ANSWER BY RABBI DAVID ROSEN: This is a more complex question than you may realize! Actually, our Rabbinical Assembly Law Committee, which determines Conservative Jewish practice, has permitted the eating of raw peanuts during Passover. (Some Orthodox authorities permit this as well. So technically you can make your own peanut butter (using kosher for Passover oil) if you choose. Orthodox Ashkenazi authorities, however, disagree and do not allow peanuts (but do allow peanut oil). Why?

Peanuts fall under the general category of kitniyot, or legumes. Along with peanuts, it is generally not permitted to eat corn, peas, rice and beans. The reason is not because they are hametz or otherwise prohibited in the Torah, but rather because (1) in the Middle Ages the concern existed that these foods were stored and processed in ways that brought them into contact with grain (i.e., real hametz) and so they were proscribed for Passover use, and (2) when turned into flour, they look like hametz products and the rabbis were concerned about the "appearance" of eating hametz during Passover. Peanut oil was permitted because the peanuts are scalded and no longer have the "identity" of peanuts. Not all Orthodox authorities, however, allow peanut oil.

These concerns only arose in Ashkenazi lands such as Poland. They were never brought into the Sephardi law, and therefore Sephardic Jews—that is, Jews of Spanish, Portuguese and North African origins—freely eat legumes throughout Passover.

Today our Conservative Movement in Israel has permitted the eating of all legumes, including peanuts, during Passover. Our Israeli Conservative rabbis have argued that today we have no fear of these products being mixed with hametz, and we are not worried about "appearances" when even Orthodox Ashkenazi authorities have permitted Passover "donuts," "pancakes" and "muffins"—all of which look like their hametz counterparts. Even though our American movement has not formally endorsed this decision for us, some Conservative Jews are starting to eat fresh corn and beans (that is, when they are unprocessed) during Passover week. As Sephardic Passover products from Israel make their way in greater abundance to America, perhaps we will see an increased acceptance of the eating of not only peanuts, but the other leguminous products as well.

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Here's an addendum on this subject by my colleague Rabbi Steven Morgen:

a. Kitniyot are hametz-like foods that Ashkenazic authorities prohibit on Passover. (Rema on Orah Hayim 453:1) They include: corn, millet, rice and legumes. Some Ashkenazic authorities prohibit derivatives of kitniyot (like corn oil) as well as the kitniyot themselves, while others do not. (Maharsham vol. 1, Responsa #183, for instance, permits using derivatives of kitniyot.)

b. There is an opinion by Rabbi Golinkin that Ashkenazim do not need to observe the custom of not eating kitniyot on Passover any longer. This opinion is an accepted opinion for the Masorti (Conservative) Movement in Israel. It has not been adopted by the Law Committee in the United States. Moreover, part of the rationale for the opinion relates to specific conditions of Israeli society (Sephardic hashgaha on products in Israel for Pesah makes shopping confusing; marriage between Sephardim and Ashkenazim is common in Israel, etc.).

c. In any case, it is not prohibited to own kitniyot during Passover; the prohibition applies only to eating them.

d. While some authorities include peanuts in the category of kitniyot, there is an opinion by Rabbi Bergman that peanuts are not kitniyot. (Perhaps because there is good reason to assert that peanuts are not really kitniyot at all, it seems that there are a number of authorities who permit peanut oil - even though they do not permit peanuts themselves, and do not hold that derivatives of kitniyot may be eaten either.) In addition, according to some authorities, string beans are not included in the prohibition of kitniyot. (Eishel Avraham, Responsa #453; Beit David, Responsa # 6; Yad Yitzhaq, § 3, Responsa # 92:2)