1,093. The Smallest Volume of Chometz

Chometz u’Matzah 1:7

Eating even the smallest amount of pure chometz on Passover is Biblically prohibited as per Exodus 13:3, “Do not eat.” However, one is not liable to the penalties of kareis or a sacrifice for less than the designated volume, which is the size of an olive. If one intentionally transgresses and eats a volume smaller than an olive of chometz, he is given the stripes administered for acting rebelliously.

Chometz u’Matzah 1:8

It is prohibited to eat chometz beginning at midday on 14 Nisan, from the beginning of the seventh halachic hour of the day. One who eats chometz at this time is liable to the penalty of lashes for violating the Biblical prohibition of “Do not eat any leaven with it” (Deuteronomy 16:3), “it” referring to the Passover offering. Our oral tradition teaches us that this means not to eat any chometz at a time when the Passover offering could be slaughtered, meaning after midday on 14 Nisan.