ב"ח סי' תמ"ח ואחרונים ). Even though one bottle of whiskey – even an expensive one – is not a serious loss to a wealthy person, since whiskey is an expensive drink, people sell it with their chometz.
26. Perhaps another reason is that the institution of selling chometz was mainly for whiskey, as is clear from the Acharonim (ב"ח שם ). They had lots of whiskey stored before Pesach, which would constitute a serious loss. Since this heter was established for whiskey, the heter remains in place.
27. It should be noted that if one only has a bit of whiskey left in a bottle, that may not qualify for the heter to sell chometz, since it is obviously not a serious loss or a significant amount.
28. Duty free. One has to be careful not to buy whiskey in duty free at the airport in Eretz Yisroel, because they are not makpid to sell their chometz to a non-Jew over Pesach, unless they have a written document confirming they did sell. Even in the latter case, they often continue selling whiskey and chometz products to all their clients during Pesach, disqualifying any previous sale to a non-Jew (שו''ת דובב מישרים ח''ב סי' ד', תשובות והנהגות ח''א סי' רפ''ח ). Some don’t buy such whiskey till after Shavuos, the time that one can assume the entire stock has been replaced.
