Ask the Rabbi - Pesach Edition
| This issue is sponsored by | |
|
Dr. Daniel Farb Los Angeles, California Specializing in the treatment of eye diseases of the elderly |
Avi Dobuler Personal Licensed Tour Guide Groups - Families - Bar/Bat Mitzvahs - Senior Citizens Tour in Modern Mini-Van or Buses Tel: 972-2-997-5425 Cellular: 972-50-379073 Fax: 972-2-997-5421 |
Pass Over the Peanut Oil
Carol & Barry Stein wrote:
Dear Rabbi,Why, in the United States, at Pesach, is it OK to cook with peanut oil, but not to eat peanuts? We've tried unsuccessfully to get an answer to this question for at least 25 years. Now, having harnessed the power of the Internet, we eagerly await your response.
David Kaplan wrote:
Shalom, I have a question which as you can see concerns the 'laws' and traditions governing what one may eat during Passover. I cannot understand why Sephardic Jews are allowed to eat beans, legumes and rice on Passover and Ashkenazic Jews are not. This is not the same as eating pork or milk and meat obviously. I really find this a difficult issue to come to terms with. Please help. Thanking you in anticipation.
Dear Carol and Barry Stein & David Kaplan,
Kitniot is the Hebrew word for all types of legumes, such as peanuts, peas and beans, and cereal grasses such as rice and corn.
According to the Torah, kitniot are permitted on Passover because kitniot are not considered chametz (leaven).
But kitniot are similar to chametz in that they swell when water is added, and people often use them as a flour substitute. Furthermore, kitniot are often stored together with grain, and sometimes a bit of grain gets mixed into the kitniot. For these reasons, Ashkenazic Jews throughout the centuries have adopted the practice to refrain from kitniot during Passover.
Sephardic Jews, however, never adopted this practice. Therefore, they are allowed to eat kitniot, provided they check it to make sure there's no wheat mixed in. (For this reason, some Sephardic Jews also have the custom to refrain from rice, although they eat other types of kitniot.)
Now about peanut oil. Oil derived from kitniot no longer resembles chametz because it no longer swells when you add water. Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank, zatzal, a former Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, cites an opinion that kitniot derivatives are therefore permitted. Many people in the United States follow this ruling and use kitniot-based oil on Passover. Many are strict, however, and use olive or walnut oil. Sources:
- Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 453:1
- Ibid. Mishnah Berurah 6
- Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Yabia Omer 5:37:5
What Isn't In a Name?
Marsha from NYC asked:
Dear Rabbi,Why is Moses' name not mentioned in the Haggadah?
Dear Marsha,
To answer this question, let's look at the very first Pesach Seder in history.
After a full year in the desert, the Jewish People celebrated the Pesach festival. They offered the Paschal lamb and ate matzah and maror. But when it came time to tell the Pesach story, who did they tell it to? To whom did they relate the plagues and miracles, the Strong Hand and Outstretched Arm? Everybody was there! Everyone saw it with their own eyes!
Only one person had children who did not personally experience the going out of Egypt - Moses! Moses' two sons were in Midian during the Exodus. Moses, therefore, was the first person in history to relate the Pesach story to children who didn't know it first-hand.
As we know, "Moses was the most humble person on the face of the earth." Would you be surprised, then, if the world's humblest person omitted his name from the story, and instead he attributed all the credit to Hashem? This would then become a precedent for future generations.
- Written by Rabbi Moshe Lazerus, Rabbi Reuven Lauffer, Rabbi Reuven Subar,
Rabbi Avrohom Lefkowitz, Rabbi Mordecai Becher and other Rabbis at Ohr Somayach Institutions / Tanenbaum College, Jerusalem, Israel.
- General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
- Production Design: Lev Seltzer
- HTML Design: Michael Treblow
- HTML Assistant: Simon Shamoun
© 1997 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved. This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue newsletters. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission, and then send us a sample issue.
This publication is available via E-Mail
Ohr Somayach Institutions is an international network of Yeshivot and outreach centers, with branches in North America, Europe, South Africa and South America. The Central Campus in Jerusalem provides a full range of educational services for over 685 full-time students.
The Jewish Learning Exchange (JLE) of Ohr Somayach offers summer and winter programs in Israel that attract hundreds of university students from around the world for 3 to 8 weeks of study and touring.
Ohr Somayach's Web site is hosted by TeamGenesis
Copyright © 1997
Ohr Somayach International.
Send us Feedback.Dedication opportunities are available for Ask The Rabbi. Please contact us for details.
