Arlene J. Mathes-Scharf 's Kashrut.com ended up in my email inbox the other day.
Ms. Mathes-Scharf is a Food Scientist - Kosher Food Specialist working out of Sharon, MA (she has by sympathies for the winter weather). She is my "go-to" person not only for kashrut alerts but also alerts from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). She watches all the lists and boils the important items down to a paragraph or two, and cites her sources. I heartily recommend that everyone sign up for her free e-newsletter at http://www.kashrut.com.
ANYWAY, she has posted links to a number of Kosher for Passover (K4P) lists at http://www.kashrut.com/Passover/. Among the lists are the "usual suspects" and a number of others. All told, she has links to the following certifying agencies:
- Australia Kashrut Authority Passover Guide
Beth Din of Paris
Congregation K'Hal Adath Jeshurun
COR Passover Page
Council Of Orthodox Rabbis Of Greater Detroit
cRc 2013 Passover Information
Jersey Shore Orthodox Rabbinate *
Kashrut Maguen David (Mexico)
Kosher Australia
London Beit Din Passover Page
MK Passover Guide
OK
OU Passover Information
Passover 2012 Magazine by Rabbi Eidlitz
Rabbinical Council of New England
Star-K
Vaad Hakashrus of Denver Pesach (March 2012) Newsletter
Va'ad HaRabanim of Greater Seattle
Israel Rabbinate Medicine List
Kehilas Yaakov Medicine List
Since we follow Sefardi (Moroccan) customs in our house, in the past I have relied primarily on two lists: Jersey Shore Orthodox Rabbinate and Va'ad HaRabanim of Greater Seattle.
This year, the Jersey Shore list includes a line on its first page that reads:
"There will not be a Passover List for Sephardim"
All questions are to be directed to a Rabbi Zvi Holland at Star K. Is there a difference between what the Star-K lists as K4P and what R. Holland will tell what could be thousands of callers? Equally important, what are R. Holland's Sefardi/Mizrachi credentials; he studied at, according to one of his two LinkedIn profiles, the Mir Yeshiva.
The Va'ad HaRabanim of Greater Seattle may be no better. A quick check of its Web site provides last year's (2012) document but, unlike previous years, it fails to list specific products; lots of good generic information, but from a "go to market" perspective, nothing worthwhile.
The cRc list at http://www.crcweb.org/passover2013.php doesn't really list Sefardi/Mizrachi items, but it does note that when cRc declares something not K4P, it notes why. See http://www.crcweb.org/Passover/Shopping%20Guide%202013-KM%20(Jan%202013).pdf and the following illustration.
Since the Ashkenazim avoid kitniyot during Pesach, and since the cRc is mostly by/of/for Ashkenazim, all products containing kitniyot are labeled NOT K4P - but with the explanation "kitniyot."
For all that, none of the lists are "final authorities" unless the rabbi you follow happens to be the organization's final authority.
As many Sefardi and Mizrachi families as we have in the U.S., it is more than sad that, it seems, everyone - including Sefardim and Mizrachim - has caved to the Ashkenazi customs.
There is nothing wrong with Ashkenazi customs; they simply are neither Sefardi nor Mizrachi customs.
Interestingly, in Israel, due to "mixed marriages,*" many rabbis are allowing customs to merge for שלום בית, peace in the home. But then, it seems Israelis - save for the extremists - are willing to welcome others' customs, e.g., rice on Pesach in Moroccan homes (brought to us by a Syrian in-law), and memunah, once shunned and now a national holiday. (Our guests for muflata include Iraqis, Yemenites, and others who "just happen" to drop by, and of course the Moroccan contingent.)
* Mixed marriages: Sefardim with Ashkenazim; what did you think?
