What's a Bitter Herb?

MISHNA: And these are the vegetables with which a person can fulfill their obligation to eat bitter herbs on Passover: One can fulfill their obligation with ḥazeret, with chervil [tamkha], and with field eryngo [ḥarḥavina], and with endives [olashin], and with maror.

One fulfills his obligation with them whether they are fresh or whether they are dry.

However, one does not fulfill his obligation if they are pickled in water or vinegar, nor if they are over-boiled [shaluk] in hot water, nor if they are boiled [mevushal].

The mishna adds: And all these different types of vegetables join together to the measure of an olive-bulk, i.e., it is not necessary to eat this amount from one specific type of vegetable.

And one fulfills his obligation by eating their stalk, as it is not necessary to eat the leaves....

GEMARA: The Gemara identifies the plants mentioned by the mishna by their Aramaic names. Ḥazeret is lettuce. Olashin is called hindevi. With regard to tamkha, Rabba bar bar Ḥana said: It is called temakhta in Aramaic. As for ḥarḥavina, Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: This is the plant that grows around the palm tree.

The mishna taught: And with maror. The Gemara explains: This is a plant called merirata. Bar Kappara teaches: These are the vegetables with which a person can fulfill their obligation to eat bitter herbs on Passover: With endives, chervil, ḥarḥallin, field eryngo, and ḥazeret.

Rav Yehuda says: Also wild endives, garden endives, and ḥazeret.

The Gemara asks: Why does Rav Yehuda mention garden endives and ḥazeret? These were already taught in the first clause.

The Gemara explains that this is what Rav Yehuda is saying: Even wild endives are equivalent to garden endives and ḥazeret and may be used as bitter herbs on Passover....

Rabbi Eliezer: One can also fulfill his obligation with arkablim. And I went around all of Rabbi Eliezer’s students looking for a colleague who agreed with me that Rabbi Eliezer said this, but I did not find anyone who remembered this ruling. But when I came before Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov, he conceded to my statement.

Rabbi Yehuda says: Any plant that has white sap when it is cut may be used as bitter herbs.

Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka says: Anything whose surface is light green may be used as bitter herbs. Aḥerim say: Any bitter herb that has sap and whose surface is light green is fit for this mitzva. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: From the statements of all these Sages, we can learn that a bitter green herb has sap and its surface is light green.

Rav Huna said: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Aḥerim. Ravina found Rav Aḥa, son of Rava, searching for merirata to use as bitter herbs. He said to him: What is your opinion, that you seek this particular herb? If you are looking for that which is most bitter, but we learned ḥazeret first in the mishna, which indicates that this is the preferred choice. And likewise, a Sage of the school of Shmuel taught ḥazeret first, before the other types of bitter herbs. And Rabbi Oshaya said: The optimal fulfillment of the mitzva is with ḥazeret, and Rava said: What is ḥazeret? It is lettuce [ḥassa]. The Gemara explains: What is the meaning of lettuce [ḥassa]? It refers to the fact that God has mercy [ḥas] on us. And Rabbi Samuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Why are the Egyptians likened to bitter herbs in the verse: “And they embittered their lives” (Exodus 1:14)? This comparison serves to tell you that just as these bitter herbs are soft at first and harsh in the end, so too, the Egyptians were soft at first, when they paid the Jews for their work, but were harsh in the end, as they enslaved them. This idea applies solely to ḥazeret, which has a bitter aftertaste, but not to other types of bitter herbs, which are bitter from the beginning. Rav Aḥa, son of Rava, said to Ravina: I retract my position and concede that it is preferable to use ḥazeret for bitter herbs. Rav Reḥumi said to Abaye: From where is it known that this bitter herb that must be eaten on Passover night is a type of vegetable? Perhaps one could say that the mitzva should be performed with the bile of a kufya fish,which is very bitter, but not necessarily with a type of plant? He answered: Bitter herbs are similar to matza; just as matza must be prepared only from food that grows from the ground, so too, bitter herbs must be from food that grows from the ground. The Gemara asks: How do we know that a bitter herb is specifically a vegetable rather than the bitter oleander bush? The Gemara answers: Bitter herbs are similar to matza; just as matza is prepared from a type of plant, but not including a tree, so too, bitter herbs must be from a type of plant that is not a tree. The Gemara asks a similar question: Perhaps I can say that one may use harzipu, a vegetable that poisons animals, as the bitter herb. The Gemara answers: It must be similar to matza; just as matza is prepared from plants that are fit for human consumption and can be purchased with second-tithe money, so too, bitter herbs must be from a species that can be purchased with second-tithe money. Rabba bar Rav Ḥanin said to Abaye: I can say that the bitter herb mentioned in the Torah includes merely one species, i.e., only the bitterest plant can be used for this obligation. Abaye responded: For this reason it is written: “Bitter herbs” (Exodus 12:8) in the plural, indicating that many types of bitter herbs are fit for this purpose. Rabba retorted: But one can say that “bitter herbs” refers to two different species, but no more. Abaye explained: Bitter herbs are similar to matza; just as matza can be prepared from many types of grain, so too, bitter herbs can be taken from many different types of vegetables....

Rabbi Yosef Caro, 16th c. Safed

These are the vegetables with which a person can fulfill his obligation to eat bitter herbs on Passover: One can fulfill his obligation with ḥazeret, tamkha, ḥarḥavina, (meaning: many types of bitter herbs) and with maror. And one fulfills their obligation regardless of whether they are leaves or stalks, but not with a root.

Abraham Abele Gombiner, Composed in Leszno, Poland (c.1665 - c.1671 CE). Magen Avraham is a commentary on Orah Hayyim a section of R. Joseph Karo’s Shulhan Arukh.

"Not a root." ...Regarding ezov (hyssop) which has three stalks and three side roots. According to Rashi, stalks are considered roots. And following this Rabbenu Tam reasons that "and not roots," refers in fact to the little [side] roots that spread out here and there underground but the big root upon which the plants stands is considered a stalk.

Rav Shlomo Ganzfried (1804-1886)

Ukraine. The Kitzur Shulhan Arukh is a summary of the Shulhan Arukh of Joseph Karo with reference to later commentaries.

For maror, it is custom to eat tamcha (horseradish), because it is very sharp tasting...but it is preferable to eat chazeret, which is lettuce that is pleasant to eat--and known as "maror," on account of it being visible above ground and the stalk is bitter.

R. Yechiel Michel Epstein, (1829–1908) Lithuania

In our country we use horseradish because lettuce is not available before Pesach, except in the courtyards of the princes.

Poland (c.1875 - c.1905 CE). Mishnah Berurah (Clarified Teaching) is a work of halakhah by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan

"But not a root." This refers to little roots that branches off here and there on the underside or to the side [of the main root], but the large root upon which the vegetable stands is considered a stem. And in our land, there are not other types of maror to be found and it is our custom in our land to eat tamcha (and that is "chreyn" /horseradish).