The Silly Ashkenazic Rules Against Kitniot (Legumes) on Passover

As many of my friends know, I am a strong voice for the abolition of the Ashkenazic tradition of avoiding kitniot on the Jewish holiday of Passover. The word kitniot is roughly translated as legumes, but the foods which are forbidden include corn, rice, beans, and peanuts, as well as anything made with a derivative of these products. This is the reason why you find a number of Passover-only products in the supermarket... mayonnaise, chocolate, jellies and jams, and the famous one-week only non-corn syrup Coca Cola, to give a few examples.

The result is that while Sephardic Jews are making great traditional holiday dishes with rice and beans, Ashkenazic Jews are spending money hand over fist to make sure they don't get "corn syrup" Coke. Meanwhile, Ashkenazic Jews avoid rice and beans but will eat any number of ridiculous "fake bread" products -- matzo meal cereal, matzo meal cakes, even matzo meal bagels (!) -- which destroy the whole point of the holiday. We aren't supposed to be pretending to eat bread, we're supposed to be avoiding it.

When I was in college I began keeping Sephardic Passover rules, and I suggest all Jews do the same. To that end, my mother found this Talmudic Tshuvah straight from the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel. I hope that Jews who check my site and read this Rabbinical decision will put away the silly "matzo meal cookies" next year and have some Puerto Rican rice and beans instead for their seder meal.

Each year we receive many requests to send out the Tshuvah, concerning the eating of Kitniot on Pesach, of the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel--Vaad Halacha--written by Rabbi David Golinkin. The full version appears in Hebrew only. Below you will find the English summary. If you forward this to others, please be certain to cite the source. Please, keep in mind that this teshuva was written expressly for those in Israel. Kitniot products, outside of Israel, are rarely under kashrut supervision.

(Aaron's note: Do you care that Coca Cola with corn syrup is not under rabbinical supervision? Good, neither do I.)

Eating Kitniot (Legumes) on Pesach

Question: In light of the ingathering of the exiles, would it be possible to eliminate the Ashkenazic custom of not eating legumes on Pesach?

Responsum:

1) In our opinion it is permitted (and perhaps even obligatory) to eliminate this custom. It is in direct contradiction to an explicit decision in the Babylonian Talmud (Pesachim 114b) and is also in contradiction to the opinion of all the sages of the Mishna and Talmud except one (R. Yochanan ben Nuri, Pesachim 35a and parallels). It also contradicts the theory and the practice of the Amoraim both in Babylonia and in Israel (Pesachim 114b and other sources), the Geonim (Sheiltot, Halakhot Pesukot, Halaktiot Gedolot, etc.) and of most of the early medieval authorities in all countries (altogether more than 50 Rishonim!).

2) This custom is mentioned for the first time in France and Provence in the beginning of the thirteenth century by R. Asher of Lunel; R. Samuel of Falaise, and R. Peretz of Corbeil - from there it spread to various countries and the list of prohibited foods continued to expand. Nevertheless, the reason for the custom was unknown and as a result many sages invented at least eleven different explanations for the custom. As a result, R. Samuel of Falaise, one of the first to mention it, referred to it as a "mistaken custom" and R. Yerucham called it a "foolish custom".

3) Therefore, the main halachic question in this case is whether it is permissible to do away with a mistaken or foolish custom. Many rabbinic authorities have ruled that it is permitted (and perhaps even obligatory) to do away with this type of "foolish custom" (R. Abin in Yerushalmi Pesachim, Mamonides, the Rosh, the Ribash, and in any others). Furthermore, there are many good reasons to do away with this "foolish custom":

• It detracts from the joy of the holiday by limiting the number of permitted foods.
• It causes exorbitant price rises which result in "major financial loss" and, as is well-known, "The Torah takes pity on the people of Israel's money".
• It emphasizes the insignificant (legumes) and ignores the significant (hametz which is forbidden from the five kinds of grain).
• It causes people to scoff at the commandments in general and at the prohibition of hametz in particular - if this custom has no purpose and is observed, then there is no reason to observe other commandments.
• Finally, it causes unnecessary divisions between Israel's different ethnic groups. On the other hand, there is only one reason to observe this custom: the desire to preserve an old custom. Obviously, this desire does not override all that was mentioned above.

Therefore, both Ashkenazim and Sephardim are permitted to eat legumes and rice on Pesach without fear of transgressing any prohibition.

4) Undoubtedly, there will be Ashkenazim who will want to stick to the "custom of their ancestors" even though they know that it is permitted to eat legumes on Pesach. To them we recommend that they observe only the original custom of not eating rice and legumes but that they use oil from legumes and all the other foods "forbidden" over the years, such as peas, beans, garlic, mustard, sunflower seeds, peanuts, etc. Thus they will be able to eat hundreds of products which bear the label "Kosher for Pesach for those who eat legumes." This will make their lives easier and will add joy and pleasure to their observance of Pesach.

Rabbi David Golinkin

Read the article I wrote on this subject for GenerationJ.com here.