Q&A: The Prohibition of Eating Legumes on Passover
The Prohibition of Eating Legumes on Passover
Question
To the honorable Rabbi Dr. Abraham, may he live long and well,
Hello, abundant blessings and all the best!
Almost 7 years ago, the Rabbi published his second column on the site, in which he focused on the rationale of the concern that leavened food might be found among legumes, and its halakhic validity (https://mikyab.net/posts/732).
However (as the Rabbi himself noted), there are several other reasons for the prohibition, such as the similarity between cooked legume dishes and grain dishes (which could lead to confusing them), as well as the concern that unlearned people will see that foods made from legume flour are cooked and baked on Passover, and will permit themselves to bake and cook with grain flour.
Assuming the Rabbi is familiar with these reasons, why did you reject them, and therefore hold that the prohibition stems from a concern (or a foolish custom) rather than from an ordinary custom?
With great appreciation,
A student at Ponevezh Yeshiva.
Answer
I explained it there. We do not invent decrees on our own. The similarity exists with other things as well. All the distinctions between green legumes and others, those that existed in their time and those that did not, indicate that the criterion is neither similarity to leavened food nor concern about leavened food. The fact that different commentators offered different explanations shows that these are all conjectures. In my view, the most reasonable conjecture is the concern that leavened food might be present among them. Even today people claim that such a situation exists. And that is what I discussed in the column.