JewsByChoice.Org

Note: I suppose what follows is something of an “unintentional” follow up to Yair’s last post! I hope that I’m not treading on his toes but this post has been brewing in my minds eye for a week or two, and I really wanted to get it out there.  

This is the first year that my wife and I are doing Pesach as an “us” and it’s been a real learning experience for me. You see when it comes to Kashrut (for Passover and otherwise) she historically has been much more observant than myself. She cleans, she foils and she eats a whole lot of matzah. Me on the other hand? Well to be honest I really haven’t done all that much in past years. I suppose for a few different reasons but the big one being that I was just too lazy to keep kosher in general. So when Pesach rolled around, I certainly wasn’t all that interested, nor committed to going that extra Pesach mile. All that to say that back home, I really didn’t do all that much, other than maybe attend a community seder. I certainly didn’t do any cleaning or follow any strict dietary regulations during the holiday period. However it’s a whole new ballgame here in Los Angeles and frankly I’m rather pleased about it.

My wife is a vegetarian and a couple of years ago (I believe after having spent a few years going by the Ashkenazi Pesach customs/standards) she decided to adopt the Sephardic Pesach standard as her own, which allows for the consumption of Kitniyot. It literally means “small things” and is a blanket term used to describe a variety of foods including legumes. Historically “some” Jewish communities (primarily Ashkenazi ones) created customs and prohibitions against the consumption of Kitniyot out of a fear that they might be contaminated by or confused with Chametz which are themselves viewed as unfit for consumption during Pesach by the Torah.

Basically I believe that her decision was/is rooted in the fact that if one doesn’t eat meat (including chicken schmaltz) and/or other animal derived food products, life can become painfully bland during Pesach. Whereas the Sephardic Passover dietary law rulings permit the use of kitniyot, which makes life easier for vegetarians and include.

small fleshless seeds of annual plants that an individual might ground into flour], and their derivatives in other products. Examples are: ascorbic acid, calcium ascorbate, caraway seeds, castor sugar, chick peas, citric acid, corn, custard powder, dextrose, dried beans, dried peas, glucose, green beans, icing sugar, lecithin, lentils, mustard, rice, sesame seeds, soya beans, soya products, starch, sunflower seeds, tofu, and their derivatives in food and beverage products in cooking during the Passover holiday. In practice, most - but not all - Sephardic communities eat products containing these grains and legumes and their derivatives during Passover

Source - Sephardic Passover Customs and Traditions.

Obviously things like tofu and lentils make life a lot easier as a vegetarian, so when I was dating my wife and she told me about her choice, it seemed logical enough to me. Now fast forward a couple of years to the present and I find myself thrown into the equation. Unfortunately (and despite my best efforts) I am not a vegetarian! Sure we keep a strictly kosher dairy kitchen which means there’s no meat ever prepared in it. But… I am definitely happy to feast on kosher chicken whenever the opportunity presents itself outside of the home, so her argument doesn’t quite fly when it comes to me.

One of the things Tamara and I agreed upon before my arrival to Los Angeles was that we were going to be setting the Conservative/Masorti rulings as our halachick standard and that’s something we’ve both been working very hard at sticking to. So as I’ve already mentioned, I’m not a strict vegetarian and although I’ve already committed to following the Sephardic standards with Tamara, I have been feeling somewhat guilty about it. Okay well, that’s until a week or two ago when I stumbled across the following Conservative Responsa from Israel.

Eating Kitniyot (Legumes) on Pesach

(OH 453:1)

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 Mishnah and Talmud except one (R.Yochanan ben Nuri, Pesahim 35a and parallels). It also contradicts the theory and the practice of the Amoraim both in Babylonia and in Israel (Pesahim 114b and other sources), the Geonim (Sheiltot, Halakhot Pesukot, Halakhot 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 halakhic 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 Pesahim, Maimonides, the Rosh, the Ribash, and many others). Furthermore, there are many good reasons to do away with this “foolish custom”: a) It detracts from the joy of the holiday by limiting the number of permitted foods; b) 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”; c) It emphasizes the insignificant (legumes) and ignores the significant (hametz, which is forbidden from the five kinds of grain); d) 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; e) 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 Pesah 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 Pesah. 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 Pesah for those who eat legumes.” This will make their lives easier and will add joy and pleasure to their observance of Pesah.

Rabbi David Golinkin
Approved Unanimously 5749

Source - Va’ad Halakhah VOl 3 - English Summaries

I totally respect individuals who choose to follow the Ashkenazi custom whether it be out of a sense of family tradition or a commitment to (what they feel is) fidelity to Halacha. However, I equally respect other individuals like us, who are willing to find ways to be flexible within tradition in a manner that (we believe) doesn’t flat out reject Halacha. Most importantly, despite the fact that (this year) Tamara and I were going to be following the Sephardic standard regardless of whether I stumbled across this Responsa or not. I’m glad that I found out that our choice is indeed within the halachick parameters we’ve set for ourselves. It is yet another example (showing me) that I am right where I should be Jewishly speaking.

Anyhow I just wanted to share this information with others in case anyone else found themselves in the same or a similar situation as myself.

And with that I wish you all a spiritually meaningful Pesach.

Avi