Kitniyot

Kitniyot are a category of foods which Ashkenazi Jews refrain from eating during Pesach.

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Definition

1. The Ashkenazic minhag is to avoid eating Kitniyot on Pesach, however, even Ashkenazim hold that one does not have to burn or sell one's Kitniyot. One is permitted to keep Kitniyot in one's home on Pesach.
2. Although some sephardic poskim say that it is preferable not to eat kitniyot, the custom among Sephardim is to eat kitniyot on Pesach.

Which foods are Kitniyot?

1. The earlier Poskim mention that rice, buckwheat/kasha, millet, beans, lentils, peas, sesame seeds and mustard are included in the minhag
2. Among traditional Ashkenazi Jews, the custom during Passover is to refrain from not only products of the five grains but also kitniyot, such as other grains and legumes. Traditions of what is considered kitniyot vary from community to community but generally include maize (North American corn) , as well as rice, peas, lentils, and beans. Many also include peanuts in this prohibition, and one source, the Chayei Adam, also includes potatoes in his list, although his opinion is not followed by any large or major groups.
3. Some common foods that are Kitniyot include: Beans, Black eye peas, Buckwheat, Canola oil, Chickpeas, Coriander, Corn, Fenugreek, Kasha, Lentils, Mustard, Peanuts , Rice, Sesame seeds, String Beans, Sunflower seeds.
4. On the other hand, potatoes (see below), coffee, tea, garlic, nuts, radishes and olives and not treated as kitnios

Quinoa

1. Some say that quinoa is kitniyot, however, if there's a medical issue one may be lenient to use it on Pesach.

Reason for prohibition

• From the Torah, only the five grains can become chametz and not legumes or rice.
• The Smak (Rabbi Yitzchak of Korbol) explains that products of kitniyot appear like chametz products. For example, it can be hard to distinguish between rice flour (kitniyot) and wheat flour (chametz). Therefore, to prevent confusion, all kitniyot was prohibited.
• The Beit Yosef (Rabbi Yosef Karo, 16th century, Israel) notes that since regular grains may become mixed together with kitniyot (apparently due to changes in crop cycles), one may inadvertently come to eat actual chametz.
• The origins of this practice are not clear, though two common theories are that these items are often made into products resembling chametz (e.g. cornbread), or that these items were normally stored in the same sacks as the five grains and people worried that they might become contaminated with chametz. It was also possible that crop rotations would result in the forbidden chametz grains growing in the same fields, and being mixed in with the kitniyot. Those authorities concerned with these three issues suggested that by avoiding eating kitniyot, people would be better able to avoid chametz. The Vilna Gaon (Hagaos HaGra, 453) indeed actually cites a novel source for this custom. The Gemorrah in Pesachim (40b) notes that Rava objected to the workers of the Raish Gelusa (the Exilarch) cooking a food called chasisi on Pesach, since it was wont to be confused with chametz. The Tosefos explain that, according to the Aruch, chasisi are lentils, and thus, argues the Gra, establishes the basis for the concern of kitniyot.

Halachot of kitniyot

1. The minhag to not eat kitnios begins on Erev Pesach at the same time that one may not eat chametz . Although one may not eat kitnios, one may own and derive benefit from kitnios. Therefore, on Pesach one may keep cans of sweet corn in their property or feed millet to their parrot. Additionally, children, people who are ill, and people whose diet is otherwise restricted and must eat kitnios, are excluded from the minhag and may do so after consulting with a Rav. This halacha is quite relevant to baby formulas and nutritional supplements (e.g. Ensure) which invariably contain kitnios, and are usually used by people who have few non-kitnios choices, if any. When such foods are used on Pesach they should be prepared in special non-Pesach and non-chametz utensils, which should not be washed with the Pesach dishes.
2. Some say that an Ashkenazi may eat food which does not contain Kitniyot but was cooked in pots that were used to cook Kitniyot.
3. Kitnios is batel b’rov, which means that if someone accidentally put kitnios into their Pesach food, the food is b’dieved permitted assuming the food contains more non-kitnios than kitnios . This means that although the food may have a pronounced taste of kitnios, the food is permitted (unless there are recognizable pieces of kitnios which haven’t been removed). Therefore, if a beverage is sweetened with aspartame made of kitnios shenishtaneh, even those people who hold that aspartame is forbidden (as explained above) may drink the beverage because the aspartame is batel b’rov in the other ingredients. Similarly, we have seen that there is a disagreement as to whether fenugreek is kitnios. Nonetheless, even those who follow the strict approach may consume maple syrup which is flavored with fenugreek (as it often is) because it is batel b’rov. Thus, although we’ve seen a number of disagreements as to whether certain foods are or aren’t kitnios, those disagreements are limited to one who wants to consume the actual item (or a hashgachah certifying someone else who is intentionally putting the ingredient into a food), but these disagreements rarely affect consumers.
4. Some say that new tablecloths which may have been ironed with clothing starch, which could be made from Kitniyot, should be laundered in hot water in order to remove the starch.
5. Some poskim say that if a sephardi wants to eat kitniyot but his custom earlier was not to then he should perform a hatarat nedarim.