The Kitniyot Liberation Front

By Louis Gordon The history of Jewish law is often viewed as a steady progression of safeguards—"fences" constructed to protect the core of the Torah. However, as Rabbi Israel Ariel of the Temple Institute compellingly argues in his work Lulav and Shofar on Shabbat , many of these fences have grown so tall over the centuries that they now obscure the very landmarks they were built to guard. To understand the "lost commandment" of sounding the Shofar when Rosh Hashanah falls on the Sabbath, we must move beyond exilic caution and rediscover what sages call Toda'at Mikdash —Temple Consciousness. The Historical Baseline In the era of the Second Temple, the arrival of the Sabbath never silenced the Shofar. As recorded in the Mishnah (Rosh Hashanah 4:1): "When the festival of Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbat, they would blow the Shofar in the Temple, but not in the countryside." This practice was a public declaration of spiritual supremacy. In the Sanctuary, ...

A Special Place No doubt about it, Har HaBayit is a special place. Up there you can feel His presence. Prayers are answered. For health, for parnassa, even for stopping Ehud Barak from giving away the Land of Israel to the murderer Yasir Arafat (really). But going up to Har HaBayit isn’t for our personal prayers. It’s for the glory of HaShem. So that Jews will ascend the mount in ritual purity each day. In an age when so many forget—or deny—that Har HaBayit is a Jewish place, an ascent to Har HaBayit is a testimony that I have not forgotten. I have not forgotten that the akeida took place on the Temple Mount. I have not forgotten the holiest ceremony of the year, on Yom Kippur, took place on Har HaBayit. I have not forgotten that all of our pilgrimage festivals culminated with a visit to Har HaBayit, not to Uman. I have not forgotten that the Shechina didn’t depart from the Kotel HaMaaravi—of the Heichal on Har HaBayit (not the exterior retaining wall). Nor have I forgotten tha...

It’s been 10 years since the Great Kitniyot Rebellion of 2007 when Rav David Bar-Hayyim issued his famous (or infamous) psak halacha that permitted Ashkenazim to eat kitniyot during Pesach.   Back then, most people were so preoccupied with the removal of kitniyot that the removal of chametz almost seemed like an afterthought. But as the Rav explained, kitniyot are the little things & we need to focus on the bigger issues . Over the last 10 years, many people have talked, written or blogged about eating kitniyot—or not eating them. Even the Reform and Conservative Movements have hopped on the kitniyot bandwagon. But until now, everyone has only cited anecdotal evidence.   In honor of the 10th anniversary of the Great Kitniyot Rebellion, Machon Shilo created an online survey (in English) about Pesach customs and kitniyot. Circulated via Facebook and popular Israel-based email lists, the survey was answered by nearly 150 people. While we can't claim that the...

Moshe received the Torah, but Yehoshua conquered Eretz Yisrael. Many of us were a bit surprised with the outcome of the Likud primaries. Two of the biggest supporters for Jewish rights on Har HaBayit, Moshe Feiglin and Tsippi Hotovely, received very low spots on the Likud list and it's unlikely that they'll be in the next Knesset. So what happened? The most obvious cause is that they were both victims of a hit list  put out by Bibi and his cronies. This probably had a number of components that included: Voting lists . Bibi's organization promoted lists of "kosher candidates" or pre-filled ballots that did not contain Moshe or Tsippi. These lists are designed to utilize all of your votes so that you only vote for approved candidates.  Phony deals.  Moshe and Tsippi were probably the victims of phony deals. Part of the wheeling and dealing of primaries is that the various "camps" agree to support each others candidates, or for a porti...

We thank You for the miracles, the bravery, the salvation, the wars and the redemption that You performed with us and our forefathers in these days at those times. In the days of our rebirth, the Arab nations gathered together to destroy, kill and erase the immigrants who returned from the bondage of exile to the Good Land. And they said: “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel shall no longer be remembered.” (Psalm 83:5) And You in Your abundant mercy stood with us in our time of trouble. You fought our adversaries, You passed judgment , You enacted our vengeance. You gave the many into the hands of the few and the evil ones into the hands of the righteous. “They are bowed down and fallen; but we have risen, and stand upright.” (Psalm 20:8) And You made yourself a great name in the world and for Your people Am Yisrael, You made a great salvation. And in the second month on the 5 th day, You removed the yoke of the nation from up...

Rav Eliezer Melamed is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Bracha in Beit El and is a prolific author on Halacha. His series of clear, yet comprehensive, Halachic works called Pninei Halacha are mainstays of baalei batim and yeshiva students alike. Chapter 9 of his Pninei Halacha: the Laws of Pesach has recently been posted to Scribd and it offers good news for chocolate lovers: Chocolate and candy labeled “Kosher for Pesach only for those who eat kitniyot"  are technically permissible even for those who do not eat kitniyot, because the kitniyot in  these products are added before Pesach and are batel be-rov.  In addition, these products generally contain kitniyot oils, which, according to several leading poskim, are not included in the custom to prohibit kitniyot. He goes on to write that kosher certification agencies label them as "Kosher for Pesach for kitniyot eaters" because "people are stringent". I disagree and believe that this is really due to...

The custom of Tefillin is very ancient, even predating the custom of kitniyot. In the USA, tefillin are commonly worn during Chol HaMoed. When making aliyah, most olim from the USA adopt the the "Minhag HaMakom", a.k.a. the local custom, and stop wearing them during Chol HaMoed. What makes this so interesting is that: Most olim continue to abstain from eating kitniyot during Pesach under pretense of following "Minhag Avoteinu", commonly understood as the custom of their parents, rather than the local custom.  Most olim adopt what they believe to be the local custom despite the fact that their Fathers wore tefillin during Chol HaMoed.  And this is the really interesting part--wearing tefillin is not actually a Minhag (custom), but a Mitzvah D'Oreitah, a commandment dictated by HaShem in the Torah.  Ironically, the first source in the Torah that commands us to wear tefillin has a Pesach theme: And it shall be for a sign for you upon your hand, a...

Section 453: Laws Concerning the Wheat and Concerning the Grinding of Wheat for Matzos Even if a person kneads rice flour and the like with steaming hot water and covers it with cloths until it expands like leavened dough, this does not mean that the rice dough has become leavened, but that it has decayed, and it is therefore permitted to be eaten on Pesach .

In last week's the Tzohar parasha sheet, they ran a series of articles on kitniyot. After an article by Rav Dov Lior and some Q&A, there was a fascinating article about Tzohar's efforts to bring some sanity--and some halacha--back to the kitniyot issue. Tzohar's Rabbinical leadership has been in touch with the Rabbanut and a revolution in Pesah labeling is on the way with more accuracy and less humrot that have no halachic justification (although they are popular in Haredi Judaism). They also took the Rabbanut to task for not enforcing its own psak from many years ago that ruled that canola/"liftit" and cottonseed oil are kosher for Pesah even for those who do not eat kitniyot. Tzohar concluded by saying the last year has witnessed the rise in power of the consumer. They call upon Jews who care about halacha to buy only from companies that have halachically accurate Pesah hekshers... not just during the seven days of Pesah, but all year long. Today I w...

On Sunday, the 13th Annual Temple Conference was held in Jerusalem. It was sponsored by the Temple Institute  and the Movement for the Establishment of the Temple. The day started with an ascent to the Temple Mount and a symposium at the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem that covered a variety of topics from a whos-who of Jewish leaders (and revolutionaries). The event marks 13 years since religious Jews began regularly visiting the Temple Mount in purity--and 11 years since my own first ascent in purity (which was followed by Ariel Sharon's ascent and the Oslo War). I learned many things, but here are just ten: Louis Gordon and Rav Hagai Yekutiel  It's always great to ascent to the Temple Mount. There's no escaping the feeling of holiness where you're up there and you always learn something new. This time, I learned that when the Arabs say "Allahu Akbar", you should answer "Amen." (Hat tip: Rav Hagai Yekutiel)  I feel especially grateful ...

It is recorded in the Gemara: Rebbi Avraham, Rebbi Yose, Rebbi Shlomo and Rebbi Ariel were walking along the colonnade on the eastern side of the Temple Mount, near the area closest to the Holy of Holies. As they walked along, Rebbi Yose came upon a carcass of a ben-yomo, a day-old bird, lying on the floor. Rebbi Avraham asked "What is the din [law]? Are we all ritually impure on Har HaBayit from contact with a carcass?"  Rebbi Shlomo said, "Just this week, we learned that contact with a carcass renders you impure, but this is only from a dead 'sheretz' such as lizard or salamander. But from a kosher bird, you are only impure from eating it. We can surmise that bird is kosher." Rebbi Ariel looked up and saw the swallows that had built a nest under the roof of the colonnade. "These are probably the birds of the ben-yomo. Listen and you can hear the chicks in their nest. We have no reason to believe the bird is not kosher. Praised are the words of Reb...

(To download the Al HaNissim prayer, go to  http://machonshilo.org/en/images/stories/files/Al_HaNissim_YA_YY_Revised.pdf ) As was the case last year, the observance of Yom HaAtzmaout is on the 6th of Iyyar although  the State of Israel was actually declared on the 5th of Iyyar .  The holiday was delayed so that the Memorial Day Services of the 4th of Iyyar could begin tonight--Sunday night--rather than Saturday night and preserve the sanctity of the Shabbat avoid the temptation to prepare for the various ceremonies or drive to them on the Shabbat.  If Judaism lends importance to actual date of an event, how can we reconcile the following issues: While Rav Goren zt"l ruled that the proper day should be observed, how can we separate ourselves from the public who observes the deferred day? When should we recite the Hallel prayer? Isn't the recitation of the Hallel a prayer in vain if we're not saying it on the day of the miracle? When do we add the Al-HaNissim...

Rav David Bar-Hayim responded to a question about eating kitniyot and quinoa: It is tragic that so many Jews have been bamboozled into avoiding foods that are both permissible and healthy. The good news is that it is simple to set yourself free. All that is required is a healthy determination not to be hoodwinked, a refusal to allow persons driven by commercial interest, fanaticism or a misconceived piety to distort Tora Judaism and recreate it in their own image. More from his tshuva: Peanuts may be consumed during Pesah even by those who choose to refrain from qittniyoth  (or are still working up the courage…). At some point in the 1960’s, a campaign was launched by certain individuals to ban peanut oil so that they could sell their four-times-the-price substitute. Rav Bar-Hayim was informed of this by a Rabbi from NYC who served his community for over 40 years. It was a scam for profit. Exactly 29 years ago Rav Bar-Hayim heard the very same opinion expressed by HaGaon HaRav ...

I just returned from another memorable trip to Har HaBayit b'kedushah. So many people were on Har HaBayit that we waited nearly an hour to go up. We had a group of more than 30 people with about 20 from a yeshiva in the holy city of Shechem. Many of the students were not so knowledgeable about the Temple Mount so I was honored with leading part of the tour. Their Rav added several drashot and explained how the Cohanim performed the priestly blessing (he was a Cohen... if you get my drift). In other news, this blog has had 3,000 page views in the last two weeks, clearly showing an increase in the quest for the "real deal" about kitniyot. The KLF really doesn't care whether you eat or don't eat kitniyot. Rather that you should realize that there simply a minhag from Galut that you should--or can leave behind in Galut--so that we can face the bigger issues that are ahead of us on the way to a complete Geula. May this be the last Pesah without Korban Pesah.

The Kitniyot Liberation Front was featured in today's online edition of the Ha'aretz "newspaper" (and I use that term generously). While I make it a practice not to visit the website due to its severely anti-Israel slant, the article is worth a read. The author is a recent immigrant from Germany and his frustration with kitniyot custom in Israel--and his own questions about the minhag lead him to write the article. Efrat rabbi tilts against Passover food restrictions for Ashkenazi Jews Others, unhappy with holiday legume laws, launch Kitniyot Liberation Front. ... A few week's ago, Rabbi Zvi Leshem, of Efrat, issued a ruling that it is permissible to consume products and dishes containing kitniyot, as long as they do not constitute the main ingredient and are not directly recognizable. His decision will help those who do not want to entirely abandon the tradition of avoiding kitniyot but have difficulties finding certain items - such as oil, mayonnaise or chocolat...

Question: My family made Aliyah from the States in August 2006. We are Ashkenazim. The following Pesach I asked the Rav of our Yishuv if we could eat Kitniyot as taking on the custom of Eretz Yisrael etc. and he said no. Are we bound by this answer and is there a way to change our minhag? I feel strongly about this issue. Answer: The system whereby Rabbanim become the Rav of a Yishuv/town/city in Israel is a political and bureaucratic process which, in my view, is neither Halakhically valid nor binding. See Rambam, Mishne Tora, Sanhedrin 2:11 (Vilna edition: 8). Even if this were not the case, a Rav is appointed Rav of the Yishuv and communal issues fall within his purview; one is not required to accept the Yishuv's Rav as one's personal Rav. The Mishna (Avoth 1:6, 1:15) states: "'Asse l'kha Rav", i.e. choose a Rav and follow him. Similarly, the Talmudh ('Eruvin 6b) states that one should not always seek out the lenient opinion, and one who does so is d...

One of the biggest "pieces of shtuth" is the additions to the whole kitniyot craziness. For many years, raw shelled almonds from Supersol were labeled "Kosher for Passover for Eaters of Kitniyot Only". This was pure craziness. Almonds grow on trees and can't become legumes. They were uncooked. The presence of legumes in the factory did not change them into legumes. It was simply an error due to misplaced zealousness. Fortunate this year, the label has been corrected. It is also fortunate that even for those who cling to kitniyot, there is light to disperse the darkness of shtuth. Rabbi Zvi Anshel HaLevi Leshem of Efrat (02-9309133) has written a psak about the halachoth of kitniyot for those who still cling to this custom of the galuth: 1. Some of the oils designated as "kitniot" or "only for those who eat kitniot" are permissible also to Ashkenazim (even according to the position which prohibits kitniot oil), such as peanut, soy, canola and ...

Although G-d parted the Red Sea, our tradition teaches us that Nachshon Ben Amminadav had to dive into the water before the sea parted. So what does this have to do with Har HaBayit? Everything of course. When you go to Har HaBayit on a monthly basis, it's never really convenient. And at times it even seems impossible to go. You're sick. Your spouse is sick. Or your kids, or your driver or even your car/horse. So you reschedule, and reschedule and reschedule and suddenly there are only a few days left before the end of the month. And so it was this month. After rescheduling twice, we finally set a date two days before Rosh Hodesh. On the big day, I woke up at 5:30 am, went to the mikveh with my son Yishai, and then to synagogue at 6. At 6:10, my son nervously informed me that our driver hadn't yet arrived at shul. I wasn't panicked. But minutes passed and I sent out my first of several SMS messages. No luck. Finally, I called him... and there was no answer. Then I st...