Dear Colleagues,
The most recent issue of Kolot printed a brief summary of Rabbi Golinkin's tshuvah for the Vaad Halacha of Israel permitting kitniyot.
It has led to many congregants believing that the Conservative Movement in the diaspora has permitted it as well. This is not true.
The following is a letter that I have sent to Kolot which will appear immediately on their web site and will be printed in the next issue.
Your recent article "The Kitniyot Dilemma" did a major disservice to observant Ashkenazi Jews living in the diaspora. While acknowledging the article was a "brief summary " of Rabbi Golinkin's Hebrew responsum, you neglected to point out that his responsum was very much directed to the Ashkenazi population of Israel ONLY.
After many pages of detailed historical analysis of the development of the minhag (custom) of Ashkenazim refraining from kitniyot, and the many earlier authorities who railed against it, refraining from kitniyot did indeed take hold as a widespread minhag for Ashkenazi Jews. Rabbi Golinkin's conclusion of overturning the minhag was to establish a unified practice in the Jewish state, a majority Sefardic country with many families comprising both Sefardim and Ashkenazim.
He states, " we should emphasize verses like , 'Who is like Your people Israel, one nation in the land', or 'gather us together from the four corners of the land'. If it is our desire to be 'one nation in the land' it is incumbent on us to begin the process of unifying the laws and customs. In 1950 the Chief Rabbinate of Israel issued some rulings regarding family laws for the purpose of unifying the people and they should continue such work.... The Chief Rabbinate of the army published an army prayer book with one nusach to unify the IDF...."
This clearly is not as important a concern in the diaspora. Therefore our primary issue is the question of how powerful is the obligation of a minhag on our community and what is the process of change when we do change a custom. There is clearly a bias in our tradition to honor and maintain minhag. The Talmud argues for keeping minhag avoteinu beyadeinu, (the custom of out fathers is in our hand) as the reason we still maintain the second day of Yom Tov in the diaspora.