The Story of Charoset

All present should take an olive-sized piece [k’zayit] of marror, dip into the haroset, shake off the haroset, make the blessing and eat without reclining.

(3) The attendants brought vegetables before the leader of the seder prior to the meal, if there were no other vegetables on the table. He dips the ḥazeret into water or vinegar, to taste some food before he reaches the dessert of the bread, i.e., the bitter herbs, which were eaten after the matza. They brought before him matza and ḥazeret and ḥaroset, and at least two cooked dishes in honor of the Festival. The tanna comments that this was the practice, although eating ḥaroset is not a mitzva but merely a custom. Rabbi Eliezer ben Tzadok says: Actually, it is a mitzva to eat ḥaroset. And in the period when the Temple stood and they offered the Paschal lamb, they brought before him the body of the Paschal lamb.

The traders of Jerusalem used to say, “come and buy spices for the mitzvah [the charoset - see Pesachim 116a:4] The family of Issy in the same of Issy: Why is it [the charoseet] called “pounded”? Because one pounds for it. Rebbi Joshua ben Levi said, it has to be thick. His word implies that it is a remembrance of the mortar [used by the slaves in Egypt] There are Tannaim who state, it has to be soft [it needs wine]. This word implies that it is a remembrance of the blood.

Rav Huna says: All of the aforementioned foods, i.e., matza, bitter herbs, and ḥaroset, must also be placed only before the one who recites the Haggadah. When the time comes to eat these items, all the other participants receive a portion from him. The Gemara comments: And the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rav Huna.

One must dip it in the charoset because of the Kapa- A poison in the lettuce, since the burning effect of lettuce is the result of a poison that needs to be neutralized, just like with onions.

(13) The Egyptians ruthlessly imposed upon the Israelites (14) the various labors that they made them perform. Ruthlessly they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field.

(6) That same day Pharaoh charged the taskmasters and overseers of the people, saying, (7) “You shall no longer provide the people with straw for making bricks as heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves. (8) But impose upon them the same quota of bricks as they have been making heretofore; do not reduce it, for they are shirkers; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God!’ (9) Let heavier work be laid upon those involved; let them keep at it and not pay attention to deceitful promises.” (10) So the taskmasters and overseers of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh: I will not give you any straw. (11) You must go and get the straw yourselves wherever you can find it; but there shall be no decrease whatever in your work.” (12) Then the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. (13) And the taskmasters pressed them, saying, “You must complete the same work assignment each day as when you had straw.” (14) And the overseers of the Israelites, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten. “Why,” they were asked, “did you not complete the prescribed amount of bricks, either yesterday or today, as you did before?” (15) Then the overseers of the Israelites came to Pharaoh and cried: “Why do you deal thus with your servants? (16) No straw is issued to your servants, yet they demand of us: Make bricks! Thus your servants are being beaten, when the fault is with your own people.” (17) He replied, “You are shirkers, shirkers! That is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to יהוה.’ (18) Be off now to your work! No straw shall be issued to you, but you must produce your quota of bricks!”

(5) Who is she that comes up from the desert, Leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I roused you; It was there your mother conceived you, There she who bore you conceived you.

(12) Pharaoh issued four decrees against the Israelites. Initially, he decreed and commanded the taskmasters to pressure them so that they would produce their quota and they would not sleep at home. He thought to diminish their procreation. He said: If they do not sleep at home they will not have children. The taskmasters said to them: ‘If you go to sleep in your homes, by the time we send to gather you in the morning, an hour or two of the day will have passed, and you will not meet your quota,’ as it is stated: “The taskmasters pressured them saying, [fulfill your work, your daily task]” (Exodus 5:13).
They would sleep on the ground. God said to them [the Egyptians]: ‘I said to their forefather Abraham that I will multiply his descendants like the stars, as it is stated: “For I will bless you, and I will multiply, etc.” (Genesis 22:17), and you are outsmarting them so they will not multiply? We will see whose matter prevails, Mine or yours.’ Immediately, “but the more they would afflict them, the more they would increase…” (Exodus 1:12).
Rabbi Akiva expounded: On account of the righteous women who were in that generation, Israel was redeemed from Egypt. What did they do? When they would go to draw water, the Holy One blessed be God would arrange for them small fish in their jugs, and they would draw half water and half fish. They would take it to their husbands and would place two pots on the fire [veshoftot], one with hot water and one with fish. They would feed them, bathe them, anoint them with oil, and give them to drink, and they would consort with them between the pots [shefatayim], as it is stated: “Now you may lie within the sheepfolds [shefatayim], wings of the dove covered with silver” (Psalms 68:14). In reward for having lain between the pots, Israel merited the loot of Egypt, as it is stated: “wings of the dove covered with silver.”
When they would conceive, they would come to their homes. When the time of their birth arrived, they would go and give birth in the fields, under apple trees, as it is stated: “Under the apple tree I roused you [there your mother was in childbirth]” (Song of Songs 8:5). The Holy One blessed be God would send an angel from the heavens above who would clean them and tend to them like the beast that tends to its young, as it is stated: “As for your birth, on the day you were born [your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were not washed in water for cleansing…and you were not swaddled]” (Ezekiel 16:4). They would take two round vessels of earth, one containing oil and one containing honey, as it is stated: “He suckled them honey from a boulder [and oil from a flinty rock]” (Deuteronomy 32:13).
Once the Egyptians became aware of them [the babies], they sought to kill them. A miracle was performed for them and they were enveloped in the ground. They [the Egyptians] brought oxen and they plowed [the land] above them, as it is stated: “Upon my back plowers plowed” (Psalms 129:3). After [the Egyptians] would leave, they would sprout and emerge like the grass of the field, as it is stated: “I caused you to increase like the growth of the field” (Ezekiel 16:7). Once they grew, they would come in herds [adarim] to their homes, as it is stated: “You came to have great beauty [ba’adi adayim]” (ibid.) – do not read it ba’adi adayim but rather be’edrei adarim. When the Holy One blessed be God revealed the Divine Self on the sea, they recognized God first, as it is stated: “This is my God and I will glorify the Lord” (Exodus 15:2).

(2) Oh, give me of the kisses of your mouth, For your love is more delightful than wine.

One must prepare it tart and one must prepare it thick- In the Jerusalem Talmud it also says that it is supposed to be a remembrance of the blood, and therefore we call the act "dipping" like we call it with a liquid. This is a matter that the people follow, adding wine and vinegar at the time of eating to make the consistency more liquidy. I have found additional positions in the Gaonim which say that charoset should be made of the fruits that greeted the Israelites when they came into the land of Israel, as the Song of Songs mentions apples, pomegranate, fig, dates, nuts and almonds.

(1) The order which he proclaims is such – they bring before him the table and he receives the Kiddush as it states, and afterwards he eats whichever vegetable that is made ready after he dips it in Haroset and recites the blessing “Who creates the fruit of the ground” [note that we today use salt water].

(4) ובחרוסת — Charoset is mixture which has acidity in it and something similar to straw, and this is in memory of the mortar. And we make it like this: Soak figs or dates and cook them and pound them until they are wet and knead them with spikenard or hyssop or something similar, without grinding them. And Rabbi Eliezer said that charoset is a mitzvah and in his opinion, one would need to say a blessing "who has commanded about eating charoset" and that is not the halakha.

(11) The charoset is a mitzvah ordained by the words of the Sages, to commemorate the clay with which [our ancestors] worked in Egypt. How is it made? We take dates, dried figs, or raisins and the like, and crush them, add vinegar to them, and mix them with spices, as clay is mixed into straw. This is placed on the table on [the first two] nights of Pesach.

Here he [Rambam] rules like Rabbi Eliezer ben Tzadok, however in the Commentary on Mishnah Pesachim 10:3 he ruled in the opposite way. There he said that according to Rabbi Eliezer ben Tzadok, one must say a blessing on haroset, but the halacha does not follow him. It seems that he changed his mind from what he said there. One, however, must give a reason for not saying a blessing on haroset...

(2) The person leading the Seder begins and recites the blessing, בורא פרי האדמה takes the vegetable, dips it in charoset, and eats at least an olive-sized piece. He and all those eating together with him, each and every one, do not eat less than an olive-sized piece.
….

(8) At present, when there is no [Paschal] sacrifice, after one recites the Motzi blessing, one then recites the Matzah blessing, dips the matzah in charoset, and eats it. Afterwards, one recites the Maror blessing, al achilat maror, dips the maror in charoset and eats it. One should not leave [the bitter herbs] in the charoset for a prolonged period, lest their taste be negated, since [eating the maror] is a mitzvah ordained by the Sages. Afterwards, one should wrap matzah and maror together, dip them in the charoset, and eat them without reciting a blessing, to recall the Temple.

(1) Continued laws of the Seder. Containing seven sections: One should wash their hands and bless "Al netilat yadaim" and pick up the matzot in the order that they were placed down - the broken one between the two full ones - and grasp them in one's hand, and bless "Hamotzi" and "Al achilat matza" and afterward break up the upper, whole one and the broken one, both of them together, and dip them in salt [RAMA: But the custom is not to dip it in salt on the first night, since refined-flour bread does not require salt] and eat them while leaning, together, an olive-bulk of each. And if one cannot eat two olive-bulks at once, one should first eat the one from "Hamotzi" and afterward the one from "Achilat matza." And afterward, one should take an olive-bulk of marror and submerge it entirely in charoset, but not let it sit inside it, so that the flavor of its bitterness will not be cancelled out. And for this reason, one must shake the charoset off of it. And one should bless "Al achilat marror" and eat it without leaning. And afterward, one should pick up the third matza and break it up and sandwich it with marror and dip it in charoset [RAMA: And some say that one should not dip it, and this is aligned with customs, and I have seen it practiced] and says "Zecher lemikdash keHillel" and eats them together while leaning. And from when one blesses "Al achilat matza" one must not interrupt with anything unrelated to the meal until one eats this sandwich, in order to have the blessing of "Achilat matza" and the blessing of "Achilat marror" count for this sandwich too.

(2) If one has no greens to dip at first (for karpas) except marror, one should bless at the first dipping "Borei peri haadama" and "Al achilat maror," and at the second dipping one should dip it in charoset and eat it without a blessing.

You should fully immerse it: So as to kill the poison that is inside.