Page 8 - RMBA Upper School Haggadah 2018

1) The Charoset reminds us of the mortars that our ancestors used to make for Pharaoh
2) To remind us of the apple trees in Egypt where the women used to give birth to hide from the
Egyp ans.
The opposing opinion in the Gemara says that Charoset is not a mitzvah and it is just there to
decrease the taste of the maror. So, how do we solve this contradic on? Rambam comments on
this machloket in two places: in his commentary to the Mishna and in his Mishna Torah.
However, he has two different opinions in each place. In the Mishna, he explains that Rabbi
Eliezer ben Tzadok is wrong for calling it a mitzvah, because he says that Rabbi Eliezer would
think that one must say a new “All Achilat Charoset.” It is obvious that we don’t follow him
because we do not say that bracha. Yet, when Rambam comments in the Mishna Torah, he
contradicts himself, saying that Rabbi Eliezer was correct. Thus, we need the Lechem Mishna to
interpret Rambam for us. He says that Rambam must have changed his mind from the me he
wrote the commentary to the Mishna to the me he wrote the Mishna Torah. (we should note
that the Rambam wrote the commentary to the Mishna as a very young man and wrote the
Mishna Torah much later in life).
In conclusion, We can learn that Charoset can be an independent mitzvah based on the way you
interpret the food, and what you want it to resemble at the seder. Whether it is the apple trees,
the bricks, blood, or nothing at all, the food is for your own mitzvah of zecher leyetziat mitzraim.
Charoset - Maya Wadler (12th Grade)
Charoset is the only item that is not men oned in the Torah to be put on the Seder plate. What
does it symbolize?
Charoset is a sweet dark colored mixture typically made of apples, nuts, wine, and cinnamon. It
is eaten at Passover Seder. Some people use a mixture of chopped dried fruit to get the
consistency as close to cement as possible. There are many reasons why we eat this sweet
mixture. One of the main reasons why we eat Charoset is to represent the mortar that the Jews
needed to work with during their enslavement. As the Haggadah says “they embi ered the
Jews lives with hard labor in bricks and mortar.“
However on a deeper level of the purpose of Charoset is as a commemora on of the spiritual
redemp on bestowed upon the Jews when Hashem redeemed them from Egypt. The Charoset
also represents turning something nega ve into something posi ve, by taking bland ingredients
and transforming them into a sweet and tasty mixture. Similarly, when the Jewish People le
Egypt, they realized that the bi erness in Egypt was an important step to eventually reach the
sweetness of redemp on. This mixture is eaten with horseradish to offset the bi erness,
symbolizing op mism.
I hope that this informa on about Charoset allows you to focus on the spiritual redemp on that
Hashem gave us, the abundance and deliciousness of the fruits, and the sweetness that
Charoset brings to our Passover seder.

7