Rav Tal & Yeshivat Torat HaHayim: Yes to Kitniyot!

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A friend of a friend learns with an avrech from Yeshivat Torat Hayyim, the yeshiva that was expelled from Neve Dekelim and found a warm home in Yad Binyamin. He no longer abstains from kitniyot, having adopted the minhag of the yeshiva.

Apparently the students of the yeshiva, following Rav Shmuel Tal, eat some kitniyot and kitniyot derivatives, including humous.

Rav Tal is definitely Ashkenazi in origin. Apparently, part of his reasoning for dispensing with the minhag has to do with observing minhag hamakom. And of course, the minhag of Erets Yisrael was--and is--to eat kitniyot.

It is interesting to note that Rav Tal and the yeshiva also share another less-than-common practice: wearing tefillin during Chol HaMoed.

In short, the good news is that more and more people think that the time has come to dispense with this minhag shtuth and are voting with their wallets and their mouths. They are buying kitniyot and even eating them on Pesah. Not just because it's easier, not just because it makes sense, but because they want their Judaism to be logical, consistent, and relevant.


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