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PESACH READING SIXTH DAY Rabbi Anthony Manning Keeping our Fingers on the Pulse ome of the most defining aspects acceptance of the minhag and it remains principle ein mevatlin issur lechatchila of Pesach are its minhagim. halachically binding. – we don’t nullify a prohibition at the Through these family and com- outset – would mean that even small There is significant halachic discus- munity customs we personalize our amounts of kitniyot (usually oils) cannot S sion about whether kitniyot should be be deliberately added to a mixture. Most halachic practices and introduce a extended to include new foods which poskim apply this to Pesach products, unique flavor to a special chag. Per- were not known in earlier times, such which therefore carry a warning for haps the best known (but not always as potatoes, coffee and chocolate. There Ashkenazim – leOchlei kitniyot bilvad, most loved!) minhag is the Ashkenazi has also been considerable controversy only for those who eat kitniyot! Some practice not to eat kitniyot. With Jews as to whether the prohibition applies to Israeli poskim have suggested that, since from so many different cultures now kitniyot derivatives, such as oils, and to these products are made specifically for living alongside each other in Israel, this denatured kitniyot. One early contro- Sefardim, the added kitniyot may not minhag presents us with some special versy surrounding Rav Kook resulted be considered halachically “prohibited,” challenges. from his 1909 ruling which broadly and so these foods may even be permit- permitted sesame oil. This was strongly The Torah prohibits chametz on Pesach ted for Ashkenazim. This is indepen- rejected by the Jerusalem Rabbinate and all halachic opinions agree that cha- dent of the possible leniency for kitniyot but vigorously defended by Rav Kook. metz can only be made from the five oils, but it remains a minority position. Today, one reason for the different grains – wheat, barley, spelt, rye and kashrut certifications on products such Another delicate issue is what Sefar- oats. As such, pure kitniyot can never be as ice creams, margarines, mayonnaise di-Ashkenazi families should do. Most chametz. In fact, the Talmud (Pesachim and diet soda is the disputed status of poskim rule that a wife should follow the 114a) suggests that rice can be one of kitniyot derivatives, including citric minhag of her husband (Igrot Moshe the cooked foods on our Seder plate. acid, sorbitol and aspartame. OC 1:158). However, Rav Ovadia Yosef One of the earliest mentions of any rules (Yabia Omer 5) that while an Ash- For Ashkenazim, shopping for Pesach in issue with eating kitniyot is found in the kenazi woman adopts the customs of th Israel can be tricky. Most supermarkets writings of Rabbeinu Peretz (13 cen- her Sefardi husband, a Sefardi woman tury France). He records an “ancient” sell a wide range of Pesach products, in Israel may still eat kitniyot in her Ashkenazi custom not to eat kitniyot, many of which (usually the tastiest!) parents’ home, even if she marries an since these grains were often made into contain kitniyot. Unlike chametz, kit- Ashkenazi! cooked dishes or bread which people niyot which was mixed into food is nullified on Pesach, so the food will remain We will see how these questions could easily confuse with real chametz. kosher for Ashkenazim (Rema OC develop as more Jews return to live in Chametz grains might also be mixed in 453:1). There is a debate as to whether Eretz Yisrael, bimhera beYameinu! with kitniyot and inadvertently cooked the kitniyot must be less than a 60th of on Pesach. Even if the chametz content the volume of the food, but the Mishna is negligible, since chametz can never Berura (453:9) rules leniently that kit- be batel (nullified) on Pesach, such food niyot is batel berov. This means that so would be prohibited. long as the kitniyot is less than 50% of Although some Sefardi commenta- the volume, Ashkenazim can eat the tors regarded the custom of avoiding food. Rav Ovadia Yosef (Yechave Da’at kitniyot as excessive (Tur OC 452) or 5:32) ruled that although Ashkenazim even mistaken (Rabbeinu Yerucham may not eat actual kitniyot, they may eat calls it a minhag shtut!), the custom in a Sefardi home from plates that have nevertheless remained strong and was been used for kitniyot, even on that day. Rabbi Anthony Manning lectures exten- codified by the Rema in the Shulchan sively on contemporary halachic and However, this will not help Ashkenazim hashkafic issues and is Director of Mid- Aruch (OC 452:1). Since then, other who are looking for a tastier chocolate reshet Tehillah in Jerusalem. than occasional negative voices, such cake, since bitul – nullification of pro- th as the Chacham Tzvi in the 17/18 cen- hibited food – only applies if the kit- A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau tury, there has been uniform Ashkenazi niyot fell in accidentally. The halachic mizrachi.org/speakers 44 | .

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