Daily Halacha Podcast - Daily Halacha By Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

Generally speaking, when a piece of forbidden food falls into permissible food, we apply the rule of "Battel Be'shishim," which means that we consider the forbidden food "nullified" if it constitutes one-sixtieth or less of the mixture. If the proportion of permissible food to forbidden food is 60:1, or more, we may consider the forbidden food null and void, such that the entire mixture becomes permissible for consumption. When it comes to Pesah, however, this is not the case. The Shulhan Aruch, following the position of the Rif (Rav Yishak Alfasi, Morocco, 1013-1103), rules that if a piece of Hametz falls into non-Hametz food on Pesah, the mixture becomes forbidden regardless of how small a proportion the Hametz constitutes. Hametz in even the smallest proportion – a "Mashehu" – renders the entire mixture forbidden for consumption on Pesah. This is why special care must be taken on Pesah to ensure that not even a crumb or tiny morsel of Hametz comes in contact with our food or utensils. However, this Halacha