When the SD was little there was a cartoon character named Mr. Magoo. He went through life with his eyes closed. He was always about to fall off a cliff, fall into a ditch. Disaster as loomed that he did not see because he was oblivious. But at that last second, he would be saved. What does this have to do with searching for Chametz?

The Mishna on page 10-Rabbi Yehuda tells us there are 3 times we search. The evening of 14 of Nissan, the morning of 15 and afternoon. The Talmud presents the issue if the afternoon search is missed do we search until the last moment. The Rabbis say if you miss the last search in appointed time in the afternoon, do it until the last moment. Rabbi Yehuda disagrees. He says if you missed the afternoon search, forget it, dont bother. Leave it alone. His reason is that if you find something you might come to eat it.

Why the disagreement. The SD thinks this is where Mr. Magoo comes in. Rabbi Yehuda is telling you, if you miss the time, dont make problems, dont be so OCD, just leave it along. Hope for the best. Don’t worry. Just forget it and move on. The Rabbis obviously are not big fans of this approach, do the check until the last minute they say.

Just remember, despite going through life with his eyes closed, Mr. Magoo was just fine.