Page 64 - RMBA Upper School Haggadah 2018

Marror – ‫ָמרוֹר‬

Now take a kezayit (the volume of one olive) of the marror. Dip it into the Charoset, but
not so much that the bitter taste is neutralized. Recite the following blessing and then eat

the marror (without reclining):

‫ ֲא ֶשׁר ִק ְדּ ָשנוּ ְבּ ִמ ְצוֹ ָתיו ְו ִצ ָוּנוּ ַﬠל ֲא ִכי ַלת ָמרוֹר‬,‫ָבּרוּ ַא ָתּה ה' ֱא הקינוּ ֶמ ֶל ָהעוֹ ָלם‬
Praised are you, Hashem, Lord our G-d, Ruler of the universe, who has taught us the way of
holiness through commandments, commanding us to eat the bitter herb.

Why Do We Eat Maror? - Benjamin Chorn (7th grade)
Have you ever wondered why we would eat bi er herbs on Passover? Or what it is supposed to
symbolize on the seder plate? I certainly know I have.
According to Rav Ovadia Yosef, Rambam, and Rashi, we eat Maror because G-d wants us to
experience what our ancestors went through in Eretz Mitzrayim. He wants us to truly feel the
bi erness and despair that our ancestors felt all of those years throughout slavery. Maror
reminds us that Passover is a Holiday that reminds us not only of being taken out of Egypt, but
also of how we felt when we were suffering in Egypt. Maror symbolizes all of the nega ve
feelings we have felt since the previous Passover, and how it helped create us into the
wonderful strong independant people that we are today.
The lesson in ea ng Maror is that hope, (the meal), is just around the corner, and that obstacles
and bi erness are always a part of the journey to success.
Charoset - Aileen Sar Shalom (11th Grade)
When the charoset is eaten with the horseradish, the sweetness of the charoset creates a
balance with the bi erness of the maror, thus symbolizing the hope of the Passover seder. The
cinnamon in charoset symbolizes the straw the Hebrews had to gather in Egypt to build
Pharaoh's palaces. We eat charoset to remember the tears of pain and bi erness while the
Jewish people were slaves in Egypt.
Not only are we supposed to swallow the maror, but we are supposed to taste it. If you don't
taste the bi erness of the maror, the mitzvah has not been fulfilled. Why do we need to
experience the taste of bi erness? Passover is about realizing that using free will is the human
side that saves us. Part of being free is not being insulated from life's difficul es. In this case,

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