ביטול

The word, ביטול, or nullification, has special significance regarding Pesach.

The Torah forbids us from having Chametz in our possession. A statement of ביטול is sufficient to remove this prohibition from upon us.

We are declaring that we have made ownerless or הפקר, any Chametz that we might have in our possession. The Rabbis added that ביטול alone is not sufficient and we must physically remove or sell to a non-Jew any Chametz that we may own.

We still do the ביטול declaration which would cover such forbidden foods that we have not taken into account.

Normally, we do ביטול at night after we search for Chametz, and again the following morning together with the burning.

This year is different because ערב פסח falls on Shabbat. We will do the burning on Friday and the ביטול on Shabbat when we are no longer permitted to eat Chametz. Yes, ביטול is a very important Pesach word.