QUESTION

A member of my shul wants to donate food to a food pantry that will be picking up during Chol HaMoed. Can they be mafkir (declare ownerless) the food and leave it on their porch for pick up before Pesach? My concern is that no one will know about the hefker (ownerless) status of the food—so does that really count as hefker?

ANSWER

I think that’s fine.

It is true that hefker cannot be done ba’lev (without any outward expression) (see Ran, Pesachim 1a, ד״ה ומהו), since devarim she’ba’lev einam devarim (unexpressed intentions are not legally significant). Nevertheless, taking the food out of the house, abandoning it, and stating (even just to one’s family) that it is ownerless should certainly count as hefker.

And even if it would not fully qualify as hefker, it would still count as bittul (nullification of ownership). Once bittul has been done and the food is out of the house, there is no obligation to check for it or destroy it.

This is really no different than taking a loaf of bread and throwing it into a dumpster. That might not formally be hefker either, but it works nonetheless.