Editor’s note: In 2016, the Conservative Movement ruled to overturn an 800-year ban on kitniyot, the legumes, corn and rice that observant Ashkenazi Jews typically remove from their homes before Passover. Some Conservative and Reform Jews had been happily enjoying kitniyot on Passover for years. Some began doing so once restrictions had relaxed. Others continued…
Last year, the Conservative movement issued a teshuva, or ruling, that kitniyot — i.e rice, beans and legumes, traditionally avoided by Ashkenazi Jews at Passover — are now permissible. For those who feel liberated by this decision (perhaps feeling that the dictum to avoid chametz is enough of a manacle), you may also be overwhelmed…
This year, the Passover menus of many American Jews may feature rice and beans — or even sushi — for the first time, thanks to new rules taking them off the list of foods forbidden during the elaborate meals prepared for the long holiday, which begins on Friday. Related Conservative Movement Overturns 800-Year-Old Passover Ban on Rice…
How do millions of Ashkenazi Jews react when, after hundreds of years, they finally get permission to eat kitniyot on Passover? We’re about to find out. Last December, the Conservative movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards approved a teshuvah, a Jewish legal ruling, permitting the consumption of kitniyot on Passover. Kitniyot — foods like…
The grand Passover themes of slavery and freedom resonate deeply nowadays, in the pleading eyes of Syrian refugees and the plight of the homeless on our streets. So I’m embarrassed to admit that what’s keeping me up at night is a Passover quandary much more mundane: whether to serve string beans at my Seder. My…
When is a legume not necessarily a legume? When it’s a min kitniyes, might be the Yiddish answer, which could be translated as, “When it’s a whatchamacallit.” And why is that? The week of Passover is a good time to ask. As the more ritually meticulous among you are aware, legumes — which is to…
Rabbi Shoshan Ghoori meets with South American farmers during quinoa fact-finding mission Jews around the world can breathe a sigh of relief: Quinoa is kosher for Passover. The Orthodox Union (OU), the world’s largest kosher certification agency, announced last week that it would begin certifying the popular food for use during the festival of freedom….
It’s time for the annual conundrum over kitniyot – legumes – a Passover legacy that has divided Ashkenazi Jews and those of Sephardic-North African origin for generations – and has been the source of vehement debates and no small share of humor. The prohibition against eating leaven on Passover applies to products made from five…
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