Here are some of the things I have heard so far about qitniyoth (legumes) both before and during Pesah:
Religious resident of Bet El B':
“I know so many Ashkenazim who eat kitniyot now. But, we're just not there yet.”
(In previous years, this same Jew was adamantly opposed to the idea.)
Religious resident of K'far Tapu'ah:
“I see the logic behind kitniyot being permissible during Pesah, and I will say so openly. But, I am choosing not to eat them for now.”
Religious woman of Iraqi decent in Jerusalem:
“There is no way I would consider marrying an Ashkenazi man,...unless he ate kiyniyot during Pesah,...then maybe I would consider it. What's Pesah without rice?”
Two friends at the beach:
“Hey, wait a minute! You're always talking about what a hard core Litvak you are. What are you doing eating tehina?”
“I eat kitniyos during Pesah.”
“Have you ever heard of Rav Bar-Hayim?”
“No, but I don't need a rabbi to tell me that the issur of eating kitniyos is stupid.”
When you read the Kitniyot Liberation Front's account of Pesah dining this year, hopefully, you will see allusions to the core issue which needs to be fully exposed and elaborated, eating qitniyoth during being only a minor issue:
Minhagei HaMaqom vs. Minhagei Avoth
(customs dependent upon location vs. those dependent upon ancestry)
After Jews are in Galuth (exile) for 2,000 years, accepting over time that they are unable to do many of the misswoth as they are dependent upon residing in Eretz Yisra'el and/or the Beth HaMiqdash (Temple) being in place, this is what happens. Focus is placed on only what they can do, and voila! Humrah upon humrah upon humrah.
As Jews accept that the issue of minhagei avoth was simply one of the various sociological and psychological methods employed for Jewish survival while in Galuth , and as more Jews return to their true Homeland, and seek out the authentic customs of Eretz Yisra'el, then Ahduth Yisra'el (Jewish unity) will truly begin to flourish.
Hag Same'ah!
Religious resident of Bet El B':
“I know so many Ashkenazim who eat kitniyot now. But, we're just not there yet.”
(In previous years, this same Jew was adamantly opposed to the idea.)
Religious resident of K'far Tapu'ah:
“I see the logic behind kitniyot being permissible during Pesah, and I will say so openly. But, I am choosing not to eat them for now.”
Religious woman of Iraqi decent in Jerusalem:
“There is no way I would consider marrying an Ashkenazi man,...unless he ate kiyniyot during Pesah,...then maybe I would consider it. What's Pesah without rice?”
Two friends at the beach:
“Hey, wait a minute! You're always talking about what a hard core Litvak you are. What are you doing eating tehina?”
“I eat kitniyos during Pesah.”
“Have you ever heard of Rav Bar-Hayim?”
“No, but I don't need a rabbi to tell me that the issur of eating kitniyos is stupid.”
When you read the Kitniyot Liberation Front's account of Pesah dining this year, hopefully, you will see allusions to the core issue which needs to be fully exposed and elaborated, eating qitniyoth during being only a minor issue:
(customs dependent upon location vs. those dependent upon ancestry)
After Jews are in Galuth (exile) for 2,000 years, accepting over time that they are unable to do many of the misswoth as they are dependent upon residing in Eretz Yisra'el and/or the Beth HaMiqdash (Temple) being in place, this is what happens. Focus is placed on only what they can do, and voila! Humrah upon humrah upon humrah.
As Jews accept that the issue of minhagei avoth was simply one of the various sociological and psychological methods employed for Jewish survival while in Galuth , and as more Jews return to their true Homeland, and seek out the authentic customs of Eretz Yisra'el, then Ahduth Yisra'el (Jewish unity) will truly begin to flourish.
Hag Same'ah!
5 comments:
There was rice at our Pesach table, for the Tunisian branch of the family.
Actually, the concept of minhag avot is due solely to 19th-century proto-Haredim, in response to the trends described in Rupture and Reconstruction. The Ashkenazim reasoned that the rise of Reform and the breakup of traditional geographically-defined localized communities - which together disrupted the transmission and retention of local custom - together permitted the wholesale invention of concepts not precedented in the Talmud. Fight fire with fire; if the Reformers break with tradition and modernity disrupts tradition, what better way to respond by inventing your own "traditions" too? Even better, you can cover your tracks and lie to everyone by saying hadash assur min ha-torah.
Until then, Ashkenazim believed only in minhag ha-maqom, and as far as I know, authentic Sephardim (not the Ashkenazified Haredized ones) also had only minhag ha-maqom.
I agree that the issur on kitniyot was temporary and unnecessary. From what I've read on the Machon Shilo website, it was also based on erroneous thinking. When we return to Eretz Yisrael, my plan is to...have hummus on Pesach! (I don't know if I can bring myself to have beans and corn, though; have been following no kitniyot forever, and it's hard to change.)
Thanks for everyone's responses.
So, Mikewind Dale, did you eat qitniyoth this Pesah?? ;-)
As RBH has said, "There is no hovah to eat qitniyoth during Pesah."
;-)
P. S. Sorry you missed my 7th of Pesah BBQ. Please let me know when you're in JM for Shabbath or at all.
There's no hovah to eat qitniot, but there is a hova to enjoy the Yom Tov. So I ate tehina.
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