Mihnag in The Haye Adam—The Case of Kitniyot on Passover
-
Simcha Fishbane
Abstract
Rabbi Abraham Danzig (1748-1820) was a leading posek in his day and wrote a number of authoritative legal works, including his two editions of the Haye Adam (1810 and 1818, respectively). His treatment of customs (minhagim) is of specific historical and contemporary interest. This discussion centers on one particular tradition, the prohibition against the Ashkenazi Jews to eat legumes (kitniyot) on Passover. Only the second edition of Haye Adam contains a chapter (klal) entitled “The Law of Things that are Prohibited because of Custom” and it is here that the topic of customs is greatly elaborated upon. The case of kitniyot exemplifies Rabbi Danzig’s understanding of minhag which motivated him to present an extended section on the laws of custom. This issue of kitniyot on Passover is, I suggest, an illustration of an exercise in rabbinical authority. The Haskalah and Reform movements of the eighteenth century constantly sought to contest rabbinical authority either explicitly or implicitly. The question can be posed: if there had been no opposition to the eating of legumes on Passover by groups opposing and challenging rabbinical authority would the rabbis have objected so vehemently? The non-Orthodox streams of Judaism challenged the prohibition of kitniyot (and with the contemporary reality in the State of Israel, where a majority of Sephardic Jews are permitted to eat legumes on Passover, and with the reasons for prohibition by the early rabbinical authorities no longer relevant today). Reality and conflict have once again impelled the rabbinic establishment to defend its authority. Based on Danzig’s approach, I conclude that the prohibition not to eat kitniyot on Passover, a religious custom, has been positioned within the codified laws of Passover with all their full authority, and no room for flexibility.
© 2018 by Academic Studies Press, Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Table of Contents
- ESSAYS
- Sociological and Anthropological Approaches to the Study of the Evidence of the Mishnah: A Call to Scholarly Action and a Programmatic Introduction
- Family Structure, Kinship, and Life Course Transitions: Social Science Explorations of the Mishnah
- Religious Holidays, Values, and Rituals: Mishnaic Perspectives
- The Poor and Their Relief in the Mishnah: An Economic Analysis
- Rabbinic Prayer in Dialogue with Priestly Ritual: Palestinian Talmudic Aggada
- Mihnag in The Haye Adam—The Case of Kitniyot on Passover
- The Evolution of the Orthodox Jewish Community in Cleveland, Ohio, 1940 to the Present
- An 1899 Postal Card Offers a Unique Insight Into American Jewish History
- Nine Men Waiting for One More: The Psychology of the Minyan
- Consumption, Wastefulness, and Simplicity in Ultra-Orthodox Communities
- תיתכלהה תונשרפה יללכב חיש ינמסו הקיטמגרפ :'םירמוא שי' 'יכאלמ די' רפס לש
- תינויצ תידומיל תושדחתה—הנבי דעו הנבימ רדסהה תובישיב תיתד
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- Mordecai Paldiel, Saving One’s Own: Jewish Rescuers during the Holocaust. Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 2017. 636 p
- Derek Taylor, Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler, The Forgotten Founder. London: Vallentine Mitchell, 2018. xii + 260 p
- David Raab, The Democratic Evolution of Halakhah, A Political Science Perspective. Aspen, CO: Aspen Center for Social Values, 2018. 106 p
- Steven Weitzman, The Origins of the Jews. The Quest for Roots in a Rootless Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017. ix + 394 p
- Sándor Bacskai, One Step Toward Jerusalem: Oral Histories of Orthodox Jews in Stalinist Hungary. Translated by Eva Maria Thury. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2018. xxiv. + 235 p
- Wodzinski, Marcin, with cartography by Waldemar Spallek, Historical Atlas of Hasidism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2018. 280 p
- Jessica Roda, Se réinventer au présent: Les Judéo-espagnols de France; Famille, communauté et patrimoine musical. Preface by Edwin Seroussi. Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2018. 268 p
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Table of Contents
- ESSAYS
- Sociological and Anthropological Approaches to the Study of the Evidence of the Mishnah: A Call to Scholarly Action and a Programmatic Introduction
- Family Structure, Kinship, and Life Course Transitions: Social Science Explorations of the Mishnah
- Religious Holidays, Values, and Rituals: Mishnaic Perspectives
- The Poor and Their Relief in the Mishnah: An Economic Analysis
- Rabbinic Prayer in Dialogue with Priestly Ritual: Palestinian Talmudic Aggada
- Mihnag in The Haye Adam—The Case of Kitniyot on Passover
- The Evolution of the Orthodox Jewish Community in Cleveland, Ohio, 1940 to the Present
- An 1899 Postal Card Offers a Unique Insight Into American Jewish History
- Nine Men Waiting for One More: The Psychology of the Minyan
- Consumption, Wastefulness, and Simplicity in Ultra-Orthodox Communities
- תיתכלהה תונשרפה יללכב חיש ינמסו הקיטמגרפ :'םירמוא שי' 'יכאלמ די' רפס לש
- תינויצ תידומיל תושדחתה—הנבי דעו הנבימ רדסהה תובישיב תיתד
- BOOK REVIEWS
- Mordecai Paldiel, Saving One’s Own: Jewish Rescuers during the Holocaust. Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 2017. 636 p
- Derek Taylor, Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler, The Forgotten Founder. London: Vallentine Mitchell, 2018. xii + 260 p
- David Raab, The Democratic Evolution of Halakhah, A Political Science Perspective. Aspen, CO: Aspen Center for Social Values, 2018. 106 p
- Steven Weitzman, The Origins of the Jews. The Quest for Roots in a Rootless Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017. ix + 394 p
- Sándor Bacskai, One Step Toward Jerusalem: Oral Histories of Orthodox Jews in Stalinist Hungary. Translated by Eva Maria Thury. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2018. xxiv. + 235 p
- Wodzinski, Marcin, with cartography by Waldemar Spallek, Historical Atlas of Hasidism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2018. 280 p
- Jessica Roda, Se réinventer au présent: Les Judéo-espagnols de France; Famille, communauté et patrimoine musical. Preface by Edwin Seroussi. Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2018. 268 p
