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''Maror'' ( he, מָרוֹר ''mārôr'') refers to the bitter
"with bitter herbs they shall eat it." (Book of Exodus">Exodus
Exodus or the Exodus may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible
* The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan
Historical events
* E ...
12:8).
''Maror'' ( he, מָרוֹר ''mārôr'') refers to the bitter herb
In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...
s eaten at the Passover Seder
The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of
in keeping with the mitzvah">biblical commandment
In its primary meaning, the Hebrew word (; he, מִצְוָה, ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment commanded by God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of discus ...biblical_commandment_
In_its_primary_meaning,_the_Hebrew_word__(;__he,_מִצְוָה,_''mīṣvā''_,_plural__''mīṣvōt''_;_"commandment")_refers_to_a_commandment__commanded_by_God_to_be_performed_as_a_religious_duty._Jewish_law_()_in_large_part_consists_of_discus_...
__"with_bitter_herbs_they_shall_eat_it."_(Book_of_Exodus.html" "title="mitzvah.html" "title="isan in the Hebrew ...Biblical source
In some listings of the 613 commandments, such as the ''Minchat Chinuch'', the biblical obligation to consume ''maror'' is included within the commandment to consume the meat of the sacrificial Paschal offering.''Minchat Chinuch'' 6:14 ''u'v'mitzvah'' Ever since the Paschal offering ceased to exist with the destruction of theTemple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...
in 70 CE, the obligation to consume ''maror'' on the first night of Passover has been rabbinical in nature.
The only two biblical references to the ''maror'' are the verse quoted above (Exodus 12:8) in which it is mentioned in reference to the offering, and in Numbers 9:11 where "They are to eat the lamb, together with the unleavened bread and bitter herbs". This is in contradistinction to the obligation to consume ''matzo
Matzah or matzo ( he, מַצָּה, translit=maṣṣā'','' pl. matzot or Ashk. matzos) is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which '' chametz'' ( leaven ...
'' on the first night of Passover, which remains a biblical commandment even in the absence of the Paschal Lamb, because there are other biblical verses that mention ''matzo'' as a standalone obligation (Exodus 12:18, Deuteronomy 16:8)
The word derives from the Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
word ( or , "bitter"), and so may be related to the English word myrrh
Myrrh (; from Semitic, but see '' § Etymology'') is a gum-resin extracted from a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus '' Commiphora''. Myrrh resin has been used throughout history as a perfume, incense and medicine. Myrrh m ...
(through Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...
, cognate with Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
).
Symbolism
According to theHaggadah
The Haggadah ( he, הַגָּדָה, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the mitzvah to each J ...
, the traditional text which is recited at the Seder and which defines the Seder's form and customs, the ''maror'' symbolizes the bitterness of slavery in Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
. The following verse from the Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
underscores that symbolism: "And they embittered (''ve-yimareru'' וימררו) their lives with hard labor, with mortar and with bricks and with all manner of labor in the field; any labor that they made them do was with hard labor" (Exodus
Exodus or the Exodus may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible
* The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan
Historical events
* E ...
1:14).
Use at the Seder
''Maror'' is one of the foods placed on the Passover Seder Plate and there is a rabbinical requirement to eat ''maror'' at the Seder. ''Chazeret'' ( he, חזרת) is used for the requirement called ''Korech'', in which the ''maror'' is eaten together with ''matzo
Matzah or matzo ( he, מַצָּה, translit=maṣṣā'','' pl. matzot or Ashk. matzos) is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which '' chametz'' ( leaven ...
''. There are various customs about the kinds of ''maror'' placed at each location.
During the Seder, each participant recites a specific blessing
In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with grace, holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will.
Etymology and Germanic paganism
The modern English language term ''bless'' likely ...
over the ''maror'' and eats it. It is first dipped into the '' charoset''— a brown, pebbly mixture which symbolizes the mortar with which the Israelite
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stel ...
s bound bricks for the Egyptians. The excess ''charoset'' is then shaken off and the ''maror'' is eaten.
The ''halakha
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
'' (Jewish law) prescribes the minimum amount of ''maror'' that should be eaten to fulfil the ''mitzvah
In its primary meaning, the Hebrew word (; he, מִצְוָה, ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment commanded by God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of discus ...
'' (a ''kazayis'' or '' kezayit'', literally meaning the volume of an olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ' ...
) and the amount of time in which it should be consumed. To fulfil the obligation, the flavour of the ''maror'' must be unadulterated by cooking or preservatives, such as being soaked in vinegar.
Types of maror
TheMishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...
specifies five types of bitter herbs eaten on the night of Passover: ''ḥazzeret'' (lettuce
Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, ...
), ''ʿuleshīn'' ( endive/chicory
Common chicory (''Cichorium intybus'') is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant of the family Asteraceae, usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink. Native to the Old World, it has been introduced to North America and Austra ...
), ''temakha'', ''ḥarḥavina'' (possibly melilot, or '' Eryngium creticum''), and ''maror'' (likely '' Sonchus oleraceus'', sowthistle). The most common vegetables currently used as bitter herbs are horseradish
Horseradish (''Armoracia rusticana'', syn. ''Cochlearia armoracia'') is a perennial plant of the family Brassicaceae (which also includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli, cabbage, and radish). It is a root vegetable, cultivated and used worldwi ...
and romaine lettuce
Romaine or cos lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'' L. var. ''longifolia'') is a variety of lettuce that grows in a tall head of sturdy dark green leaves with firm ribs down their centers. Unlike most lettuces, it is tolerant of heat. In North America, ...
.
Hazzeret
''Hazzeret'' is undoubtedly domestic lettuce. The word is cognate to other Near-Eastern terms for lettuce: the Talmud identifies ''hazzeret'' as ''hassa'', similar to the Akkadian ''hassu'' and the Arabic ''hash''. Modern varieties of lettuce are only slightly bitter or not at all, such as iceberg lettuce andromaine lettuce
Romaine or cos lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'' L. var. ''longifolia'') is a variety of lettuce that grows in a tall head of sturdy dark green leaves with firm ribs down their centers. Unlike most lettuces, it is tolerant of heat. In North America, ...
. However, in the past domestic lettuce was bitter, and heirloom varieties
An heirloom plant, heirloom variety, heritage fruit (Australia and New Zealand), or heirloom vegetable (especially in Ireland and the UK) is an old cultivar of a plant used for food that is grown and maintained by gardeners and farmers, particula ...
of lettuce that are bitter are still available to gardeners. Romaine lettuce is the most commonly used variety, perhaps because it still preserves a slight bitter taste. In addition, the Talmud remarks that Romaine lettuce is not initially bitter, but becomes so later on, which is symbolic of the experience of the Jews in Egypt.Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
Pesachim 39a
/ref> The "later" bitterness of lettuce refers to fact that lettuce plants become bitter after they " bolt" (flower), a process which occurs naturally when days lengthen or temperatures rise. Wild or prickly lettuce (''Lactuca serriola'') is listed in Tosefta Pisha as suitable for ''maror'' under the name חזרת הגל or חזרת גלין. However, its absence from the approved list in the Mishnah and Talmud indicate that it is not halakhically suitable.
`Ulshin
The second species listed in the Mishnah is ''`ulshin'', which is a plural to refer to both wild and cultivated types of plants in the genus ''Cichorium
''Cichorium'' is a genus of plants in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. The genus includes two cultivated species commonly known as chicory or endive, plus several wild species.
Common chicory (''Cichorium intybus'') is a bush ...
''. The term is cognate to other near-eastern terms for endives, such as Aramaic עלת and Arabic ''`alath''.
Tamcha
The Talmud Yershalmi identified Hebrew ''tamcha'' with Greek ''gingídion'', which has been positively identified via the illustration in theVienna Dioscurides
The Vienna Dioscurides or Vienna Dioscorides is an early 6th-century Byzantine Greek illuminated manuscript of an even earlier 1st century AD work, '' De materia medica'' (Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς : Perì hylēs iatrikēs in the ori ...
as the wild carrot ''Daucus gingidium
''Daucus carota'', whose common names include wild carrot, European wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to temperate regions of the Old World ...
''.
Rabbi Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller, in his ''Tosafot Yom-Tov'', identified the Mishna's ''temakha'' with Yiddish ''chreyn'' (horseradish
Horseradish (''Armoracia rusticana'', syn. ''Cochlearia armoracia'') is a perennial plant of the family Brassicaceae (which also includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli, cabbage, and radish). It is a root vegetable, cultivated and used worldwi ...
). This identification has long been recognized as problematic, as horseradish does not grow natively in Israel and was not available to Jews in the Mishnaic period.
Horseradish likely began to be used because leafy vegetables like lettuce did not grow in the northern climates Ashkenazi Jews had migrated to, and because some sources allow the use of any bitter substance (if so, the five species in the mishnah would only be illustrative examples).
Many Jews use horseradish condiment (a mixture of cooked horseradish, beetroot and sugar), though the Shulchan Aruch
The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in ...
requires that ''maror'' be used as is, that is raw, and not cooked or mixed with salt, vinegar, sugar, lemon, or beets.
Harhavina
The identity of ''harhavina'' is somewhat disputed. It may be ''melilot'' or '' Eryngium creticum''.Maror
The identity of this species was preserved among the Jews of Yemen as the plant '' Sonchus oleraceus'', a relative of dandelion native to Israel.Adin Steinsaltz
Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz (11 July 19377 August 2020) ( he, עדין אבן-ישראל שטיינזלץ) was an Israeli Chabad Chasidic rabbi, teacher, philosopher, social critic, author, translator and publisher.
His '' Steinsaltz edi ...
, ''Talmud Bavli – explained, punctuated and translated", Pesachim, volume A, p. 276 The word "maror" is an autohyponym, referring both to this species specifically, and to any species suitable for use at the Seder.
References
{{Authority control Passover foods Passover seder Jewish ceremonial food and drink Positive Mitzvoth