Do you think pareve cheesechake ruins the etzem of Shavuous? (OK, that one’s a joke.)
Wolf – I NEVER joke about cheesecake…
As to the rest of the statements – Hashem gave us halachos, but He did not forbid us from enjoying life. Torah Judaism, unlike certain other sects and religions, is not meant to have us live an ascetic life. There is absolutely NOTHING, repeat NOTHING wrong with finding a way to do something otherwise forbidden to us, in a kosher and halachically acceptable way. Clearly Hashem gave our chachomim and our scientists the seichel to figure out how to do things that ENHANCE the spirit of Shabbos and yom tov. We cannot watch tv with a timer (uvda d’chol), but we CAN turn on lights so we don’t sit in the dark like the karaites did. I cannot eat bacon, but if I want “bacon” and eggs, (because it really IS delicious, from what I hear, but it is nevertheless assur), I can eat imitation bacos, IF I SO CHOOSE. Do you use pareve “milk” in your coffee after a fleishig meal? The idea is that we do not HAVE to deprive ourselves. Pesach is meant to symbolize freedom. There is no inyan that we have to suffer. For some people who are addicted to certain types of food, going without those foods is extremely hard for them, even if only for a week.
I personally never saw the attraction to pesach spaghetti, or pizza, but I don’t eat that so often when it is NOT Pesach time. I can live without all of these things (just give me chocolate), but some people really feel they cannot. And why should they have to? That is NOT what Pesach is about? Chometz is a very specific aspect of food. If there is no chometz, then it is not assur, and should not be thought of as assur. Because if that is the case, then whoever feels this way should also not eat anything that is leavened with egg whites. The cakes made by that method look as chometzdig as any I have ever had.