[Avodah] kitniyot

Micha Berger micha at aishdas.org
Fri Mar 8 10:57:12 PST 2013


On Fri, Mar 08, 2013 at 10:48:48AM -0500, Zev Sero wrote:
> On 8/03/2013 10:33 AM, Micha Berger wrote:
>> but on shemen qitniyos (which some who don't use mei qitniyos permit, since
>> it won't mix with water)!
>
> How is that relevant? ...

Because the Melamed leHo'il OC 1:87 discusses those who disagree with
the Rama (OC 453; and the SA haRav also only permits hadlaqah, BTW).

The question is about sesame oil. Before dealing with oil, he discusses
sesames themselves. The MlH cites the Taz, who limits qitniyos to things
that grow in pods, and therefore wouldn't consider sesames themselves to
be a problem. So much for questions about quinoa, potatos, coffee, etc...

See also the Minchas Yitzchaq (3:138 os 2) on cottonseed and canabis oils.

Last, here's a relevent quote from the OU
<http://oukosher.org/index.php/passover/article/kitnios>:
    The earlier Poskim, including Rema, clearly indicate that oil
    made from kitnios is forbidden on Pesach, but some of the later
    Poskim suggest that such oil may be permitted because some of the
    original reasons for the minhag don't apply to the oil extracted from
    kitnios. It is generally accepted to follow the stricter opinion in
    this matter, but the lenient opinion is sometimes considered as one
    factor in a larger decision.

    Therefore, on Pesach one may not use corn or soybean oil
    (a.k.a. "vegetable oil"), and some do not use peanut oil either
    (see above regarding peanuts). Oil from olives, palm, coconut
    and walnuts are acceptable for Pesach use because the fruits they
    are extracted from is not kitnios. Minchas Yitzchok (III:138:2)
    suggests that cottonseed oil is kitnios, but in a subsequent teshuvah
    (IV:114:3) he reconsiders this position (see also Mikra'ai Kodesh,
    Pesach II:60:2); in the United States cottonseed oil is generally
    not considered to be kitnios but in Eretz Yisroel there are those
    who refrain from using it.

Ad kan on the new topic... Now again, note what they summarize about
new crops:

    Canola oil was first approved for food use in the United States in
    1985 and there are those who therefore suggested that it is a "new"
    item which shouldn't be included in the minhag, as per Iggeros Moshe
    cited above. However, the fault with this line of reasoning is that
    "Canola oil" is actually "Rapeseed oil" (a.k.a. colza oil) which
    has been used for centuries in Europe. ["Canola oil" is rapeseed oil
    specially bred to have less erucic acid (a suspected cause of heart
    disease) and therefore only this better variation of rapeseed oil
    is approved for food use in the USA]. In fact, Avnei Nezer (373 &
    533) and Maharsham (I:183) specifically mention rapeseed and its
    oil in their discussions of kitnios...

...
>> How did that ever get accepted as assur.

> It's an explicit Rama. He permits lighting kitniyos oil, not eating it,
> and his reason is that if it should happen to fall into the food it will
> be batel....

But add to the fact that there are cholqim on mei qitniyos, shemen
qitniyos in particular, and on adding things to the list of what crops
are qitniyos, and you're really piling on the chumeros in something that
is just minhag.

Thus my rhetorical (and mispunctuated) question.

-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "'When Adar enters, we increase our joy'
micha at aishdas.org         'Joy is nothing but Torah.'
http://www.aishdas.org    'And whoever does more, he is praiseworthy.'"
Fax: (270) 514-1507                     - Rav Dovid Lifshitz zt"l



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