The Kitniyot Liberation Front

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...

To the Neturei Kitniyos who are also defending the practice of observing an extra day of chag in Erets Yisrael, should note that the Chacham Tzvi wrote that: "...it would be forbidden for them to observe more than one day because of baal tosif. It is known that one who sleeps on the sukkah on Shemini Atzeret is punished by flogging and similarly on Pesach on who observes one additional day of holidy beyond the requirement of the mitzva has violated baal tosif."

Coffee beans are indeed kitniyot! They are seeds that are eaten and planted like any other bean (including soybeans or sunflower seeds). The Chacham Tzvi and the Yabetz said that coffee beans are definitely kitniyot, but no one says that they are forbidden on Pesah as everyone knows that when the minhag of kitniyot was adopted in the land of Ashkenaz hundreds of years ago, coffee was unknown and therefore not included under the purview of the minhag. In addition, everyone knew that anything else came along was not to be added to the list of kitniyot. Rav Bar-Hayim relates that Rav Shaul Yisraeli zt”l of Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav told him that he held this same reasoning for permitting the consumption of soybeans during Pesah.