QUESTION

Washington, D.C.

Rav Linzer, can you weigh in on why (or why not) sesame seeds and mustard seeds are kitniyot?

ANSWER

It is hard if not impossible to nail down a definition of what type of produce is included in kitniyot. Rav Moshe Feinstein (Iggrot Moshe OC 3:63) acknowledged that the two reasons given for the prohibition of kitniyot, (1) that these foods can be used to make flour and, (2) that wheat and barley often get mixed in with these foods, do not explain the list of what is included and excluded. There are foods that fit into one of these categories, such