[Avodah] baal tosif?

[Zev Sero]

> On Thu, Mar 22, 2012 at 9:15 PM,<Saul.Z.Newman at kp.org>  wrote:

> is adding  something  to the k'aara for added  symbolism that some
> interest groups advocate [peace issues, gender issues,etc]   assur?

Surely not under any extension of bal tosif.  There is no requirement
for a kaarah at all, it's just a minhag; and there are various different
minhagim on what goes on it and how it's arranged; so how could there be
bal tosif?  If there is any shemetz issur, it might be under the rubric
of al titosh toras imecha.


>  what  about vegetarians  substituting a non-meat symbol for  zro'a?

That has a makor directly in the gemara.  One example it gives for the
two tavshilin are rice and beet.  (Even Ashkenazim can use rice, since
that tavshil is not usually eaten.)   And if you're having a milchige
seudah then perhaps it's best not to have a z'roa on the table, even
though it will be removed before the milchigs are brought out.



-- 
Zev Sero        "Natural resources are not finite in any meaningful
zev at sero.name    economic sense, mind-boggling though this assertion
                  may be. The stocks of them are not fixed but rather
		 are expanding through human ingenuity."
		                            - Julian Simon