Page 44 - HaMizrachi #28 Pesach USA 2021

PESACH READING SIXTH DAY

Rabbi Anthony Manning

Keeping our Fingers

on the Pulse

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

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