Judaism is a complicated religion. Thousands of years of history and wanderings all over the planet have led to an accumulated wealth of traditions of all kinds. Some of these traditions or 'minhagim' became widely accepted after their innovation, a few disappeared altogether. One 1000 year old tradition has survived amidst huge controversy which continues today.

Sometime around the 13th Century, Rabbis in Franco-Germany added to the traditional list of forbidden Passover foods. Generally, 5 grains (wheat, barley, spelt, rye, oats) were said to ferment, creating 'hametz'. Only those are specified in Jewish Law to that date. But the Sages added a new category of forbidden food, calling them 'kitniyot'. This new category included rice, corn (maize), lentils, beans, peas, mustard seed, sesame, millet. We sometimes refer to this list as 'legumes' but that is not an accurate designation of the items in that list. Some traditions included potatoes!

Why was this stringency added to the Passover restrictions? Nobody really knows! There is significant discussion about kitniyot throughout the centuries and lots of controversial opinions. Rabbi David Golinkin, a modern scholar historian, mentions that 12 reasons have been suggested for this minhag.

Everyone acknowledges that kitniyot are not hametz! If they are not hametz, then what was the problem? Possibilities mentioned in the literature range from a visual resemblance of kitniyot to forbidden grains, proximity to grain in storage or processing these 'legumes', or an ability to grind kitniyot into a 'flour' which resembles forbidden flours.

But all this was not without controversy. First mention of the kitniyot tradition is by two French Rabbis of the late 13th Century. Rabbi Peretz of Corbeil mentions communities where they avoided kitniyot not because of fermentation issues but to avoid mistaking them for hametz because the preparation process was similar. (Some caterers today won't serve white creamer for coffee lest the diners think that dairy is being served with meat!) But another 13th Century rabbi, Samuel of Falaise, said that it was a mistaken custom.

Several ancient texts (Talmud, Tosafot) explicitly exclude kitniyot from lists of foods which ferment. The majority of 'early' Sages (before mid 16th Century) permit kitniyot. Maimonides explicitly states that rice, millet, beans and lentils cannot become hametz. There are many other rabbis throughout the 16th, 17th centuries who decried this tradition as mistaken.

So strictly did some take the prohibition on kitniyot that even in times of famine and plague in Germany, they were still not permitted. Meanwhile, on the Sephardic side of the Jewish world, this custom made few significant inroads over the same centuries and is today not part of Sephardic Jewish culture. Eventually, the discussion in Rabbinic circles focussed on whether it was even possible in Jewish Law to 'cancel' such a longstanding tradition even if it was considered a mistaken stringency!

Today, the dichotomy of opinion about kitniyot appears in several very interesting places; two examples will suffice.

Since the founding of the State of Israel, it has become a true melting pot for Jews from around the world. Within one generation, Sephardic and Ashkenazi men and women sought to marry and create Jewish homes together. To eat Kitniyot or to not eat Kitniyot became the question. Usually, the Ashkenazi partner welcomed the addition of all the Sephardic foods formerly forbidden.

Coca Cola and Diet Coke for Passover are a particularly interesting and thorny problem. Notwithstanding that kitniyot may or may not be prohibited, and derivatives of kitniyot may or may not be prohibited, Coke's high fructose derived corn sugar sweetener is replaced for Passover with cane sugar sweetener making it permissible. On the other hand, the aspartame in Diet Coke is a chemically altered derivative of corn syrup but is acceptable for Passover use only by some agencies and sometimes only for Sepharadim. It's a bit confusing. (https://www.ou.org/news/explaining_the_mysteries_of_kitniyot/)

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