If a person who lives in the United States will be spending Pesah in Israel, what is the proper procedure for selling Hametz? If he appoints his local Rabbi to sell his Hametz, as is customarily done, his Hametz will be not be sold until after he had begun Pesah. After all, the Rabbi in New York, for example, sells the Hametz on Ereb Pesah morning in New York, when it is already late afternoon for the individual in Israel, well after the time the Hametz prohibition has taken effect. Is the Mechirat Hametz valid in such a case? Essentially, the question is whether the point of focus is the individual’s location, or the location of the Hametz. If the determining factor in Mechirat Hametz is the Hametz, then the sale in this case is certainly valid, since the Hametz left the Jew’s possession during the time of the prohibition. If, however, the determining factor is the individual’s location, then he violates the prohibition during the time when the prohibition had set in where he is spending Pesah, but the Hametz had not yet been sold by his Rabbi back home.
Optimally, a person should certainly sell his Hametz in the time zone where he will be spending Pesah, in order to avoid this question. If, however, a person sold his Hametz in his place of residence, and not in the time zone where he is spending Pesah, then the Hametz does not become forbidden after Pesah. The prohibition of “Hametz She’abar Alav Ha’Pesah,” which forbids deriving benefit from Hametz that was owned by a Jew during Pesah, is Rabbinic in origin, and is not a Biblical prohibition. As such, we may rule leniently after the fact and allow deriving benefit from Hametz that had been sold in this fashion. Optimally, however, as mentioned, one should sell his Hametz in the time zone where he will be spending Pesah.
There was once a case of a husband and wife who were spending Pesah on different continents. One was spending Pesah in the United States, whereas the other was in Europe for the holiday. In this case, they had to make two different sales. The one who remained in America for Pesah sold the Hametz according to the time zone in their residence in America, and the one who traveled to Europe arranged for the sale of Hametz in that time zone in Europe.
Summary: If a person is spending Pesah in a different time zone from his place of residence, he should have his Hametz sold in the place where he will be spending Pesah. If, however, he mistakenly had his Hametz sold in his place of residence, the Hametz is permissible after Pesah.
