Kitniyot, qit'niyyoth (Hebrew: קִטְנִיּוֹת ,קטניות , קיטניות‎) (literally little things) are a category of foods defined by Jewish law and tradition which Ashkenazi Jews (Jews from Eastern Europe, Germany, etc.) refrain from eating during the Biblical festival of Passover. “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halakhot and Halachah with pronunciation emphasis on the third syllable, kha), is the collective corpus of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law as well as customs and traditions. ... Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים Standard Hebrew, AÅ¡kanazi,AÅ¡kanazim, Tiberian Hebrew, ʾAÅ¡kănāzî, ʾAÅ¡kănāzîm, pronounced sing. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library of Congress. ... This article is about the Jewish holiday. ...

The Torah (Exodus 13:3) prohibits Jews from eating leaven (chametz) during Passover. Technically, chametz is only leaven made from the "five grains": wheat, spelt, barley, shibbolet shu'al (two-rowed barley, according to Maimonides; oats according to Rashi) or rye, although there are additional rabbinic prohibitions against eating these grains in any form other than matzo. Tora redirects here. ... Chametz or Chometz (חמץ) is the Hebrew term for leavened bread. The word is used generally in regard to the Jewish holiday of Passover. ... This article is about the Jewish holiday. ... Species T. aestivum T. boeoticum T. compactum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum T. timopheevii References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 For the indie rock group see: Wheat (band). ... Binomial name Triticum spelta L. Spelt (Triticum spelta) was an important wheat species in parts of Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times. ... Binomial name Hordeum vulgare L. Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a major food and animal feed crop, a member of the grass family Poaceae. ... Binomial name Hordeum vulgare L. Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a major food and animal feed crop, a member of the grass family Poaceae. ... Commonly used image indicating one artists conception of Maimonidess appearance Maimonides (March 30, 1135 or 1138–December 13, 1204) was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain and Egypt during the Middle Ages. ... Species References ITIS 41455 2002-09-22 Oats are the seeds of any of several cereal grains in the genus Avena. ... Rashi (1040-1105) (Artists imagination) Rashi רשי is a Hebrew acronym for רבי שלמה יצחקי (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi), (February 22, 1040 – July 13, 1105), a rabbi in France, famed as the author of the first comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Tanakh. ... Binomial name Secale cereale M.Bieb. ... Machine-made shmura matzo Matzo (also Matzoh, Matzah, Matza, Hebrew מַצָּה maṣṣā) is a Jewish food item made of plain flour and water, which is not allowed to ferment or rise before it is baked. ...

Among traditional Ashkenazi Jews, the custom during Passover is to refrain from not only products of the five grains but also kitniyot. Literally "small things," such as other grains and legumes. Traditions of what is considered kitniyot vary from community to community but generally include maize (North American corn), as well as rice, peas, lentils and beans. Many also include peanuts in this prohibition, and one source, the Chayei Adam, also includes potatoes in his list, although his opinion is not followed by any large or major groups. Sephardi Jews typically do not observe the ban on kitniyot, albeit some groups do abstain from the use of dried pulses during Passover. For other uses, see Maize (disambiguation). ... Species Oryza glaberrima Oryza sativa The planting of rice is often a labour-intensive process Terrace of rice paddies in Yunnan Province, southern China. ... Binomial name Pisum sativum A pea (Pisum sativum) is the small, edible round green seed which grows in a pod on a leguminous vine, hence why it is called a legume. ... Binomial name Lens culinaris Medikus Red lentils Lentils (Lens culinaris, Fabaceae) are lens-shaped pulses that grow on an annual, bushlike plant. ... This article is on the plant. ... Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, (the day after Schulzs death). ... Rabbi Avraham Danzig (1748-1820) is best known as the author of the works of Jewish law Chayei Adam and Chochmat Adam. ... Binomial name Solanum tuberosum L. The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a perennial plant of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, commonly grown for its starchy tuber. ... Languages Ladino also Judæo-Portuguese, Catalanic, and Shuadit Religions Judaism Related ethnic groups Ashkenazi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, and other Jewish ethnic divisions Sephardi Jews (Hebrew: ספרדי, Standard Tiberian ; plural ספרדים, Standard Tiberian ) are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula, usually defined in contrast to Ashkenazi Jews; frequently used...

The origins of this practice are not clear, though two common theories are that these items are often made into products resembling chometz (e.g. cornbread), or that these items were normally stored in the same sacks as the five grains and people worried that they might become contaminated with chametz. It was also possible that crop rotations would result in the forbidden chametz grains growing in the same fields, and being mixed in with the kitniyot. Rabbi David Golinkin in the Responsa of the Masorati (Conservative) Movement cites Rabbenu Manoah (Provence, ca. 1265) who wrote an opinion in his commentary on Maimonides (Laws of Festivals and Holidays 5:1) that "It is not proper to eat qitniyot on holidays because it is written (in Deut. 16:14) that ‘you shall rejoice in your festivals’ and there is no joy in eating dishes made from qitniyot".

Jewish law is customarily quite stringent about the prohibition against even tiny amounts of chametz in the house during Passover, much more so than the regular laws of kashrut. Thus a tradition developed to avoid these products altogether, and this eventually developed into what most of the European Jewish community accepted upon themselves as a minhag, a legally binding custom. Look up kosher in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Minhag (Hebrew: מנהג Custom, pl. ...

Even where the prohibition of kitniyot was practiced, it was not without opposition. Some poskim went as far as to call it a "stupid practice" without basis. Others, including Rav Moshe Feinstein did not advocate abandoning the custom, but he certainly opposed the tendency to expand the list of forbidden kitniyot (see Igrot Moshe, Orah Hayyim 3. 63).

Sephardic and Yemenite Jews generally do not accept the need for this minhag, and thus eat kitniyot on Passover. Some Ashkenazi Jews in Israel who have married Sephardic Jews adopt the Sephardic custom; this often occurs with Orthodox rabbinic approval - a noted leniency, since Orthodox rabbis usually hold that one may not reject the minhagim (customs) of one's parents. In light of the gathering of Jews of all ethnic groups back in the land of Israel, Masorti Jews, the Conservative movement in Israel, hold that all Jews living in Israel may safely abandon the minhag of refraining from kitniyot. In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Səfardim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) is a Jew original to the... Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים Standard Hebrew, AÅ¡kanazi,AÅ¡kanazim, Tiberian Hebrew, ʾAÅ¡kănāzî, ʾAÅ¡kănāzîm, pronounced sing. ... Orthodox Judaism is the formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts (The Oral Law) and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim. ... Kingdom of Israel: Early ancient historical Israel — land in pink is the approximate area under direct central royal administration during the United Monarchy. ... Masorti means traditional in Hebrew. ...

While this practice is considered binding for Ashkenazim in Orthodox Judaism, these items are not chometz and therefore are not subject to the same prohibitions and stringencies as chometz. For example while there is a prohibition against owning chametz on Passover, no such prohibition applies to kitniyot. Similarly, while someone would not be permitted to eat chametz on Passover unless his life were in danger, the prohibition of kitniyot is not so strict. People who might be permitted to eat kitniyot include infirm people and pregnant vegetarians. Such dispensations are far more common in Israel where there is a large Sephardi population.

Rav David Bar-Hayim and Machon Shilooffer a unique Orthodox approach. They hold that there is no binding custom on Ashkenazim in the Land of Israel as historically this was not the local practice--which is the essence of custom. Their Hebrew source sheet makes a very interesting read. In fact, in March 2007 (Nisan 5767 on the Jewish Calendar), he officially released a ruling of Jewish Law that all Jews in the Land of Israel are permitted to eat Kitniyot (see English Article and Hebrew Legal Ruling) Nevertheless, aside from a small group of his followers, the vast majority of Ashkenazim in Israel disregard this ruling and still refrain from eating Kitniyot on Passover. March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... Nisan (Hebrew: נִיסָן, Standard Nisan Tiberian Nîsān ; from Akkadian , from Sumerian nisag First fruits) is the first month of the civil year and the seventh month (eighth, in leap year) of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. ... Halakha (הלכה in Hebrew or Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish law, custom and tradition regulating all aspects of behavior. ...

See also

• Passover
• Halakha
• Kashrut (keeping kosher)
• Chametz

This article is about the Jewish holiday. ... Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halakhot and Halachah with pronunciation emphasis on the third syllable, kha), is the collective corpus of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law as well as customs and traditions. ... Look up kosher in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Chametz or Chometz (חמץ) is the Hebrew term for leavened bread. The word is used generally in regard to the Jewish holiday of Passover. ...

External links

• Etymology of "kitniyot"
• All about Kitniyot (legumes) on Chabad.org
• The Kiniyot Liberation Front
• Machon Shilo
• Kitniyos Defense League