Kitniyot and Pesach
Norman Loberant
During Passover Norman Loberant gave a thought provoking drasha on the subject of kitniyot (legumes). For those who missed it the drasha it is reproduced below.
It is Pesach and it is time for large and important subjects- slavery, freedom, leadership.
Let's talk about food.
I told an orthodox friend of mine that I needed to prepare a drasha for the Friday of cholomo'ed Pesach and he told me that the parasha spoke about the laws of kashrut.
And I told him an old joke which goes:
God says to the people: Thou shalt not cook a kid in his mother's milk.
And the people said-"Oh, then we need to eat milk and meat separately ."
And God says again: Thou shalt not cook a kid in his mother's milk.
And the people said- "Oh, then we need two sets of dishes for milk and meat, and two sinks and two dishwashers."
And God says again: Thou shalt not cook a kid in his mother's milk.
And the people said- "Oh, then we need to drink milk only six hours after we eat meat. '
And God says: Oh, never mind :...do whatever you want.
Now my friend didn't find this funny, and he explained why.
He said this law is so important that it is mentioned 3 times in the bible. That is why our sages added more and more complex layers over many years. Commentators have suggested that the humanitarianism of this injunction was probably counter to certain barbaric and superstitious practices of the time among other contemporary cultures.
My friend also explained that the laws of milk and meat are special, because in and of themselves, each of these food products can be perfectly kosher- it is only their combination that makes them non-kosher.
The issue of chametz is very similar. Chametz-leavened food made from the five grains (wheat , barley , spelt, rye, oats) in and of itself is kosher almost all year round, 95% of the time, but only becomes non-kosher at the time of Pesach.
These prohibitions based on time of year or proximity of one food to another are very different from the absolute prohibition, for instance, of pork, which is never kosher.
I wanted to touch on another food issue which does not come from the bible or from the rabbinic laws, but from later times, and is unique to Pesach- the issue of eating kitniyot - little tiny things.
Unlike the laws for kashrut and for chametz, the tradition of not eating kitniyot does not originate in the bible or Talmud, but in France 700 years ago. The French sages decided that they should declare things chametz which could be confused with actual chametz, the actual grains which rise when combined with water. Grains of wheat are very small and can be pounded into flour. Rice is very small and can be pounded into flour. So let's ban rice at Pesach. Even some rabbis of the time denounced this additional sanction as foolish and mistaken- but it has persisted in Ashkenazi Judaism. And because it is a custom with no legal basis, these is not even an authoritative list of what constitutes kitniyot - among the offenders are corn, rice, soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, mustard, sesame seeds and poppy seeds, none of which is actually among the chametz grains.
Perhaps the time has arrived to dispense with this custom. In balancing remembrance of affliction with celebration of freedom, the observance of the custom of kitniyot detracts from the celebration; it causes unnecessary expense; it confuses the significant - chametz - with the insignificant - kitniyot - and most importantly, causes a completely unnecessary schism within the Jewish people to the point that Jews may feel uncomfortable at the seder table of other Jews even though they all follow the laws of Pesach!
We all decide the level of Jewish practice for ourselves and our families, but we must do this based on knowledge - and as a progressive Jew I think that just as society changes, people change, technology changes that also our practice of Judaism can change and evolve. We are guided by the bible, by later commentaries, and by the customs we have learned and gotten used to, but we are also free and intelligent people.
Chag Sameach and Shabbat shalom
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