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Divorced Woman Returning to Sephardic Pesach Customs and Kitniyot

Question

I am divorced in civil court but have not yet received a get. Before I married I was Sephardi and kept all Sephardic customs, except that I followed my husband’s Ashkenazi customs for Pesach. Can I go back to Sephardic customs for Pesach? My daughter has always followed Sephardic customs and does not want to follow Ashkenazi customs, because her father was emotionally abusive and forced them on her. Can she follow Sephardic customs and eat kitniyot on Pesach?

Answer

Yes, you can go back to Sephardic customs for Pesach, and your daughter can follow Sephardic customs and eat kitniyot.

Sources

The Shulchan Aruch rules that rice and other kitniyot “do not come to be leavened, and it is permitted to make a cooked food from them” on Pesach. The Rema adds that “some forbid” them and that “the custom in Ashkenaz is to be strict.” This shows that avoiding kitniyot is an Ashkenazi custom. The basic halacha, which Sephardim follow, permits kitniyot. So following Sephardic practice means kitniyot may be eaten on Pesach.

  • Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 453:1 — rice and kitniyot do not become chametz and may be cooked and eaten on Pesach; the Rema records that the prohibition is the custom in Ashkenaz

Author

Rabbi Shay Tahan

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