When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, one of the most important rituals was eating the lamb offered as the pesach, or Passover sacrifice. The great sage Hillel would put the meat in a sandwich made of matzah and bitter herbs. While we do not make animal sacrifices any more – and, in fact, some Jews have a custom of purposely avoiding lamb during the seder so that it is not mistaken as a sacrifice – we honor this custom by eating a sandwich of the remaining matzah and bitter herbs. Matzah, the bread of freedom, should be tasted together with the bitter maror so that one should not know the bitterness of slavery without the joy of freedom.

Some people will also include charoset in the sandwich to remind us that God’s kindness helped relieve the bitterness of slavery. Whose kindness relieves the bitterness of recovery for you?


haggadah Section: Koreich