Like many things Jewish, it depends. Jews from Europe other than Spain ("Ashkenazim") have a tradition not to eat it since rice flour in particular was commonly stored in the same place that wheat flour was stored, leading to confusion as to what was permitted and what was not permitted and what matzot was made out of, and hence for simplicity was banned.
Jews from Spain ("Sephardim") and the Middle East find rice acceptable tend to eat it, although the custom is to check it three times before using it in any form other than recognizable rice (such as rice flour) as a cooking ingredient to make sure it is not something else that is not permitted.
The Torah instructs a Jew not to eat (or even possess) chometz all seven days of Passover (Exodus 13:3). "Chometz" is defined as any of the five grains (wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye) that came into contact with water for more than 18 minutes. This is a serious Torah prohibition, and for that reason we take extra protective measures on Passover to prevent any mistakes.
Which brings us to another category of food called "kitniyot". This includes rice, corn, legumes (soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, etc), mustard, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and poppy seeds. Even though kitniyot cannot technically become chometz, Ashkenazi Jews do not eat them on Passover. Why?
The Smak (Rabbi Moshe of Kouchi, 13th century, France) explains that products of kitniyot appear like chometz products. For example, it can be hard to distinguish between rice flour (kitniyot) and wheat flour (chometz). Therefore, to prevent confusion, all kitniyot was prohibited.
The Beit Yosef (Rabbi Yosef Karo, 16th century, Israel) notes that grains may become mixed together with kitniyot, and one may inadvertently come to eat actual chometz.
Here's an article that may help explain a bit more, found at Rabbi Simons, "Kosher for Passover", See Related Links for the URL.
There are no dietary restrictions prohibiting Jewish people from eating rice on a daily basis. However, on certain holidays like Yom Kippur and Pesach, rice may be excluded due to observance of the religious holiday.
The prohibition against rice is a stringency, not an actual Biblical law. It was adopted by Ashkenazim (European Jews), not by Sephardim.
So, yes. Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews eat rice during Passover. Rice fall into the category of items called "kitniot", just like beans and lentils. While Ashkenazim do not eat kitniot during Passover, Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews do eat kitniot.
It depends. If you are Ashkenazi, no, because it is kitniyot. If you are Sephardi or Mizrachi, possibly yes - some communities amongst these two groups eat rice during Passover..
what
For Sephardic jews
no
Rice (regardless of type) is classified as 'kitniyot'. This means that Ashkenazi Jews will not eat it during Passover but some Sephardi and Mizrachi groups will.
Ashkenazi Jews are one of the two main groups of Jews, the other being Sephardi Jews. Ashkenazi Jews differ from Sephardi Jews in that they do not eat legumes, grains, and rice, but they have generally less strict rules for kosher meats and combining fish and dairy. They also more permissive of married and widowed women wearing wigs and do not name their children after living relatives.
Where they're from. Sephardic Jews originate from Spain (called Sepharad in Hebrew) and Ashkenazic Jews originate from Germany (called Ashkenaz in Hebrew). Over the years these terms have become more generic, and Ashkenazic has come to mean Jews from most countries in Europe, and Sephardic to mean from Spain or any African country.
You would have to find corn flour that has been certified kosher for Passover. Outside of Israel that is very unlikely as corn belongs to the category of kitniyot and is not eaten by Ashkenazi Jews during Passover.
kitniyot (×§×˜× ×™×•×ª) means "small things" and refers to particulated foods that are not permitted on Passover for Ashkenazic Jews, such as beans and rice.
Normally, Coca-Cola (a kosher beverage) is made with corn syrup, however the Coca-Cola which is labeled as kosher for Passover (usually with a yellow cap), which you may see in the supermarket around passover time, is made with sugar instead of corn syrup. This is because Jews do not eat any leavened breads or leavened foods made from grains on the holiday of Passover. Ashkenazic Jews (Jews of German decent) have an additional custom to refrain from eating certain legumes, rice and corn. Hence, you can purchase Coca-Cola made with real sugar around the holiday of Passover.
For Ashkenazim: no, because they have a custom of abstaining from legumes, peas, seeds, rice (etc.) on Passover. For Sephardim: yes, if the label has a certification of being kosher for Passover.
While the Jews were escaping Egypt, they had little time for the bread to rise, leaving them with Matzoh (Unleaven bread). On Passover, we are talking about what happened in Egypt and leaing Egypt, and we eat Matzoh instead of leaven bread, or anything that has grains, corn syrup, ect in it. All food that contains corn syrup, grains, (like wheat ect), ect are called 'Chomutz (sp?)' and are not allowed to be eaten on Passover. An exception to the grain rule is to Spanish Jews (Who eat rice commonly).
Yes.
It's what we DON'T eat that is significant at Passover; we don't eat any "chametz", or leavened bread products. That includes bread, rolls, pasta, or anything made with wheat flour or grains. The only allowed wheat products are the unleavened bread or "matzoh", or products made from matzoh. For example, matzoh ball soup! Traditional matzoh is made from wheat flour and water, and baked within 15 minutes of adding the water. (Any longer might permit fermentation to begin, which is not allowed during Passover.) Anything made by yeast or by fermentation of wheat, rye, oats, barley or spelt (a type of Russian winter wheat, also called "groats") is banned. Most Ashkenazic rabbis also ban rice and corn, while many Sephardic authorities permit these as not being proper "grains" mentioned in the Torah. So beer brewed from barley is chametz, while wine fermented from grapes is allowed during Passover. Whiskey is not allowed, while vodka (made from potatoes) is.
It is outright prohibited for Ashkenazim (since rice is not permitted). However, it is usually prohibited for Sephardim and Mizrahim as well since Rice-based cereals usually contain other grains in addition to the rice (such as barley, wheat, sorghum, or millet). It is these other grains that would make it prohibited for Sephardim and Mizrahim.
Kitniyot refers to things that might be confused with grains that are problematic during Passover. Wheat, oats, barley, rye and spelt are the problematic grains. Kitniyot grains include rice, dried legumes, and corn. During the Middle ages, the Ashkenazic community gradually adopted rules forbidding eating kitniyot during Passover in order to avoid the possibility that someone might think you were consuming problematic grains. None of the other Jewish communities adopted these rules, and during the period when the kitniyot prohibition was spreading, there was lots of push back from some Ashkenazic rabbis. Today, you will find many Ashkenazic Jews who agree that the prohibition is nonsense, but still avoid kitniyot because it is such an established tradition.