274 Safeguarding Chometz after the Bedikah
The chometz that was found during Bedikas Chometz should be put aside, sealed in the right way in a paper bag with the handle of the spoon sticking out, as per the custom. The halacha is that this chometz should be stored overnight in a protected place; this is not only a takana, eitzah tovah, just good advice, but it is actually a halacha that one must put it away in a manner that it will not be found and schlepped around the clean house by children or lehavdil, mice. One who is not cautious about this is actually violating a prohibition and defeating the purpose of Bedikas Chometz. This applies to the chometz that we find during Bedikas Chometz as well as to any chometz that we put aside for eating the next morning before the time limit to eat chometz. One certainly should not allow children to roam around the house with chometz after it has been thoroughly cleaned, and they should be explained the importance of this mitzvah and the value of their cooperation. Besides for this being good advice, doing otherwise goes against the grain of the halacha, no pun intended. The halacha is that from the time of Bedikas Chometz onwards, all chometz that still remains in the house has to be put aside in a way that it is protected from being found and scattered. So as not to forget tomorrow, it should be put in a place that is out of reach yet visible (or stored away but a reminder left in a visible area), so that we should be able to see it tomorrow on Erev Pesach and not forget to do Sreifas Chometz, burn it in its proper time before the deadline for Sreifas Chometz.