{"id":6942,"date":"2011-03-16T23:27:26","date_gmt":"2011-03-16T21:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=6942"},"modified":"2021-03-22T13:42:30","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T11:42:30","slug":"04-16-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/04-16-27\/","title":{"rendered":"27.\u00a0The Mitzva to Eat <strong>Maror<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Torah commandment to eat <strong>maror<\/strong> on the night of the 15th of Nisan is contingent upon the eating of the Paschal sacrifice, as it states: \u201cThey shall eat it with <strong>matzot<\/strong> and <strong>merorim<\/strong> [plural of <strong>maror<\/strong>]\u201d (Bamidbar 9:11). Since we are unable to offer the Paschal sacrifice today, the mitzva to eat <strong>maror<\/strong> is now rabbinic (<strong>Pesa\u1e25im<\/strong> 120a). We dip the <strong>maror<\/strong> in <strong>\u1e25aroset<\/strong> in order to counteract its bitterness, for the <strong>maror <\/strong>symbolizes the bitter enslavement. According to many, the idea is not to dip the <strong>maror <\/strong>deep into the <strong>\u1e25aroset<\/strong>, but just to barely touch the <strong>\u1e25aroset<\/strong>. If a bit of <strong>\u1e25aroset <\/strong>sticks to the <strong>maror<\/strong>, we shake it off the <strong>maror<\/strong>, because <strong>maror <\/strong>should not be eaten with the sweet <strong>\u1e25aroset <\/strong>(SA 475:1, MB 13 and <strong>Kaf<\/strong> <strong>Ha-\u1e25ayim<\/strong> 23 <strong>ad loc.<\/strong>). After this we recite the <strong>berakha <\/strong>\u201cWho sanctified us with His <strong>mitzvot<\/strong> and commanded us concerning eating <strong>maror<\/strong>\u201d (\u201c<strong>asher kideshanu be-mitzvotav ve-tzivanu al akhilat maror<\/strong>\u201d) and eat a <strong>kezayit<\/strong> of <strong>maror<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The Sages enumerate five types of <strong>maror<\/strong>: <strong>\u1e25azeret<\/strong>, <strong>tam\u1e25a<\/strong>, <strong>\u1e25ar\u1e25avina<\/strong>, <strong>ulshin<\/strong>, and <strong>maror<\/strong>. Today we are only familiar with two of these: <strong>\u1e25azeret<\/strong>, which is lettuce, and <strong>tam\u1e25a<\/strong>, which is horseradish. The Sages stated that the choicest type of <strong>maror<\/strong> is lettuce, and its Hebrew name (\u201c<strong>\u1e25asa<\/strong>\u201d) even alludes to the fact that God has mercy (\u201c<strong>\u1e25as<\/strong>\u201d) upon us. They also tell us that the Egyptian enslavement was like <strong>maror<\/strong>: just as <strong>maror<\/strong> begins soft and ends hard \u2013 the stalk starts off soft and later hardens \u2013 so too the enslavement began \u201csoftly\u201d and became harder and bitterer with time (<strong>Pesa\u1e25im<\/strong> 39a).<\/p>\n<p>Some have questioned whether we fulfill the obligation of <strong>maror<\/strong> with today\u2019s lettuce, which does not have a bitter taste. Some say that one can fulfill his obligation only with lettuce that has become somewhat bitter. In practice, though, one can fulfill his obligation with lettuce even if it is not bitter, because this was the nature of the bondage: initially the Egyptians enslaved us with gentle words and paid us for our labor, while gradually intensifying the work until it was bitter as gall. The Yerushalmi (<strong>Pesa\u1e25im <\/strong>2:5) likewise tells us that lettuce starts out sweet and then becomes bitter. Thus, it is the custom of all Jews to be scrupulous about this mitzva by using lettuce for <strong>maror<\/strong>, because <strong>maror<\/strong> need not be bitter when it is eaten; rather, it must be of a species that eventually becomes bitter. Some people add a bit of horseradish to their lettuce so that they taste some bitterness.<sup><a href='#_te01ftn16_23' id='_te01ftnref16_23' class='aup1'>[23]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Since lettuce often contains bugs, it should be cleaned and checked thoroughly on Erev Pesa\u1e25. Nowadays there are ways to grow bug-free lettuce, and it is best to use such lettuce in order to avoid potentially violating the prohibition against eating bugs (<strong>Peninei Halakha: Kashrut <\/strong>24:9-10).<\/p>\n<p>One must eat a <strong>kezayit<\/strong> (half an egg\u2019s volume) of <strong>maror<\/strong>, and one may estimate this size by sight. As we have learned, some customarily calculate a <strong>kezayit<\/strong> by weight, which is about 25 grams. However, with lettuce there is very little difference between a weight- and volume-based <strong>kezayit<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div>\n<hr size=\"1\" \/>\n<div>\n<a href='#_te01ftnref16_23' id='_te01ftn16_23'>[23]<\/a>. Ridbaz and <strong>\u1e24azon Ish <\/strong>O\u1e24 124, commenting on <strong>Pesa\u1e25im<\/strong> 39a, questioned the fitness of our lettuce. However, according to most <strong>poskim<\/strong>, lettuce is the best type of <strong>maror<\/strong>, because the Gemara finds allusions in its name and because it alludes to the enslavement by its very nature \u2013 starting off soft and sweet. So state Maharam \u1e24alawa and <strong>Tashbetz<\/strong>, and this is the ruling in SA 473:5, <strong>Pri \u1e24adash<\/strong> 472:5, and SAH 472:30. Additionally, according to Raavyah and <strong>Hagahot Maimoniyot<\/strong> (quoted by <strong>Tur<\/strong> and SA), whatever is mentioned first in the Mishna is the preferable choice for <strong>maror<\/strong>, and lettuce (which the Mishna calls \u201c<strong>\u1e25azeret<\/strong>\u201d even though \u201c<strong>\u1e25azeret<\/strong>\u201d in modern Hebrew is horseradish) is in fact mentioned first. <strong>Responsa<\/strong> <strong>\u1e24azon Ovadia<\/strong> \u00a735 expands on this topic.<\/p>\n<p>Another opinion appears in a <strong>beraita <\/strong>in <strong>Pesa\u1e25im<\/strong> 39a: Any bitter vegetable that exudes latex and has a blanched complexion (i.e., it is whitish-green) is <strong>maror<\/strong>. The Rishonim debated this: according to Ri\u2019az, Maharam \u1e24alawa, and others, any vegetable that has these characteristics is indeed <strong>maror<\/strong>. According to <strong>Smak<\/strong>, on the other hand, these characteristics are just features common to the five types of vegetables mentioned in the Mishna, but no vegetable outside what is listed in the Mishna is acceptable for <strong>maror.<\/strong> Rif and Rambam do not mention these characteristics, either because they maintain that only the five vegetables listed in the Mishna are acceptable, and these characteristics consequently are meaningless, or because they maintain that we are not experts in identifying these characteristics, so we have no ability to determine what other vegetables are fit for <strong>maror<\/strong>. Practically, one who does not have lettuce or horseradish should use another vegetable that has these characteristics, but should not recite a <strong>berakha<\/strong> over it, in case we are not adept at identifying these characteristics or it is not one of the five acceptable species. This is the ruling in MB 473:46 and BHL <strong>ad loc.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Torah commandment to eat maror on the night of the 15th of Nisan is contingent upon the eating of the Paschal sacrifice, as it states: \u201cThey shall eat it with matzot and merorim [plural of maror]\u201d (Bamidbar 9:11). Since we are unable to offer the Paschal sacrifice today, the mitzva to eat maror is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-16-seder-night"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>27.\u00a0The Mitzva to Eat Maror - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/04-16-27\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"27.\u00a0The Mitzva to Eat Maror - Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Torah commandment to eat maror on the night of the 15th of Nisan is contingent upon the eating of the Paschal sacrifice, as it states: \u201cThey shall eat it with matzot and merorim [plural of maror]\u201d (Bamidbar 9:11). 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