Ask The Rabbi
22 April 1997 
Issue #147 (Pesach)
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This Issue Contains:
1.  Pass Over the Peanut Oil
2.  What Isn't In a Name?
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                  Stay on top of Pesach with Ohr Somayach:
               http://www.ohr.org.il/special/pesach/index.htm
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Carol & Barry Stein <steinb@libertynet.org> 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 <davos@interlog.com> wrote:

>Dear Rabbi,
>
>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 Sefardic Jews are allowed to eat beans, legumes and rice on 
>Passover and Ashkanazic 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:
o  Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 453:1
o  Ibid. Mishna Berurah 6
o  Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Yabiah Omer 5:37:5

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Marsha from NYC asked:

>Dear Rabbi,
>
>Why is Moses' name not mentioned in the Haggadah?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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.

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