Rice and Beans for Jewish Unity - In Defense of All Jews Eating Kitniyot on Passover

This is the sermon in which I say, as senior rabbi of Temple Israel of Great Neck, in front of hundreds of people from multiple backgounds, that all Jews, from all backgrounds, who consider me as a rabbinic authority in their lives are permitted to consume rice, corn and legumes (kitniyot) on Passover.

This is the sermon in which I describe how the custom (followed by many Ashkenazi Jews) of not eating these foods on Passover evolved and how, according to Jewish law, those who have followed this custom are free to change their practice if they so choose.

I’ll get there shortly.  But first I want to say why I think this issue is important.  It’s not just about rice and beans.  Several of my colleagues in the Rabbinical Assembly, whose recent response on the matter I’ll describe in some detail, indicated that one of their considerations in permitting everyone to eat kitniyot was a lack of sufficient healthy eating options on Passover, especially for vegetarians.  Great reason.  The addition of foods that many have avoided provides for a healthier diet during this holiday. 

Another reason given is that the holiday is supposed to be about joy; it’s not supposed to be about self-denial.  Another great reason.  We shouldn’t be suffering on Passover.  It’s not Tisha b’Av.  It’s not even Yom Kippur.  It’s a time of joy. 

A third reason they gave has to do with expense.  Failure to consume rice, corn and legumes helps the cost of kosher for Passover foods to skyrocket.  The holiday is not meant to be a financial burden.  Yet another great reason.

But the reason that is most important, in my view, is that we should do everything we can to remove unnecessary barriers between people – not to eliminate differences, but to remove impediments to people being together, eating together and celebrating together. 

While this is a lofty universal goal, we should start by trying to remove barriers that separate Jews.

In past weeks we have witnessed numerous, intense public statements that aim to drive wedges between people of different faiths and people of the same faith.


Exhibit A – a professor at Oberlin College who publishes lies about the Jewish people, shoring up the canard that Jews control the banks and a conspiracy theory linking the Jews to 9/11, designed to polarize and strengthen support for her anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic agenda.

Exhibit B – a presidential candidate whose statements and actions about gender, disability and religion are intolerant and offensive, designed to strengthen a toxic "us versus them" mentality, statements that, in the past, haven't landed well for minority groups, including the Jewish people.

Exhibit C – in Israel, the Minister of Health claiming that Reform Jews don't know a mikveh from a jacuzzi in an effort to discredit accommodations to Reform and Conservative practice that include making state-funded mikva'ot and the Kotel itself accessible for a range of Jewish practices.

All of these statements, and others, demonize in order to polarize.  All Jews, all Muslims, all Reform, all Conservative – are the dangerous "they" who threaten "us."

Fortunately, many people of all faiths recognize that such generalized characterizations constitute the deepest danger. 

The Jewish community has much important work to do in reaching out to people of all faiths who are willing to have a full, honest conversation about this danger.  I have spoken about the importance of dialogue with Christians, Muslims and those of other faiths and will continue to do so and to support such dialogue.

But today I want to do something concrete that I hope will help to remove some of the barriers that separate Jew from Jew.

So permit me, for a few moments, to talk about rice and beans.

The Talmud, edited roughly 1400 years ago, records that one rabbi, and one rabbi only, suspected that kitniyot  have the potential to become hametz, unfit for Passover use due to fermentation.  Everyone else disagreed.  Everyone else said that the only substances that can become hametz are wheat, oats, barley, spelt and rye.  The singular rabbi's definition was rejected.

In the 13th century in France, the custom arose of not eating legumes on Passover.  Why?  We don't know really know.  One modern rabbi, Rabbi David Golinkin (click here for a summary of his paper), suggested that the originators of the custom may erroneously have agreed with the single Talmudic rabbi who said legumes can become hametz.  

Two other rabbis, Rabbi Amy Levin and Rabbi Avram Reisner (click here for their paper), said that they surely knew it couldn't become hametz, but they were concerned that the rice and beans would get mixed up with flour that can become hametz, and therefore they forbade them from being eaten.

Several rabbis in the 13th century and subsequently called the custom a "mistaken custom" and even a "foolish custom."

All three rabbis – Golinkin, Levin and Reisner – believe that the circumstances that may have caused the custom to be adopted are no longer relevant and that the custom may be set aside such that all Jews, regardless of background, should be permitted to eat kitniyot on Passover.

There are certain guidelines from the Levin-Reisner Responsum which apply.  I'll be sending these out in an email to the congregation but I want to summarize them here:

1) Fresh corn on the cob and fresh beans (like lima beans in their pods) may be purchased before and during Pesah, that is, treated like any other fresh vegetable.

2) Dried kitniyot (legumes, rice and corn) can be purchased bagged or in boxes and then sifted or sorted before Pesah.  

3) Kitniyot in cans may only be purchased with Pesah certification since the canning process has certain related hametz concerns, and may be purchased before as well as on Pesah.

4) Processed foods, including tofu, although containing no listed hametz, continue to require Pesah certification due to the possibility of admixtures of hametz during production.

Now suppose you grew up avoiding these foods and after considering the nature of the custom, the reality that these foods are not hametz, and the various reasons offered for setting the custom aside – you still wish to continue to avoid these foods.  I don't think anyone should coerce you to change your custom. 

But it's important to clarify that you may eat foods that have been cooked with utensils and pots that came in contact with kitniyot on dishes that have in contact with kitniyot.

In other words, I am saying that for anyone who chooses to abide by the custom of not eating kitniyot on Passover there is no reason justified by Jewish law to avoid sharing Passover meals with those who eat such foods. 

As I mentioned earlier, the framers of these recent responses identified several reasons – cost, joy of the holiday, healthier diet – for permitting these foods to be eaten by all Jews – and they are all good reasons.

But the best reason, in my view, is the additional possibility of building bridges between Jews.  

Whether those raised to avoid certain foods will start to eat them, or whether they will continue to avoid them but nevertheless share meals with those who eat them, I'm hopeful that existing bridges will be strengthened and new bridges will be built.  

In our community for sure, blessed as we are by Jews who bring multiple traditions from many lands in which we have lived, we should do whatever we can toward that goal.

When Joseph's brothers went to visit him in Egypt, before they knew who he was, Joseph ordered his servants to provide them with food.

The Torah tells us, וישימו לו לבדו ולהם לבדם vayasimu lo l'vado v'lahem l'vadam.  Joseph ate separately from his brothers.  At that moment, they were not identified as family and did not eat together.

Brothers and sisters, I say to all of us today, on this Shabbat Zakhor when we recall threats from without and as we approach Passover 5776:  Let's not let a hill of beans (or rice) get in the way of family.  

Originally shared at Temple Israel of Great Neck on March 19, 2016, Shabbat Zakhor