Question
Hi I have a question for someone who usually does NOT sell chametz gamur. They get rid of it.
The question is they have these cookies and snacks for the kids that they ordered from America. They’re expensive and hard to ship in. It won’t be finished in time and they feel it’s really chaval to get rid of them.
They are doing well financially but the cookies have monetary value and also are hard to get here, so do they have a heter to sell it along with the other things theyll be selling?
Answer
ב"ה
Shalom
There are two issues that need to be addressed here.
#1. Can one sell that which total Chametz ?
#2 If one has the custom of NOT selling his total Chametz, can he as a one time thing , sell Chametz Gamur? Or does it require Hatarat Nedarim?
Although, it is praiseworthy not to sell total Chametz, according to major poskim, one may even sell that which is total Chametz. ('ישיב יצחק חלק מ"ז סי' לב, פסקי תשובות סי' תמח:') .
Even those, who want to be more stringent in cases when there is total Chamaetz, where there is monetary loss, they allow the selling of Chametz.
On the second issue, if one has a custom and one year cannot abide by the custom, it does not require "Hatarat Nedarim", the annulment of the vows, since if someone doesn’t keep their custom only temporarily it is not considered the abandonment of the custom.
See:
ש"ך יור"ד סי' רי"ד: א, דגמ"ר שם, שו"ת שבט הלוי ח"ד סי' ל"א, שו"ת ישיב יצחק חלק מ"ז, סי' לב, מקראי קודש הלכות פורים (הררי, תשס"ג ), פרק א:יט ס"ק מ"ו.
Therefore, the cookies may be sold especially if there is monetary loss and there is no need for Hatarat Nedarim, if this is a one time thing.
However, if it's just an issue that it's a pity to throw the cookies away, I don't think that is a consideration. On the one hand that is what the Torah commanded us to get rid of our Chametz. On the other hand, you can share them with friends and finish them and not just throw them away.
All the best
חג כשר ושמח
