We now take some maror and charoset and put them between two pieces of matzah and give the sandwich to the person on our left.

In combining maror with charoset, we recall our sage Hillel (head of the supreme council of Yisrael, 1st century B.C.E.) who, in remembrance of the loss of the Temple, created the Korech sandwich. He said that by eating the Korech, we would taste the bitterness of slavery mixed with the sweetness of freedom. This practice suggests that part of the challenge of living is to taste freedom even in the midst of oppression, and to be ever conscious of the oppression of others even when we feel that we are free.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

But if I am for myself only, what am I?

And if not now, when?

-- Hillel

And if not with others, how? -- Adrienne Rich


haggadah Section: Koreich
Source: Love + Justice In Times of War Haggadah