Eating Kitniyot on Pesah

Eating Kitniyot (Legumes) on Pesach (English Summary)

Rabbi David Golinkin - responsafortoday.com/engsums/3_4.htm

Hebrew teshuvah - responsafortoday.com/vol3/4.pdf

Article in Voices of Conservative/Masorti Judaism - cjvoices.org/article/the-kitniyot-dilemma

[T]here 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.

"A Teshuvah Permitting Ashkenazim to Eat Kitniyot on Pesah"

Amy Levin and Avram Israel Reisner

Some Details of This Psak: 1) Fresh corn on the cob and fresh beans (like lima beans in their pods) may be purchased before and during Pesah, that is, treated like any other fresh vegetable. 2) Dried kitniyot (legumes, rice and corn) can be purchased bagged or in boxes and then sifted or sorted before Pesah. 24 These should ideally not be purchased in bulk from bins because of the concern that the bin might previously have been used for hametz, and a few grains of hametz might be mixed in. In any case, one should inspect these before Pesah and discard any pieces of hametz. If one did not inspect the rice or dried beans before Pesah, one should remove pieces of hametz found in the package on Pesah, discarding those, and the kitniyot themselves remain permissible. 3) Kitniyot in cans may only be purchased with Pesah certification since the canning process has certain related hametz concerns, and may be purchased on Pesah. 4) Frozen raw kitniyot (corn, edamame [soy beans], etc.): One may purchase bags of frozen nonhekhshered kitniyot before Pesah provided that one can either absolutely determine that no shared equipment was used or one is careful to inspect the contents before Pesah and discard any pieces of חמץ (hametz). Even if one did not inspect the vegetables before Pesah, if one can remove pieces of חמץ (hametz) found in the package on Pesah, the vegetables themselves are permissible. 5) Processed foods, including tofu, although containing no listed hametz, continue to require Pesah certification due to the possibility of admixtures of hametz during production. 6) Even those who continue to observe the Ashkenazic custom of eschewing kitniyot during Pesah may eat from Pesah dishes, utensils and cooking vessels that have come into contact with kitniyot and may consume kitniyot derivatives like oil (קטניות מי).

Dissenting Opinion - Kitniyot on Passover

Rabbi Miriam Berkowitz, Rabbi Micah Peltz, Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl, Rabbi David Hoffman, Rabbi Noah Bickart

Customs endure because religion is not always rational; visceral, emotional attachments to practice are an important part of the religious experience. Not eating kitniyot on Pesah may indeed be a foolish custom, but it has been part of Pesah observance for Ashkenazi Jews for centuries. It allows them to identify in the smallest measure with the Hebrew slaves, connects them to their ancestors, and makes Passover very different from all other times of year. Without a compelling ethical reason to change it, we think this practice should continue.