Rabbi
E-mail: rabbisimon@kesher.org
Brief info

Rabbi Rashi Simon, MA, is Founding Director of Kesher/The Learning Connection and Rav of the Kesher Kehillah. Born in the Midwest of the USA, he studied in yeshivot in Israel, New York, and Milwaukee, USA.

His ordination is from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate (inter alia). Rashi’s general education is from Purdue University and Touro College (USA), where he earned a BA in Psychology and an MA in Jewish History.Arriving in London in 1989, Rabbi Simon founded the Jewish Learning Exchange (JLE), before forming Kesher in 1997 as a cutting-edge outreach organisation. With the acquisition of their present building, Kesher expanded into a kehillah (synagogue community) in 2004.

Rashi’s urbane, witty, and insightful style, together with his mildly Anglicised American accent, make him a popular and memorable Torah educator. In addition to guiding and inspiring others he makes time for his own Torah study and development. As well as exploring the Torah, Rabbi Simon enjoys exercise, hiking and travel — activities which he loves to do with his wife, Ruthie and their five kids, if only he had more time in which to do it!

Questions & Answers
this week

Questions and Answers

Ask the Rabbi: Quinoa on Pesach
Dear Rabbi Simon,
Where do you stand on quinoa (and the kitniyot ban) for Pesach?
Many thanks,
Tzippy
***
Dear Tzippy,
In line with other American authorities, I am in favour of quinoa. Although I reject completely the voices (mostly from Israel) seeking to abolish the ban on kitniyot entirely, IMO we do not need to include in the prohibition pseudo-grains that were unknown in the Old World until modern times. Best to buy with a Pesach hechsher though, to be free of any possible wheat contamination.
Rabbi Rashi Simon
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