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Kitniyot: Difference between revisions
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#*Kitniyot, qit'niyyoth (Hebrew: קִטְנִיּוֹת ,קטניות , קיטניות) (literally little things) are a category of foods defined by Jewish law and tradition which Ashkenazi Jews (Jews from Eastern Europe, Germany, etc.) refrain from eating during the Biblical festival of Passover. | #*Kitniyot, qit'niyyoth (Hebrew: קִטְנִיּוֹת ,קטניות , קיטניות) (literally little things) are a category of foods defined by Jewish law and tradition which Ashkenazi Jews (Jews from Eastern Europe, Germany, etc.) refrain from eating during the Biblical festival of Passover. | ||
#*The Torah (Exodus 13:3) prohibits Jews from eating leaven (chametz) during Passover. Technically, chametz is only leaven made from the "five grains": wheat, spelt, barley, shibbolet shu'al (two-rowed barley, according to Maimonides; oats according to Rashi) or rye, although there are additional rabbinic prohibitions against eating these grains in any form other than matzo. | #*The Torah (Exodus 13:3) prohibits Jews from eating leaven (chametz) during Passover. Technically, chametz is only leaven made from the "five grains": wheat, spelt, barley, shibbolet shu'al (two-rowed barley, according to Maimonides; oats according to Rashi) or rye, although there are additional rabbinic prohibitions against eating these grains in any form other than matzo. | ||
#*Among traditional Ashkenazi Jews, the custom during Passover is to refrain from not only products of the five grains but also kitniyot. Literally "small things," 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. Sephardi Jews typically do not observe the ban on kitniyot, albeit some groups do abstain from the use of dried pulses during Passover. | #The earlier Poskim mention that rice, buckwheat/kasha, millet, beans, lentils, peas, sesame seeds and mustard are included in the minhag <ref> Beis Yosef O.C. 453, Rema 453:1 & 464:1 and Mishnah Berurah 453:4, 7 & 11 </ref> | ||
#On the other hand, potatoes (see below), coffee, tea, garlic, nuts, radishes and olives and not treated as kitnios <ref> Sha’arei Teshuvah 453:1, Chayei Adam 127:7 </ref> | |||
#Iggeros Moshe assumes that peanuts are not kitnios but notes that some have a custom to be machmir. <ref>(O.C. III:63) </ref> | |||
#*Among traditional Ashkenazi Jews, the custom during Passover is to refrain from not only products of the five grains but also kitniyot. Literally "small things," such as other grains and legumes. Traditions of what is considered kitniyot vary from community to community but generally include maize (North American corn) <ref> Mishnah Berurah 453:4 </ref>, 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. Sephardi Jews typically do not observe the ban on kitniyot, albeit some groups do abstain from the use of dried pulses during Passover. | |||
#* for a list of kitniyot see http://www.kashrut.com/Passover/kitniot_list/ <ref>http://www.kashrut.com/Passover/kitniot_list/</ref> | |||
# Reason for prohibition | # Reason for prohibition | ||
#*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 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. | ||
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#*Jewish law is customarily quite stringent about the prohibition against even tiny amounts of chametz in the house during Passover, much more so than the regular laws of kashrut. Thus a tradition developed to avoid these products altogether, and this eventually developed into what most of the European Jewish community accepted upon themselves as a minhag, a legally binding custom. | #*Jewish law is customarily quite stringent about the prohibition against even tiny amounts of chametz in the house during Passover, much more so than the regular laws of kashrut. Thus a tradition developed to avoid these products altogether, and this eventually developed into what most of the European Jewish community accepted upon themselves as a minhag, a legally binding custom. | ||
#*While this practice is considered binding for Ashkenazim in Orthodox Judaism, these items are not chametz and therefore are not subject to the same prohibitions and stringencies as chametz. For example while there is a prohibition against owning chametz on Passover, no such prohibition applies to kitniyot. Similarly, while someone would not be permitted to eat chametz on Passover unless his life were in danger, the prohibition of kitniyot is not so strict. People who might be permitted to eat kitniyot include infirm people and pregnant vegetarians. Such dispensations are far more common in Israel where there is a large Sephardi population. | #*While this practice is considered binding for Ashkenazim in Orthodox Judaism, these items are not chametz and therefore are not subject to the same prohibitions and stringencies as chametz. For example while there is a prohibition against owning chametz on Passover, no such prohibition applies to kitniyot. Similarly, while someone would not be permitted to eat chametz on Passover unless his life were in danger, the prohibition of kitniyot is not so strict. People who might be permitted to eat kitniyot include infirm people and pregnant vegetarians. Such dispensations are far more common in Israel where there is a large Sephardi population. | ||
#halachot of kitniyot | |||
#*The minhag to not eat kitnios begins on Erev Pesach at the same time that one may not eat chametz (Shevet HaLevi III:31 citing Chok Yaakov 471:2 and others). 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. <ref> http://www.kashrut.com/Passover/Kitniyot/</ref> | |||
#*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 (Rema 453:1 as per Mishnah Berurah 453:9). 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. <ref> http://www.kashrut.com/Passover/Kitniyot/</ref> | |||
#modern application | #modern application | ||
#*Even where the prohibition of kitniyot was practiced, it was not without opposition. Some poskim went as far as to call it a "stupid practice" without basis. Others, including Rav Moshe Feinstein did not advocate abandoning the custom, but he certainly opposed the tendency to expand the list of forbidden kitniyot (see Igrot Moshe, Orah Hayyim 3. 63). | #*Even where the prohibition of kitniyot was practiced, it was not without opposition. Some poskim went as far as to call it a "stupid practice" without basis. Others, including Rav Moshe Feinstein did not advocate abandoning the custom, but he certainly opposed the tendency to expand the list of forbidden kitniyot (see Igrot Moshe, Orah Hayyim 3. 63). | ||
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#derivatives of kitniyot | #derivatives of kitniyot | ||
#*There is one product called "quinoa" (pronounced "kin-O-ah," or keen-WA) that is the subject of much discussion. Although quinoa resembles a grain, it is technically in the "goose foot" family, which includes sugar beets and beet root. As such, some rabbis (for example, Rabbi Heinemann of Star-K) permit its use even for Ashkenazim on Passover, while other rabbis do not. | #*There is one product called "quinoa" (pronounced "kin-O-ah," or keen-WA) that is the subject of much discussion. Although quinoa resembles a grain, it is technically in the "goose foot" family, which includes sugar beets and beet root. As such, some rabbis (for example, Rabbi Heinemann of Star-K) permit its use even for Ashkenazim on Passover, while other rabbis do not. | ||
; see further | |||
:http://www.kashrut.com/Passover/Kitniyot/ | |||
==Notes== | |||
<references/> | |||
