Kitniyot and Common Sense: R. Zvi Leshem's Guide

Rabbi Zvi Leshem, whose English article on Kitniyot I embedded here last year, has updated this article this real. Considering that the article was viewed thousands of times, it seems to have served a purpose and spoken to a real need. He takes a balanced, commonsense approach (which confirmed a lot of the ideas I began outlining here). There's a definite trend afoot - at least in Israel - for Ashkenazim to take a long look at the restrictions of kitniyot and take back much of what has fallen under its rubric in recent generations. The the article by R. Yehuda Fris that appeared in Tehumin (which can be found at the end of this thread) remains the most comprehensive guide in Hebrew, but R. Leshem's Hebrew and English articles are well presented and easily accessible. Without further ado:

Kitniot

מנהג הקטניות

The Biur Hametz Project

Last week, I posted about an idea for a project to change how we perform the mitzva of Bi'ur Hametz, namely, by giving it away instead of burning it and/or selling it. The project just got some momentum when Beit Hillel, a new Israeli rabbinical organization (of which I am a member) endorsed the idea in a press release. In Modi'in, I'm working together with a local charity organization to collect food for both Jews and non-Jews - goods that can be stored will be sold and distributed to Jews after Pesach, while items that would otherwise go bad will be given to needy non-Jews (specifically, asylum-seekers and refugees living in Levinsky Park in Tel Aviv) before Pesach. More info is available on the project FB page here, and info on local collection sites appears on this spreadsheet. To add another location, use this form.

Perhaps another post will address why I think initiatives like this are so important.

Here's the (Hebrew followed by English) text of the press release from Beit Hillel:

פרוייקט "ביעור חמץ"

השנה, במקום לבער את החמץ שלנו במדורה או למכור אותו לאדם שאינו יהודי, אנו מציעים להשתמש בחמץ לעשיית צדקה

כידוע, יש מצוה להשבית את כל השאור והחמץ מבתינו בערב פסח, ובכל קהילות ישראל המנהג נפוץ לבער את החמץ במדורה. עם זאת, לפעמים אנו שורפים אוכל שאפשר היה לנצל. כמו כן, לפעמים אנו מבערים דברים שאינם אסורים להחזיק בפסח – למשל קטניות לאשכנזים – אבל לא יחזיקו מעמד למשך החג. זאת ועוד, עינינו רואות שיש כאלה ששורפים שקיות ואריזות, שכמובן אינם "חמץ" ובכך מזהמים את האויר.

לכן, אנו מציעים לחבר מצוה למצוה ונשבית את השאור והחמץ מבתינו על ידי נתינתו לאנשים נזקקים בשני אופנים:

את החמץ שניתן לשמור עד לאחר החג אנו ממליצים לקבץ ולמכור באופן מרוכז במכירה הרגילה, כדי לחלקו לעניים לאחר החג (שהרי עבור העניים זהו הפסד מרובה ומותר למכור חמץ לכתחילה עבור כך).

את החמץ שלא יחזיק מעמד עד לאחר הפסח, ניתן לאנשים נזקקים שאינם יהודים אשר לא חלים עליהם האיסורים של חמץ בפסח. אנו קוראים לתרום את כל סוגי החמץ באופנים הנ"ל, ובכך "כל דיכפין ייתי וייכל."

בעיר מודיעין, ארגון "עזר מודיעין" יאסוף מוצרים שיחזיקו מעמד עד אחרי החג ויחולקו ליהודים נזקקים, כמו גם מוצרי חמץ שלא יחזיקו מעמד – לחם, אריזות פתוחות, וכד' – שיחולקו בערב פסח לנזקקים שאינם יהודים.

בברכת חג כשר ושמח.

The “Biur Hametz” Project

This year, instead of burning our hametz in a bonfire or selling it to a non-Jew, we propose using it for the mitzva of tzedaka.

As is well known, it is a mitzva to dispose of all hametz and leaven from our homes before Pesach. Throughout the Jewish world, this is accomplished this by burning the hametz in a large communal bonfire. Nevertheless, sometimes we burn food that could have been salvaged (and eating is considered a bona fide method of disposal). Additionally, we sometimes burn food items that need not be disposed of – for example, kitniyot for Ashkenazim – but that would go bad before the end of Pesach. Moreover, many people burn plastic packaging and bags, items which are not hametz but do pollute the air when burned.

Therefore, we propose combining one mitzva to another and disposing of our hametz by giving it to those who need it, in one of two ways:

We recommend giving hametz that would keep until after Pesach be collected and sold together in the regular way, and then distributed to the Jewish needy after the holiday.

Hametz that would not keep until after Pesach will be given to needy non-Jews, for whom the prohibition against consuming hametz on Pesach does not apply.

We recommend donating all of our hametz in these two ways, thereby fulfilling what it says in the Haggadah: “all who are hungry, let them come and eat.”

In the city of Modi'in, the "Ezer Modi'in" organization is collecting items that will last until after Pesach for distributing to needy Jews, and hametz items that will not last, like loaves of bread and open packages, which will be distributed to needy non-Jews on the day before Pesach

Best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday.

The Toulouse Killer and the Pastoureaux

I posted a theory about the Toulouse killer, connecting him with a massacre of the Jews in that same city in 1320, at the Times of Israel.This may be nothing more than a flight of my imagination, but on the off chance that there's something to it, and it somehow generates a lead on finding the bastard, I consider it worth putting out there.

Binary Beinart

I live in Modiin, part of what Peter Beinart calls "democratic Israel," the part of the Holy Land that he deems worthy of vigorous embrace. But I have a problem - my parents and two of my sisters live across the Green Line. Tomorrow I have a family simcha in Samaria the West Bank "nondemocratic Israel". If I were to take Beinart's recommendation seriously and, like some of Israel's most prominent authors, refuse to visit settlements, I'd miss the bris. Perhaps I can ask for a hetter, a special dispensation to visit the banned-lands.

Let me say that I agree with Beinart's central premise, even if I disagree with his narrative about how it came to be: it is untenable for Israel to assert its control over [insert territorial term of choice here] without giving its Arab residents a horizon of citizenship, be it citizenship in Israel or an independent Palestine. But there are many reasons not to adopt Beinart's approach to this dilemma, one of which relates directly to my present situation.

Beinart proposes to combining a boycott of most of post-1967 Israel with a vigorous embrace of pre-1967 Israel (plus East Jerusalem). This does not merely entail drawing a line through territories, but also through families and friendships. He wants to put 300,000 Jews in cherem.

Israeli society definitely has its political, geographic, and conceptual fault lines. but the intimacy of Israeli society makes it impossible to imagine an absolute division of the Israeli Jewish citizen body into two distinct classes, as deep as the disagreements might be.

Occupy Bi'ur Hametz

In a recent post at the Times of Israel, I wrote about a project to encourage Israeli Jews to give away their hametz to needy non-Jews before the holiday. I understand that there are charities that collect sealed foods to distribute to needy Jews after the holiday, and I think that's wonderful and certainly don't want to take away from that. I'm focusing on the hametz and/or other non-kosher-for-Pesach products that would otherwise go bad over the course of the week.

There are two components - a "sur me-ra" and an "aseh tov":
The first component is to prevent dangerous situations that develop when there are large public bonfires with kids running around (a long-standing pet peeve of mine), not to mention the fact that people burn things (like plastic bags) that are pollutants and need not be burned.
The second component relates to the fact that there are plenty of needy people in Israel who are not Jewish, and who unfortunately are often neglected - and in this the religious community is no exception. My hope is that enough momentum will be generated that different communities can collect and distribute this surplus hametz where it is needed and at their discretion - whether among Druze, Bedouin, African asylum seekers, etc.

There's a Facebook "event" whose purpose is to coordinate volunteers once a critical mass is achieved. Please feel free to "attend", share, and invite others.
https://www.facebook.com/events/336190776432921/

Hag kasher ve-sameah.

Footnotes and Toponyms

1. My first post on the recently launched Times of Israel contends that it was no coincidence that Iran and Israel were both represented at the Oscars.
2. Speaking of the Oscars and Israel's nomination, Arts & Letters Daily "picked" the review of Footnote that Shai Secunda and I co-authored. ALDaily is a big deal.
3. Some have asked about the lecture on translating Jewish toponyms that I gave at the recent conference of the Israel Translators' Association. I've uploaded the notes and presentation, but I have not had the chance to write it up more fully. The "Ethiopian" question is its own post, and I saw that the issue was discussed in a recent post at Seforim, which appeared after the lecture. Barukh She-kivanti to Targum Yonatan.

Tu Bi-Shvat Past

1. Someone translated and adapted yesterday's blog post into French. Pretty cool.
2. An article I wrote about the Israeli Rabbinate's policy on government-supervised milk appeared in the Jerusalem Post earlier in the week. Related links: my article on RMF, a chabura I gave about RMF's policy of "reluctant leniency," OU policy on government supervised milk, a recent panel discussion on chalav Yisrael, the Rabbanut's position paper on chalav Yisrael).
3. I made my Hebrew debut this week, for local shul publication. I translated an earlier essay on the mishna in Avot (3:7 - "What a beautiful tree!") which appeared here and here into Hebrew. 
4. A Tu Bi-Shvat seder I put together a few years ago is here. The phases of the seder correspond to historical celebrations of Tu Bi-Shvat.

Enjoy!

This Tu Bi-Shvat, Eat Fresh Fruit

[Adapted from this 2-year old blog post]

The celebration of Tu Bi-Shvat evolved over time. Originally it was nothing more than a demarcation line between two years’ worth of crops, with ramifications for the various tithes and contributions that must be made annually. It was not a holiday in any sense. But during the long exile, when few Jews were able to live in the Land of Israel, and the initial meaning of Tu Bi-Shvat became impracticable, many Jewish communities began eating fruits symbolically on Tu Bi-Shvat, imbuing it with certain sense of celebration. In the 16^th century, the mystics of Safed intensified the celebration, and an elaborate ritual meal was developed around the eating of the land’s produce. Tu Bi-Shvat has continued to evolve, especially after the Jews returned en masse to their ancient homeland over the past century, but the custom of eating the fruit of the land has persisted.

But for some reason, the fruit we eat on Tu Bi-Shvat is always dried. Growing up in the US, we celebrated Tu Bi-Shvat with dried fruits that, if they did not actually come from Israel, reminded us of Israel (for some odd reason, carob, bokser in Yiddish, always featured prominently, as though it were edible). If the point is to celebrate the fruit of the Land of Israel, why not eat it fresh?

The obvious answer is that the holiday takes place in the middle of the winter, when fresh fruit was often unavailable, especially in the cold countries of the Ashkenazic Diaspora. Moreover, drying was a way to make fruit more durable; it could last through the winter and also would not spoil in transit. As a rule, until modern times, the only way that a Diaspora community could obtain fruit from Israel for Tu Bi-Shvat was if it was dried. This is an example of a 'custom' born out of a very straightforward reality. Nevertheless, even with the advent of refrigeration and rapid transport, the old habit of eating dried fruit of Tu Bi-Shvat remained. So in grade school we suffered through the leathery bokser instead of enjoying fresh apples. It was part of the experience.

Here in Israel, the persistence of this custom takes on an even more ironic dimension. Much of the dried fruit available here is imported. On Tu Bi-Shvat of years past, marketing efforts have been made to encourage the purchase and consumption of Israeli dried fruit instead of relying on imports. After all, the original custom was to eat from the fruits of the Land of Israel.

But there is a much simpler solution: Eat fresh fruit! The custom to eat dried fruit was only because that was the only Israeli fruit available; it was never the ideal. So why not enjoy the good stuff?

There is actually precedent for this idea in rabbinic literature. Discussing the mitzva of bringing the first fruits to Jerusalem, the mishna (Bikkurim 3:3) states: "Those who were close brought figs and grapes, and those who were distant brought dried figs and raisins." When using fruit for a mitzva, it was better to use fresh fruit; however, in the interests of increased portability and durability, those who had a long trek could bring dried fruits.

There is a deeper level to this as well. Rabbi Kook (in Eyn Ayah) discusses how those who are "close" and those who are "distant" represent either two distinct spiritual states. “Closeness” is associated with the land of Israel and the fullness of the potential of Jewish existence, whereas “distance” is associated with an exilic Jewish existence that sacrifices its full flavor for the sake of durability and portability. The first group is associated with fresh fruit, and the latter group with dried fruit. Both are acceptable, but “fresh fruit” is preferred.

A little something to consider as you eat your Tu Bi-Shvat fruits, be they dried or fresh.

Segulah for Parnassah

It is now (in Israel, according to the Jewish calendar) Tuesday of the week that we read Beshalach. By now, many of you have gotten your reminder to recite "Parshat Ha-man" today/tomorrow.
Each year, I like to take the opportunity to remind readers that there is a much more ancient, pedigreed, and effective segula for earning a living. Read about it here.