Rabbi Louchheim's observation about an 1810 position on kitnayot by the Reform "movement" doesn't tell us who the Reform movement was at that time -- certainly there was no CCAR to provide t'shuvot (responsa). I suspect that it would be more likely for a North American Reform Jew to defend (permissive) Passover food choices by citing absolution by the Pittsburgh Platform from observing any dietary laws...assuming a felt need to defend them at all.

Certainly I'm not alone in being more observant of food laws during Passover than during the rest of the year. Raised in the Ashkenazic tradition, I will avoid rice and peanut butter this week -- but I will not look for the kosher lepesach label. If I drink a soft drink sweetened with corn syrup, it will be "sanctioned" by my personal rule -- if it can be kosher for Passover, it is.

If you read this on Thursday, chag sameach. happy holiday. Otherwise, moadim l'simchah. (Hebrew lesson for those who need it, per the "rules of the road" for using foreign language terms on the blog -- moadim l'simchah is the conventional greeting for the intermediate days of festivals, taken from the holiday kddush, and meaning special occasions for happiness.)

We came to the conclusion, based on study of Reform responsa and Israeli Conservative movement responsa, that eating kitniyot would clearly be permissible. Read our article at:
http://rabbipaul.blogspot.com/2009/04/can-we-eat-beans-rice-corn-and-peas-on.html

Although my husband and I both come from Ashkenazi backgrounds, we differ on the subject of kitniyot, and we agree to disagree. It just doesn't 'feel' right to me to eat those foods. We also disagree on the length of the holiday - he observes it for seven days, while I stick to the eight-day tradition. (Our kids do seven, but only because they can't seem to last a moment longer.) We've managed to do this for 20 years now. (Full disclosure: he is a Reform-raised Reform rabbi; I am a Conservative-raised layperson.)

Rabbi Louchheim, can you provide more information about this 1810 decision?

(I come from a Reform family, and grew up not eating kitniyot during Pesach. And observing 7 days, of course.)

BZ, my understanding is that the Bible gives dates according to a lunar calendar, and that in ancient times, people would watch for the new moon and start counting the days. I recon that was important to the priests and part of their job (as we see in other societies).

I just look on the internet for when Jewish holidays start. The important thing to my way of thinking is to remember and observe the holidays each year, not to observe them precisely on a certain schedule. To take an extreme example, if you are on a space ship zipping through time zones circling the world every few minutes, I wouldn't obsess over the date and time for starting and ending holidays. One could pick the time in St. Louis, Paris, Sydney or Vancouver or just set aside an approximate time. I'm certain some Orthodox people were expending a lot of effort on that question when they launched a Jewish Astronaut in space.