Kitniyos in the Modern World

Interesting article about Kitniyos and the bastardization of this minhag by continuously adding to the list of things we may NOT eat on Pesach, including, believe it or not, peanuts, which Reb Moshe Feinstein held very strongly were NOT included in the original chumrah as they had not been discovered when this chumrah was created.

And here's a comment or two I recently made about kitniyos:

The whole concept of kitniyos was because at THAT point in history there was an issue. Obviously there hadn't been before, and having an issue then did not mean there would be an issue forever. And adding everything ON TOP of legumes is even more ridiculous because then "ein ladavar sof..." Apparently the newest one is consider quinoa (pronounced kin-wa), which is basically a grass, as kitniyos as well. Personally, I don't eat quinoa, but MANY people do, especially vegetarians and vegans, and it IS a major staple in their diets upon which they've always relied on Pesach especially because it is NOT a grain OR a legume.

Further, one of the main reasons for Kitniyos is because people are, apparently, stupid enough to confuse them with chometz when cooked or ground into "flour" or might have, at some time, been grown next to fields of any of the five chometz becoming grains. Today, how much of this really applies? At least half the Jewish nation doesn't even abide by this custom (Sepharadim and Eidot Hamizrach). Also, there are SO many things we all eat today that COULD be misconstrued as traif (fake pepperoni on real cheese pizza, fake cheese on real meat subs at kosher Subways, "milchig" ground "meat," to name but a few of MANY). Mar'is Ha'Atin regarding food is no longer an issue, even though some hashgacha organizations prohibit the use of fake pepperoni on real cheese pizzas because of Mar'is Ha'Ayin. Strangely, the one here that provides hashgacha for the Subway and for a pizza shop prohibits the pizza shop from using fake pepperoni but allows fake cheese on real meat. I'm not quite sure I understand THAT contradiction.

Further, there's peanuts, which Reb Moshe Feinstein held to be fine for Pesach and are NOT kitniyos because as a minhag, the concept of kitniyos cannot be extended beyond what was originally prohibited. The same should apply to corn (maize) as well, as this was found ONLY in the Americas and were certainly NOT included in the prohibition of kitniyos. And what about sesame seeds, which are CERTAINLY not a legume, and yet are considered kitniyos as well. Same for canola.

And even better, I can make you chocolate chip cookies and lemon bars that are 100% Pesachdik (not that you would eat from my house as I'm quite sure you consider me to be a kofer, apikores, and traif eating) and you would not be able to tell the difference between those and the chametz ones I bake (and yes, they are all INCREDIBLY delicious and I've amazed many people with my chametz tasting baked goods - they certainly beat that Manischewitz and Goodman's crap they pawn off on people every year). And yet, there's no prohibition against those at all. Why not? Or what about matza "bagels" you can get from the Pesach bakeries. Sure they don't taste anything like bagels, but they are made to look like them and one could become confused by them. After all, the issur is because of MAR'IS HA'AYIN, not Ta'am B'Peh...

At the end of the day, Kitniyos was a prohibition l'sha'ato, and it became this uncontrolled monster. And what about, as I've mentioned, Sepharadim and Eidot HaMizrach? They DO eat kitniyos and never had an issue with it, yet Ashkenazim do not eat in their houses on Pesach. Are they eating Chametz? Is there even a Chashash of Chametz? Hell, no. Yet half of the nation is deemed by the other half to not be kosher "enough" on Pesach...

And what about Teimanim, who eat matza the way it was SUPPOSED to be eaten? Basically, they make pitas. Are THEY eating chametz? Is THAT Mar'is Ha'Ayin? Why isn't it?

It's really quite arbitrary, unfortunately.

And there's Kitniyos for you. Oh, and the GR"A (the Gaon of Vilna) believed there was a Talmudic source for kitniyos, which you may read by clicking the link above. The question with that is, if his observation were accurate, would not the Sepharadim and Eidot HaMizrach also have accepted this chumrah?