Kitniyot is a Hebrew word meaning legumes. During the Passover holiday, however, the word kitniyot takes on a broader meaning to include grains and seeds such as rice, corn, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds, in addition to legumes such as beans, peas, and lentils.
Kitniyot in the market
Passover, also called Pesach, is a major Jewish holiday for Rabbinical Judaism, Karaite Judaism, and Samaritanism, one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals, that celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt.
A table set up for a Passover Seder
Illustration of The Exodus from Egypt, 1907
Burning chametz on the morning before Passover begins
The former President of Israel Reuven Rivlin sells the leaven of the Beit HaNassi (the official residence of the president), to Shlomo Amar, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Rishon LeZion, in order that Amar will later sell it to a non-Jew.