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The Jewish Home | APRIL 14, 2022
Sparks of Light
Marror and Charoses: An Unexpected Pesach Recipe by rabbi benny berlin
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OctOber 29, 2015 | the Jewish Home
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t the Seder, we have an enigmatic minhag (ritual) to dip marror into the charoses. What makes this minhag particularly puzzling is that it’s a meeting of opposites – the marror is sharp and quintessentially bitter, while the charoses is crafted to be sweet, with cinnamon and notes of sweet wine or grape juice at its base. Why have these two flavors intermingled? And since it is not a culinary dictation, what deeper significance does this have? The Gemara in Pesachim (116a) posits one opinion that this is done as an antidote to the “kaffa,” the sharpness of the marror. The minhag is meant to take out some of the sting of the bitter herb, the residual in the sap of the lettuce. However, we are warned that it should not be immersed for too long so that it does not reach a point where it would lose its flavor (Pesachim 116b). The halacha is that you cannot just swallow up the marror but rather you have to taste it to fulfill your obligation (as opposed to matzah which you can technically fulfill your obligation by swallowing it whole and not tasting one bit). Media personality and Torah lecturer Sivan Rahav Meir recorded the following story about the first Pesach during COVID-19 that weaves in a homiletical message to this discussion. An elderly widow who was living in New York came to the sad realization that 2020 would be the first time in her life she would have a Pesach Seder alone. The one redeeming factor was that her neighbors in the next apartment over told her that they would move their Seder to the entrance of their apartment and keep their door open so that she could feel a part of someone’s
Seder. And that is just what they did. After the first days of Pesach were over, the elderly widow’s son gave her a call. He asked how she managed the
sing, along with the same minhagim. It brought me right back to our old Sedarim – so many warm, happy memories. Can you believe that?”
Try to think about how you too can be like the charoses to someone who is going through a tough period in their life.
Sedarim. She said, “Surprisingly, very well, almost like a miracle occurred! Not only did the neighbors conduct a lovely Seder,” she reported in wonder, “but they used the very same tunes that your father of blessed memory used to
And the son confessed: “Actually Mom, I can believe it. You see, before yom tov, one of your neighbors called me. He asked me about our minhagim and what tunes you were used to and would prefer for ve’hi she’amda, baruch
hamakom, and hallel. They knew this Pesach would be hard for you, and so, as much as possible, they wanted to make you feel at home.” That is acting as the charoses, as a neutralizer to the marror. The neighbors couldn’t remove the marror, couldn’t fully absorb it in the sweet charoset. After all, most of life’s woes cannot be removed completely. The widow was still in isolation, problems still exist even when we serve as a lending hand or shoulder to cry on. But with thoughtfulness and caring, these wonderful neighbors made it bearable. They rose to the occasion. And we can, too. This Pesach, with so many woes in the world, with so much pain, this year when you dip the marror in the charoses try to think about how you too can be like the charoses to someone who is going through a tough period in their life – how you can lessen their pain, soften whatever they are going through. We are blessed to be back together with a semblance of normal having bustling Sedarim with our family members this year without fear for our lives. But we must remember it is not like this for all Jews. There are many Ukrainian Jews displaced across Europe right now, and Pesach will look very different for them than it will for us. Let us keep them in mind as we celebrate Yetzias Mitzrayim with our families. Wishing you all a healthy and happy chag kasher v’sameach!
Rabbi Benny Berlin is the rabbi of BACH Jewish Center located in Long Beach, New York. For more information, visit: https:// www.bachlongbeach.com/.
