The great sage Hillel provided us with the tradition of constructing the Hillel sandwich, combining the bitterness of the maror with the sweetness of the charoset between the fortitude of the two pieces of matzah--the symbol of freedom. Through this ritual, we think about mortar and brick. We think of the Israelites traveling through the desert with no homes, no place to land and build up their strong communities, and only the matzah as a reminder of their freedom. It is not until they came to the biblical Promised Land that they experienced the sweetness of their redemption.

We sit tonight in a place of relative freedom and comfort, while we remember the bitterness of the hardships of our ancestors; relative freedom as we are with stay at home orders with a pandemic taking lives. Some of us are worried about how we will pay the rent, mortgage or our bills, put food on our table, keep our business open. Tonight, as we eat this sandwich, let us remember both the privilege of our infrastructure and the freedom and comfort that our homes have provided us and how we still have much more than many others throughout the world, and for this we are thankful.


haggadah Section: Maror