Why the Ashkenazic prohibition on rice, corn, peanuts and peas? Is it because they’re not mentioned at all in the Bible (since they’re not native to that area), so better safe than sorry as far as kosher goes?
Religious insanity is pricey, no doubt.
Not exactly, but close. The prohibition arises from the principle of ma’arit ayin, “the appearance of the eye.” It refers to prohibiting a practice that is technically permitted but appears to an observer to be forbidden. For example, there’s no problem if, in walking on the Sabbath, one’s clothes get wet from water on the road. But you cannot hang them up to dry where others might see, because it might give the impression that you had laundered clothes on the sabbath, which is forbidden.
In this case, because legumes and corn can be ground up into flour, it might appear that one was using chametz during Passover, so they are forbidden for that reason.
I attended seder at Bob and Stephanie’s. As I was the only one who could really read Hebrew (and by that I mean sound it out from written letters, not actually understand what I’m reading), the only Hebrew was a few short blessings. The rest of the ceremony was in English. The meaning of every symbol and action was explained. We rejoiced that we were free and that Israel endures.
I bought Mountain Dew Throwback without a KP sticker. The label says sugar instead of corn syrup. That’s good enough for me. I did go to a different market (known for its large kosher section- complete with kosher butcher) for some of my Passover needs. For example, no other market in the area sells Fox’s vanilla and black cherry syrups.
Everything I bought was a choice. I could have just bought a sack of unsweetened cocoa powder and made my own treats. I have noticed that while KP cakes are wildly expensive, KP cake mixes are about a buck (and usually come with baking pan included). Sadly, they were out of mixes. Still, I could have bought a box of matzoh, or a can of matzoh meal and eggs and followed a recipe. I just find it to not be worth the time and trouble.
Finally, as others have said, I could just do without. Though it often seems like it, I do not actually need chocolate to live.
The only Jewish holiday I find depressing is Yom Kippur. You get to think about all the crappy and cruel things you’ve done to people over the last year. Plus, you get a long reminder about how death waits for us all. Positively cheerful.
Provided all ingredients were kosher, the process was kosher (that 18 minute water-to-baking rule, for example), and it wasn’t made on the Sabbath (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday) yes, that would be kosher.
Although there are some ultra-Orthodox who would still be dubious.
Where does the 18 minute time-limit come from? It’s not like they had watches back in those days to accurately time that sort of thing with. Is it a “modern” development?
A combination of a general observation that fermentation would begin at roughly twenty minutes after water is added to wheat flour, combined with a bit of numerology – the number ‘18’ has some significance in meaning because of the letters used to spell it.
No, no, no! The time limit of 18 minutes is how long the dough can be moist before it goes in the oven. And it need not be from wheat flour. /me munches on spelt matzah
Bread has two subclasses: Leavened (hametz) and unleavened (matzah). “Leavened” is defined in Pesach rules as grain that has been damp for 18 minutes or more, at which point it has begun to ferment.
Last Pesach I learned that corn is prohibited in Pesach in the Eastern European (Ashkenazi) tradition because of the stupidity of the Ashkenazi rabbis and the German language:
The English / German word for maize is Korn.
The German word for grain (wheat, barley, etc.) is ALSO Korn.
Fermented Korn is bad. Raw Korn may become fermented, therefore it is bad.
Therefore, maize being Korn is bad.
:dubious:
:eek::mad:
My first thought on reading this was: Holy cow, you were feeding the werewolves?
Yup, I’d be going to hell if I weren’t a buddhist. As it is, it’s yet another 15 minutes as a scorpion.
(I’d be careful using NT points to illustrate things having to do with Judaism. It can go horribly awry. I’d link the Dio pitting, but I’m afraid of having it rise from the dead.)
If the Seder is run such that the telling of the liberation from slavery is tedious, the people running the Seder should rework it. That’s the main point and, when done right, very engaging.
:j
Yom Kippur should be solemn but not to the point of depression. It’s the annual soul cleansing, the kapper - the lid closing up last year’s screw-ups and resolving to do better in the coming year.
Tisha b’Av on the other hand is supposed to be depressing.
ETA: I agree with Alessan. Sephardi food >>> Ashkenazi food.
Uh huh.
And this explains how the prohibition against legumes? The German word for peanuts is karley,maybe?
See: Why can’t you put cornstarch in your Passover cheesecake? - The Straight Dope
Well… I prefer to note that there is a talmudic decision that the seder should be conducted in the language of the participants. Thus, many of the ancient traditional readings are in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. And holding a seder in English (or the family’s native language) would be absolutely acceptable.
Of course, we’re now moving towards Friday night, so we won’t have posts from Jews who are sabbath-observant …
As someone who can’t keep kosher for more then 24 hours, I have much respect for those that can for a week (let alone year-round).
Tradition!
Respect.
^^This! 
We use this one, and love it. We often have very young (read: restless) children, so we do skip through much of it, but it’s a great melding of the traditional and the modern. I highly recommend it.
We had the displeasure of trying a shmurah matzo from the local Chabad one year. We love matzo. That was crap. <insert puking smiley>
We love, love, love Passover, and my husband’s not even Jewish. I love my Passover dishes, flatware and glasses. Every year I take them out I wish they could be our “everyday” stuff, but then I remember there’s a reason we keep them for this “special occasion” and it makes them even more special.
We don’t worry about buying things specifically marked as Kosher for Passover. We eat food made from fresh ingredients and that solves the problem right there. There’s nothing against an omelet with onions, mushrooms, spinach, broccoli or any number of ingredients that make it yummy. Hash browns aren’t forbidden. Slice up and orange or a banana and you’ve got a nice weekend breakfast. We also love matzo brie (but we do the sweet kind, as if it were a replacement for French toast).
I make macaroons from scratch (so easy and so amazingly delicious, you’ll never buy the canned stuff again). Tuna salad tastes amazing on matzo! Yum! Charosets, OMG! Baron Herzog Winery makes some very drinkable kosher wine.
Who doesn’t love Passover?
Homemade macaroons? Can you come live with me? I LOVE me some macaroons.
+1. That said, we nearly always cook from fresh anyway, so it isn’t really that difficult to keep the chametz from creeping in. We eat legumes (if it’s good enough for Rashi, it’s good enough for us) and really, it is not that hard to make eight days’ worth of food from nice tasty fresh fruit and veg. Man, I’m getting excited just thinking about lunch now. The only thing I really really miss is the beer. 
QFT!
18 minutes is also the amount of time it takes to walk a Roman mile and gets used as a standard time measurement in a lot of places.
but I looovveee Kol Nidre
I suspect my husband might object just a little to the living arrangement, but if you send your address to me in a PM I will figure out how to send you some. How’s that for a compromise?