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Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement.

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Passover, also called Pesach Biblical Hebrew: : Ḥag haPesaḥ), is a major Jewish holiday, one of the three pilgrimage festivals, that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites' escape from slavery in Egypt.

Begins 15th day of Nisan and ends 21st day of Nisan (7 day – Israel and liberal Diaspora) and ends 22nd day of Nisan (8 day – outside Israel traditional Diaspora) on the Hebrew Calendar

Passover for the year 2024 starts on the evening of Monday, April 22nd and ends the 7 day festival at sunset on Monday, April 29th for Jews living inside Israel who follow the Biblical text. For Jews outside Israel the festival lasts 8 days ending at sunset on Tuesday, April 30th. For the Jewish calendar night begins before day, thus the holiday or festival begins on the sunset of the previous day.

Passover is a spring festival that begins in the months of March or April on the Gregorian calendar. Passover starts on the 15th day of the month of Nisan which is on the first night of a full moon after the northern vernal equinox (except leap months can make the festival start after the second full moon after the northern vernal equinox as in the year 2016).

The 7 or 8 day festival is one of the most important celebrations on the Hebrew calendar commemorating the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. It begins with families gathering together the first night (first 2 nights for many communities outside Israel) for dinner called seder (meaning "order" of "arrangement" in Hebrew) and ends 7 to 8 days later.

The Three Musketeers at the Kotel

The Three are Rabbi Yehuda Glick, famous temple mount activist, and former Israel Mk, and then Robert Weinger, the world's greatest shofar blower and seller of Shofars, and myself after we had gone to the 12 gates of the Temple Mount in 2020 to blow the shofar to ask G-d to heal the world from the Pandemic. It was a highlight to my experience in living in Israel and I put it on my blog each day to remember.

The articles that I include each day are those that I find interesting, so I feel you will find them interesting as well. I don't always agree with all the points of each article but found them interesting or important to share with you, my readers, and friends. It is cathartic for me to share my thoughts and frustrations with you about life in general and in Israel. As a Rabbi, I try to teach and share the Torah of the G-d of Israel as a modern Orthodox Rabbi. I never intend to offend anyone but sometimes people are offended and I apologize in advance for any mistakes. The most important psychological principle I have learned is that once someone's mind is made up, they don't want to be bothered with the facts, so, like Rabbi Akiva, I drip water (Torah is compared to water) on their made-up minds and hope that some of what I have share sinks in. Love Rabbi Yehuda Lave.

Legumes/Kitniyot : Dealing with a Cumbersome Minhag by Haim Ovadia-Can you Become Sephardic?

Legumes/Kitniyot: Can you Become Sephardic? (sefaria.org.il)

In the introduction to his Keter Shem Tov, R Shem Tov Gaguin laments the divisions, stemming from religious practices, which are tearing the Jewish People apart. He prays and wishes for a time when the rabbis will get together and find ways to bridge the gaps[i]. It seems that one of the areas where divisiveness is most evident is Pesah, especially among couples and families who come from different backgrounds. I would therefore like to address the issue of legumes on Pesah, per the request of many, and see if there are ways to ensure that our nation will not be divided over a bowl of lentil soup. So let us present the main question:

Are there special circumstances which will allow Ashkenazim to eat legumes on Pesah?

A: In order to answer this question, we have to examine the following points:

Did all Ashkenazim follow this practice at all times?
What is the reason for not eating legumes?
Does the practice include all Legumes or only those known at the time it was established?
Are there exceptions for individuals or communities?
Does it apply to legumes in all forms (liquid, porridge, flour etc.) or only to certain forms?
Can an Ashkenazi "convert" to Sephardic?
Can an Ashkenazi eat legumes or rice occasionally at a Sephardic household?

:Summary and Conclusion:

Let us now answer all the questions presented in this essay:

Did all Ashkenazim follow this Practice at all times? No. The practice started in Germany and slowly spread to Eastern Europe, despite the insistence of many rabbis that it is a nonsensical practice. The original Ashkenazi practice, in essence, is not to consider legumes and rice as Hametz. One whose ancestors did not come directly from Germany or Poland is not bound, technically, by this practice.
What is the reason for not eating legumes? There are several different reasons, a fact which points towards dubious origin of the practice. The original Ashkenazi practice, in essence, is not to consider legumes and rice as Hametz. One whose ancestors did not come directly from Germany or Poland is not bound, technically, by this practice.
What is the reason for not eating legumes? There are several different reasons, a fact which points towards dubious origin of the practice. The most plausible is that originally legumes were avoided on all Holidays, Shabbat, and Rosh Hodesh, because they were associated with mourning.
Does the practice include all Legumes or only those known at the time it was established? No. It included only species known at the time of the original decree. Potatoes, peanuts, soy, and quinoa are clearly not included in the practice. The inclusion of corn was a mistake, which stemmed from the misleading name Europeans gave corn: Turkish Wheat.
Does it apply to legumes in all forms (liquid, porridge, flour etc.) or only to certain forms? The original practice applied only to ground or porridge-form legumes. It was later extended to all forms of processed legumes, despite the opposition of leading scholars.
Can an Ashkenazi "convert" to Sephardic? Yes. Because of the great mobility and advanced communication today, the world has become a global village. One can choose to join a community or a family different than his original background.
Can an Ashkenazi eat legumes or rice occasionally at a Sephardic household? Yes. Based on all the sources mentioned above, it is preferable to let go occasionally of a questionable practice, which does not even have a status of a Rabbinical decree, then transgressthe prohibition of insulting or hurting another person.
Final Conclusion:
It is our hope and prayer that it will only be a short while before the religious leaders of Ashkenazi Jewry will be able to act with unity, courage, and concern for people's need, and put an end to the practice of not eating rice and legumes on Pesah. In the meantime, following the Sephardic practice, on an individual basis, is permissible for all the reasons mentioned above. In this manner, the practice is left intact, while people are able to find solutions to their personal needs.
May HaShem bless us with the ability to see beyond our differences,