One of the most famous rabbinical decrees is the prohibition of consuming kitniyos on Pesach. Although the prohibition itself is relatively unchallenged among Ashkenazim and the North African communities that accepted it, some aspects of it have become subjects of stormy controversies. One particularly bitter dispute regarding the use of sesame oil took place in Eretz Yisrael nearly a century ago, pitting some of the great Torah leaders of the time against each other.
The Rambam[ii] writes explicitly “But kitniyos such as rice millet and the like do not become chometz. Even if a person kneads rice flour with boiling water and covers it with cloth until it rises like leavened dough it is still permitted for consumption because this is not leavening but spoiling.”
The Gemara[iii] does quote a minority opinion of Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri who maintains that rice is also considered a grain but his opinion is not accepted as halachah — as the Gemara concludes[iv] “No one is concerned by the opinion of Rabbi Yochanan.”
The earliest source for the prohibition of kitniyos on Pesach is found in Rabbeinu Peretz’s emendations on the Smak[v]: “With regard to kitniyos … and the like our teachers observe a prohibition against consuming them on Pesach and that seems to be correct … My teacher Rabbeinu Yechiel used to eat white beans on Pesach … He would prove [that they are permissible] from the fact that even with regard to rice which Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri considers a species of grain with regard to chometz the Gemara states that no one is concerned by Rabbi Yochanan’s opinion. However it is very difficult to permit something which the practice has been to prohibit since the days of the early sages.”
Rabbeinu Peretz concludes that we should uphold the custom prohibiting all kitniyos not because they are actually chometz but as a gezeirah (rabbinic injunction) for the following reasons: (a) since kitniyos is a cooked food and grain is also a cooked food if we were to permit kitniyos people might become confused and permit grain foods as well; (b) there are places where people make bread from kitniyos and unlearned people might become confused and make bread from one of the five species of grain.”
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