What do peanuts, popcorn, and rice have in common? They are all part of the great Passover machlochet or debate. Some rabbi, at some point, likely living in medieval France, ruled that legumes including those listed above – and others like soy, lentils and beans – are forbidden on Passover. Labeled as kitniot, they became a sub category of wheat in the Ashkenazi (i.e. European Jewry) world.
Why? Well, no one knows for sure. Perhaps, they were stored in the same bags as wheat; perhaps they could be ground into flour like wheat, or perhaps for a reason entirely different. What is clear is that large swaths of the American Jewish community still hold by this custom. I know because my wife and I were once among them. That is before our gluten allergies got in the way and made it impossible to keep Passover otherwise.
The Conservative movement actually ruled a few years back that their adherents no longer need to abide by the laws of kitniot, and still many are reticent to give it up. That is the power of a machlochet, once on one side of the debate it is very hard to move to the other.
Another vigorous machlochet comes to a head this very Shabbat, namely is it Passover or not? Reform/Reconstructionist Jews generally observe only seven days of the holiday. This is what the Torah tells us, and thus what we follow. However, somewhere along the way, Jews outside of the Holy Land became unsure of when Passover and other important Jewish holidays actually started. So, they added an extra day. And, just like kitniot this became ingrained in the Jewish psyche, so much so that even at a time when we know exactly when the new moon rises over Jerusalem, the custom persists.
Here at Shir Shalom we split the difference – serving both challah and matzah this Friday night, and not continuing with the regular Torah cycle until next week, thus staying on the same reading cycle as the majority of Jews living outside of Israel. This is what is called in Hebrew, a machlochet l’shem shamayim, or a holy debate, one where all sides are respected as valid.
So, whether you eat or don’t eat kitniot on Passover, keep seven days or eight, we will still love you and support you at Shir Shalom.
Happy Passover, or just Shabbat Shalom, you choose.
Rabbi Alex