Rotzeh B’kiyumo - Neighbor's Chametz

QUESTION: My non-Jewish neighbor’s Amazon delivery of cereal was delivered by mistake to my door on Pesach. My neighbor is away. Can I leave it on my porch until after Pesach?

ANSWER: Shulchan Aruch (OC 446:3) discusses a case where chametz that belongs to your non-Jewish neighbor was blown onto your property on Pesach. Shulchan Aruch writes that you are not permitted to leave the chametz on your property. Instead, you must take a stick and push it back into your neighbor’s yard. Mishnah Berurah explains that although this chametz does not belong to you, you are not permitted to leave the chametz on your property, because there is a concern you might come to eat it. For this same reason you are not permitted to pick it up with your hands even on Chol Hamoed. Instead, it should be pushed away with a stick. The same would apply to this delivery of cereal. You should push it on to your neighbor’s porch.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.