In general, we do not believe that a person’s choice of diet, even if it is based on good reasons, is sufficient grounds to uproot his observance of such a venerable minhag as the Ashkenazi practice of not eating kitniyot on Pesach.[1] While this minhag allows dispensations for babies and for sick people,[2] a vegan usually has enough alternatives to be able to stick to his diet while still avoiding kitniyot, and he therefore may not eat that which is clearly forbidden, even if the prohibition is based only on minhag.
However, we posit that although a vegan’s limitations are self-created, he can at times be considered to be in a she’at hadechak[3] situation, because we view the practice he accepted as laudable.[4] While we cannot expect all people to be vegans or vegetarians, there is a serious school of thought that vegetarianism is preferable.[5] Therefore, we can allow a vegan to follow certain legitimate leniencies that are not universally practiced, as we will discuss below.
First, it is important to distinguish between various motivations for people choosing vegetarianism or veganism. The main motivations are: 1) Ethical (objection to the idea of killing or using animals for human purposes or concern about the treatment of commercially raised animals[6]); 2) Emotional (the psychologically-based difficulty of eating something that comes from an animal); 3) Health (the belief that such diet is healthier); 4) Environmental (the various negative impacts that mass raising of animals has on the environment).[7]
In general, if a vegan motivated by health or environmental concerns feels that the challenge posed by the limited dietary choices is too difficult or otherwise negatively impacts too much on his enjoyment of Pesach, he should give precedence to the minhag over his veganism. A little flexibility for a short, well-defined time period need not compromise his general vegan approach (barring special health concerns). However, if a vegan sincerely feels that he will not be able to keep up his lifestyle if he starts compromising on it, such an idealistic person who take special steps to care for his body and/or the world (which the Torah encourages[8]) deserves appropriate leniency. Those motivated by ethics or emotion are naturally less likely to be able and/or willing to make partial exceptions.
We believe that those for whom it is not feasible to make Pesach exceptions to their principle-kept diet can be considered as being in a situation of she’at hadechak. Therefore, we will refer to a ruling of ours elsewhere in which we identified areas in which leniency can be justified for such a case:[9]
Species: Igrot Moshe[10] presents the thesis that similarities of botanical characteristics, classification, or usage is not reason enough to add to the list of species prohibited on Pesach as kitniyot. Therefore, such foods as peanuts, soy and quinoa, which were not known in the time/place where the minhag developed, can be permitted. If there is another questionable food that is important to your diet, feel free to ask us.
Kitniyot Derivatives: Oil derived before Pesach from kitniyot was permitted by some poskim.[11] However, if the standard “Kosher for Pesach” alternatives are sufficient, as is likely, it is preferable to avoid such leniency.
Mixtures: The Terumat HaDeshen[12] rules that the Pesach stringencies of mixtures do not apply to kitniyot. The Rama[13] applies this leniency even to a simple majority of non-kitniyot, as long as the kitniyot element is not discernable or the kitniyot food has been removed and only its taste remains in the mixture.[14] While one may not create such a mixture on Pesach, there is room for leniency to buy it[15] or prepare it before Pesach for Pesach use.[16] If one is not sure if the majority is kitniyot, some allow adding – even on Pesach – enough non-kitniyot to remove doubt.[17]
Not exposed to water: Since even grain does not become chametz without water, if one can ensure that kitniyot did not come in contact with water, he can rely on the many classical poskim who permit eating such kitniyot.[18]
Even if the basic description of a product fits into one of the above categories, an unsupervised kitniyot product may possibly contain some amount of real chametz. Therefore, one must either ascertain the sources of all of the item’s ingredients and determine how they were processed or, as is often more practical, buy products with a Sephardic “Kosher for Pesach” hashgacha.