רבי אליעזר ברבי צדוק אומר מצוה. זכר לתפוח שהיו יולדות שם בניהם בלא עצב, וזכר לטיט:
ר"א ברבי צדוק אומר מצוה – in memory of the apple that women would give birth to their sons there (i.e., in Egypt) without pain, and in memory of the plaster.
וחרוסת. שעושים מתאנים ולוזים ובטנים ושקדים וכמה מיני פירות ומשימין בה תפוחים ודכין הכל במדוכה ומערבין בחומץ ונותנין עליה תבלין קנה וקנמון כעין פתילות דקות ארוכות זכר לקש וצריך שתהיה עבה זכר לטיט:
וחרוסת – which we make from figs, and nuts, peanuts and almonds and several kinds of fruits and we place in it apples and we clean them with a mortar and mix them in vinegar and put spices, reed stalks, cinnamon, like thin, long wicks, in memory of the straw (used by the Israelite slaves to build the treasure-cities for the Pharaoh) and it needs to be thick, in memory of the plaster.
רבי אליעזר ברבי צדוק אומר מצוה. זכר לתפוח שהיו יולדות שם בניהם בלא עצב, וזכר לטיט:
ר"א ברבי צדוק אומר מצוה – in memory of the apple that women would give birth to their sons there (i.e., in Egypt) without pain, and in memory of the plaster.
They bring before him matzah, lettuce, and haroset (and two dishes) though the haroset is not mandatory. Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Zadok says: it is mandatory. After the appetizers are completed, the servants bring in front of him the main festival foods, the matzah, lettuce and haroset. The matzah is explicitly commanded by the Torah. The lettuce is the bitter herbs (see abover 2:6) also mandated by the Torah. Haroset does not appear in the Torah. Haroset, a mixture of wine and fruit or wine-vinegar and fruit, was a common food in the Greco-Roman world. It was probably added to the Pesah meal after the destruction in an attempt to provide more foods for the seder. In the Talmud it is explained as having different symbolic meanings, most familiarly that it represents the mortar used to make the bricks in Egypt. Others say that it should have a sharp flavor to remind us of the slavery in Egypt. Still others say that the apples used in making it are to remind us of the “apple” in Egypt, a symbol of the fertility of the Israelite women. According to the first opinion, haroset is brought to the table but it is not mandatory. Rabbi Elazar bar Zadok says that it is mandatory.
והחרוסת הוא תערובות שיש בו קהוי ודמות תבן וזה זכר לטיט ואנחנו עושין אותו כך שורין תאנים או תמרים ומבשלין אותן ודכין אותן עד שירטבו ולשין הכל בחומץ ונותנין בו שבולת נרד או איזוב וכיוצא בו בלי שחוקים. ור"א בן צדוק אומר חרוסת מצוה לדעתו שחייב אדם לברך אקב"ו על אכילת חרוסת ואינה הלכה:
ובחרוסת – it is a mixture that has acidity/sourness and it is similar to straw in memory of the mud/clay, and such is how we make it, that we soak/steep figs or dates and cook them and crush/pound them until they become soft and we knead them in vinegar and put them into a SANBAL (spikenard) or cornea (see Tractates Maaser Sheni, Chapter 3, Mishnah 9 and Uktzin, Chapter 2, Mishnah 2) or hyssop without pounding/rubbing. But Rabbi [Elezar the son of Rabbi] Tzadok says that Haroset is a Mitzvah that one is liable to recite the blessing: “Who has sanctified us by His commandments and commanded us on the eating of Haroset.” But it is not Halakha (but see in the Laws of Hametz and Matzah, Chapter 7, Halakhah 13 that Maimonides determined that Haroset is a commandment from the Scribes).