(יד) וַיְמָרְר֨וּ אֶת־חַיֵּיהֶ֜ם בַּעֲבֹדָ֣ה קָשָׁ֗ה בְּחֹ֙מֶר֙ וּבִלְבֵנִ֔ים וּבְכָל־עֲבֹדָ֖ה בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה אֵ֚ת כָּל־עֲבֹ֣דָתָ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־עָבְד֥וּ בָהֶ֖ם בְּפָֽרֶךְ׃
(14) And they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field; in all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigour.
(ג) הביאו לפניו מטבל בחזרת. עד שמגיע לפרפרת הפת. הביאו לפניו מצה וחזרת. וחרוסת. ושני תבשילין. אף על פי שאין חרוסת מצוה. רבי אליעזר בר צדוק אומר. מצוה. ובמקדש. היו מביאים לפניו גופו של פסח:
(3) [Then] they set [food] before him. He dips the lettuce before he reaches the course following the [unleavened] bread. [Then] they set before him unleavened bread, lettuce, and a mixture of apples, nuts, and wine, and two dishes, although the mixture of apples, nuts, and wine is not compulsory. Rabbi Eliezer bar Tzadok says: It is compulsory. And in the Temple they used to bring before him the body of the Passover-offering.
רבי אלעזר בר' צדוק אומר מצוה וכו': מאי מצוה רבי לוי אומר זכר לתפוח ור' יוחנן אומר זכר לטיט אמר אביי הלכך צריך לקהוייה וצריך לסמוכיה לקהוייה זכר לתפוח וצריך לסמוכיה זכר לטיט תניא כוותיה דרבי יוחנן תבלין זכר לתבן חרוסת זכר לטיט אמר רבי אלעזר בר' צדוק כך היו אומרים תגרי חרך שבירושלים בואו וטלו לכם תבלין למצוה:
The mishna states: Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Tzadok, says that eating ḥaroset is a mitzva. The Gemara asks: What is the nature of this mitzva? The Gemara answers: Rabbi Levi says: It is in remembrance of the apple, as apple is one of the ingredients in ḥaroset. The verse states: “Who is this who comes up from the wilderness, reclining upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you” (Song of Songs 8:5), which is an allusion to the Jewish people leaving Egypt. And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The ḥaroset is in remembrance of the mortar used by the Jews for their slave labor in Egypt. Abaye said: Therefore, to fulfill both opinions, one must prepare it tart and one must prepare it thick. One must prepare it tart in remembrance of the apple, and one must prepare it thick in remembrance of the mortar. It was taught in a baraita in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan: The spices used in the ḥaroset are in remembrance of the hay that our forefathers used for building in Egypt, and the ḥaroset itself is in remembrance of the mortar. Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Tzadok, said: When selling ḥaroset, the small shopkeepers in Jerusalem would say as follows: Come and take spices for yourselves for the mitzva.
(יא) הַחֲרֹסֶת מִצְוָה מִדִּבְרֵי סוֹפְרִים זֵכֶר לַטִּיט שֶׁהָיוּ עוֹבְדִין בּוֹ בְּמִצְרַיִם. וְכֵיצַד עוֹשִׂין אוֹתָהּ. לוֹקְחִין תְּמָרִים אוֹ גְּרוֹגָרוֹת אוֹ צִמּוּקִין וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶן וְדוֹרְסִין אוֹתָן וְנוֹתְנִין לְתוֹכָן חֹמֶץ וּמְתַבְּלִין אוֹתָן בְּתַבְלִין כְּמוֹ טִיט בְּתֶבֶן וּמְבִיאִין אוֹתָהּ עַל הַשֻּׁלְחָן בְּלֵילֵי הַפֶּסַח:
{This is from Maimonides' book of law, the Mishneh Torah, from the 12th century}
Charoset is a Mitzvah from the words of the storytellers, as a remembrance of the mortar that they used in Egypt. How do you make it? You take dates, dried figs or raisins and the like, crush them, add vinegar, and mix them in with spices just as clay is mixed into straw. This is placed on the table on the Seder nights of Passover.
Ariel Pelaia, about.judaism.com
Charoset (חֲרֽוֹסֶת): Charoset is a mixture that is often made of apples, nuts, wine, and spices in the Eastern European Ashkenazic tradition. In the Sephardic tradition, charoset is a paste made of figs, dates, and raisins. The word charoset comes from the Hebrew word cheres (חרס), meaning clay, and it represents the mortar that the Israelites were forced to use while they built structures for their Egyptian taskmasters.
Charoset (חֲרֽוֹסֶת): Charoset is a mixture that is often made of apples, nuts, wine, and spices in the Eastern European Ashkenazic tradition. In the Sephardic tradition, charoset is a paste made of figs, dates, and raisins. The word charoset comes from the Hebrew word cheres (חרס), meaning clay, and it represents the mortar that the Israelites were forced to use while they built structures for their Egyptian taskmasters.
Rabbi David Pincus commentary on the Haggadah
Charoses – Netzach – Eternity/Victory - Maror is not bitter for its own sake. Hashem sends us bitter things in life, not to cause us suffering for its own sake, but for a purpose. And often, that purpose is to induce us to leave behind our prior apathy and return to Hashem. We dip the bitter Maror in the sweet Charoses to sweeten the dinim of our suffering. Similarly, when we take the lesson of the Maror of our lives by returning to do good, we also sweeten the din that brought about the bitter suffering to begin with, and obviate the need for it to continue in the future.
Charoses – Netzach – Eternity/Victory - Maror is not bitter for its own sake. Hashem sends us bitter things in life, not to cause us suffering for its own sake, but for a purpose. And often, that purpose is to induce us to leave behind our prior apathy and return to Hashem. We dip the bitter Maror in the sweet Charoses to sweeten the dinim of our suffering. Similarly, when we take the lesson of the Maror of our lives by returning to do good, we also sweeten the din that brought about the bitter suffering to begin with, and obviate the need for it to continue in the future.
Charoset: Its Meaning
Rabbi David Seidenberg
Why isn't charoset explained in the Haggadah? Here's the answer that came to me...
The Talmud debates whether or not it's a mitsvah, but tells the story of the spice-sellers in Jerusalem, yelling out their shop windows "Spices for the mitsvah!" The essence of the Charoset in the Talmud is not that it should be sweet, but that it should be tart, like apples, and thick like mud. Rashi (but not the Talmud) gives a few interpretations of this: it's a reminder of the (tart) apple trees in Egypt under which Israel made love and gave birth; it's a reminder of the mud and straw (dates/apples and spices) for the bricks they made as slaves.
But the Hagadah doesn't put those meanings in order because, like the Talmud itself, it doesn't explain any meaning for charoset at all. Why?... I think charoset might the stuff of what happens when we can't separate out the symbols, when they get stuck together, when the slavery and freedom are mishmashed together. Like the wicked child's picture of the world, there's no separation between worship and enslavement (both are called "Avodah" after all). Like the tree of
knowledge, literally the tree of knowing good and evil, i.e., good and evil all mixed together, it represents our normal lives...
...So one more lesson of the Haggadah is: don't separate your normal muddled state from the holy and mystical and transformative; even if you're stuck in what is sour, in the mud, add the sweetness. Leave Egypt with all your possessions, the remnants of slavery, the hopes of freedom, and everything in between.
Rabbi David Seidenberg
Why isn't charoset explained in the Haggadah? Here's the answer that came to me...
The Talmud debates whether or not it's a mitsvah, but tells the story of the spice-sellers in Jerusalem, yelling out their shop windows "Spices for the mitsvah!" The essence of the Charoset in the Talmud is not that it should be sweet, but that it should be tart, like apples, and thick like mud. Rashi (but not the Talmud) gives a few interpretations of this: it's a reminder of the (tart) apple trees in Egypt under which Israel made love and gave birth; it's a reminder of the mud and straw (dates/apples and spices) for the bricks they made as slaves.
But the Hagadah doesn't put those meanings in order because, like the Talmud itself, it doesn't explain any meaning for charoset at all. Why?... I think charoset might the stuff of what happens when we can't separate out the symbols, when they get stuck together, when the slavery and freedom are mishmashed together. Like the wicked child's picture of the world, there's no separation between worship and enslavement (both are called "Avodah" after all). Like the tree of
knowledge, literally the tree of knowing good and evil, i.e., good and evil all mixed together, it represents our normal lives...
...So one more lesson of the Haggadah is: don't separate your normal muddled state from the holy and mystical and transformative; even if you're stuck in what is sour, in the mud, add the sweetness. Leave Egypt with all your possessions, the remnants of slavery, the hopes of freedom, and everything in between.
Recipes to give Charoset an International Flair
Ruth Abusch Magder
Uganda: Tziporah Sizomu’s Charoset Recipe
Tziporah Sizomu is a leader in the Abayudaya community in Uganda. Passover is an especially meaningful holiday for the Abayudaya. Her husband Gershom is the community rabbi and Tziporah is responsible for the Shabbat and holiday meals that are eaten together by the Abayudaya as a community. Apples are expensive, as they must be imported from South Africa, while peanuts, known as groundnuts, are local to Uganda. This Charoset makes a fabulous spread for Matzah all week long! (Note: peanuts are legumes and there are some Jews who do not eat them during Passover. They can be replaced them with cashews.)
Ingredients
4 cups roasted peanuts
3 apples, chopped fine
2 bananas, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup sweet wine
Directions
Grind the peanuts in a blender and place them in a medium-sized bowl. Rural Ugandans use a mortar and pestle. They don’t have blenders as very few have electricity.
Mix with the chopped apples and bananas.
Add the wine and stir.
Add the honey and mix everything together. (If it isn’t thick enough, add more peanuts)
Ruth Abusch Magder
Uganda: Tziporah Sizomu’s Charoset Recipe
Tziporah Sizomu is a leader in the Abayudaya community in Uganda. Passover is an especially meaningful holiday for the Abayudaya. Her husband Gershom is the community rabbi and Tziporah is responsible for the Shabbat and holiday meals that are eaten together by the Abayudaya as a community. Apples are expensive, as they must be imported from South Africa, while peanuts, known as groundnuts, are local to Uganda. This Charoset makes a fabulous spread for Matzah all week long! (Note: peanuts are legumes and there are some Jews who do not eat them during Passover. They can be replaced them with cashews.)
Ingredients
4 cups roasted peanuts
3 apples, chopped fine
2 bananas, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup sweet wine
Directions
Grind the peanuts in a blender and place them in a medium-sized bowl. Rural Ugandans use a mortar and pestle. They don’t have blenders as very few have electricity.
Mix with the chopped apples and bananas.
Add the wine and stir.
Add the honey and mix everything together. (If it isn’t thick enough, add more peanuts)