The search takes place on the night of the 14th of Nissan — the evening that begins Erev Pesach. The word אוֹר here means "light" in the sense of nightfall, not morning. One searches by the light of a candle — not by daylight, not by torchlight, specifically a single handheld candle, which can probe corners and crevices that broader light cannot reach.
Any place where chametz is never brought does not require a search. The bedika obligation follows actual use — if chametz was never brought somewhere, there is nothing to find there. This principle defines the scope of the entire search: only spaces that had chametz in them need to be checked.
מַחֲלֹקֶת בֵּית שַׁמַּאי וּבֵית הִלֵּל: How Much of the Cellar?
A cellar where wine barrels are stored is a place where chametz is sometimes brought — but exactly how much of it must be searched?
Side Elevation of the Cellar — Barrels Stack Floor to Ceiling, Rows Go Front to Back
BEIS SHAMMAI
Beis Shammai
שְׁתֵּי שׁוּרוֹת עַל פְּנֵי כָל הַמַּרְתֵּף
A Γ shape (Greek gamma): the entire front column floor-to-ceiling plus the entire top tier running the full depth of the cellar back to back. Two rows — one vertical, one horizontal.
Side elevation — entrance at left · searched = red
front
row 2
row 3
back
ceiling
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mid
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floor
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← entrance · Γ shape: front column + full top tier
Only the top two tiers of the front column facing the entrance — the rows nearest the ceiling, nearest the door. Nothing deeper into the cellar, nothing lower down.
Side elevation — entrance at left · searched = blue
front
row 2
row 3
back
ceiling
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mid
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floor
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← entrance · top two tiers of front column only
Search (top 2, front only)
No search
The dispute per the Bartenura: Barrels fill the cellar floor-to-ceiling and front-to-back. Beis Shammai requires a Γ-shaped search — the entire front column from floor to ceiling (one vertical row), plus the entire top tier from front to back (one horizontal row). These are two rows in the shape of a Greek gamma. Beis Hillel requires only the top two tiers of the front column facing the entrance — the rows nearest the ceiling and nearest the door. Nothing deeper, nothing lower.
Pesachim opens not with the prohibition of chametz but with the act of searching for it — bedika precedes everything. The mishnah's governing principle is elegantly practical: you only search where chametz was actually brought. This limits the obligation to reality rather than theoretical possibility. The Beis Shammai / Beis Hillel dispute about the cellar is a debate about probability — how likely is chametz to have reached the inner rows? Both agree the search follows likelihood of use. The candle is the instrument of that search: intimate, directional, suited to corners. It is the right tool for a task that requires thoroughness, not speed.