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 places of both freedom and comfort, while we remember the bitterness of the hardships of our ancestors. We may be experiencing temporary isolation and uncertainty but there are many people all over the world experiencing inescapable poverty, homelessness, fear, hunger and violence.

Tonight, as we eat this sandwich, let us remember the privilege and joys of our position and the precarious situations of so many others.


haggadah Section: Koreich