811. The Text of the Contract
114:13 A person must be careful not to have any benefit after Pesach from the chometz of a Jew who is suspected of not selling it properly. A sample contract for selling one's chometz is as follows:
I, the undersigned, have sold to the non-Jew (name of buyer) all the liquor that I have in the basement of the residence in which I live. This basement is in the north side of the property, the second one on the east. All the liquor I have there, whether in medium or large barrels, I have sold to the aforementioned with their containers for 220 gold pieces. I have also sold him the Arak that I have there in large bottles of approximately seven measures for five gold pieces without the containers, as well as the Slivowitz that I have there in a small barrel, which I have sold him for 12 gold pieces and 50 coins, including the container. I also sold him six empty barrels that had contained liquor and two large empty barrels with iron bands that are stored there for a total of eight gold pieces and 50 coins.
I have also sold to the aforementioned five bags of wheat flour that I have in the pantry of the residence where I live for 39 gold pieces, as well as all the chometz utensils that I have there, specifically the kneading troughs and flour boxes, for four gold pieces and 50 coins. I have also sold him barley in a small bag that I have there, for one gold piece and 50 coins, including the bag. I received from him a deposit of ten gold pieces, the remainder of which I am leaving with him as a loan. The due date is no more than ten days from the date given below.
I have rented to the aforementioned buyer the basement mentioned above and the room mentioned above for ten days, starting from the date given below, for four gold pieces. I received a deposit of three gold pieces and I am leaving the remainder with him as a loan to be paid to me no later than ten days from the date given below. Incidental to the property I rented him, i.e., the basement and the room mentioned above, I have sold him all the moveable objects mentioned above. I declare with complete sincerity that I have rented him the basement and the room mentioned above and that I have sold him all the moveable objects mentioned above through all effective methods of acquisition, whichever of which will effect acquisition according to our holy Torah as well according to the laws of the Kaiser and of the land without any possible objections.
The buyer has the right to treat everything mentioned above however he desires, to sell, to give as a gift, and/or to rent without any interference. He also has the right to immediately take all the aforementioned things to his house. Even if he leaves them here as they are, from this point on they are all the responsibility of the buyer. I bear no responsibility for them, even for loss through accident. I have given him the right of access through my yard and my house in order to get to the basement and the room I have rented him. Similarly, if he desires during the rental period to sell some of the moveable objects to a third party, whoever he may desire, to all of them I give the right of access. I have also given him the keys to the basement and to the room mentioned above.
This contract has been executed by the most effective methods according to the law of our holy Torah, as well as those of the Kaiser and of the land.
14 Nisan, 5634.
(Signed) Reuven ben Reb Shimon Israelovich
115:1 If the day before Pesach is Shabbos, then we search for chometz on the night of the 13 Nisan, which is Thursday night. After the search, we nullify the chometz by saying "Kol Chamira," just as we do at other times and on Friday we burn the chometz at the same time that we do on any erev Pesach. However, we do not need to say "Kol Chamira" then. Instead, we nullify it and say "Kol Chamira" on Shabbos after eating. (One must annul the chometz on Shabbos, even if he did so earlier, because he reacquired it through the bread that he retained for his Shabbos meal - Mishnah Brurah 444:10, 22.)