Marror

Marror

The concept of Marror is elusive. Why must we eat bitter herbs on the night of Pesach? After all there are many ways to feel yechy without the herbs. Furthermore , the bitter herb dejure is romaine lettuce. I don’t know about your taste but it doesn’t taste bitter to me!

So why call it Marror and the horseradish is called tamcha or chrain? If it’s supposed to have a real bitter taste then go with the horseradish or some other really vile food?

Commentaries will tell you that the lettuce, if left on the stalk, starts out, sweet but winds up bitter. So too, the Egyptians tried to appeal to our loyalties by accusing us of not possessing any patriotism for the country and its’ public works. A big deal was made over volunteerism in which all the populace were invited in participating in the public works.

Pharaoh came the first day of volunteering with his own tools and worked alongside the commoners. “Great“!, we thought we will work with the king to make for a new frontier in the destiny of greater Egypt! Little did we know that it was a ruse to take us out of our safe places and have us concentrated, where threats and intimidation made us acquiesce to involuntary servitude.

So Pharaoh started out sweetly, like the romaine lettuce, winding up as a bitter root. Therefore, the romaine is eaten to teach us this important lesson. As the Proverb says,”the lips of the harlot drool with sweetness but her purpose is as bitter as wormwood”!

“Very nice”, you say ,however the romaine isn’t bitter! So why the stress on having the romaine? Let’s just hold our noses and swallow the horseradish (btw jarred horseradish is not acceptable for use at the Seder as it has vinegar in it and isn’t the raw herb)!

One might say that oftentimes people refer to salad as animal food. In fact, the lettuce is an ideal food for all kinds of critters! So why am I eating this - am I just another critter ? If I looked in the mirror while I was eating I might wonder as to the difference between myself and the fauna that surrounds us. That realization should makes us pause and become embittered!

In looking for a hint in the word chazeres - you see the word

Chozer-returning, within it. This has two connotations.

1)that our bodies return to the earth due to our collective sins that haven’t been corrected.

2)that we must return again and again until we correct our souls and the world in which we live.

Thus, the chazeres is the expression of the toil of man that is perpetual. Indeed the very notion that we are frail and incomplete is enough to embitter us with the status quo.

This is why the Marror has to be eaten with the Paschal Lamb and Matzo. These represent the hope and belief in a bright future no matter the present situation.

Perhaps this why the great sage Rabbi Yehuda the Prince ,

Redactor of the Mishneh always had chazeres on his table ,

Even in winter. One might ask that if you already have a hothouse why settle for lettuce?

The answer might be to remind the great Rabbi that indulgence ,while pleasant ,leaves the person with the need to return again and again to this world. That is, until we get it right and correct that which needs correcting, in ourselves and in the world.

When Rabbi Yehuda died he lifted up his fingers and said that he had never had any selfish benefit from this world during his entire life. That means that everything he did was for a higher purpose!

Another element in the chazeres = Marror matter, is that it can be grown throughout the year and in a mild climate can be harvested up to 4 times. It can be available all year long.

Originally, the lettuce juice was used as a mild opiate that would induce sleep. It also helped stimulate one’s appetite.

Both of these elements are physically pleasant but could be spiritually destructive. Furthermore ,the milky juice of the romaine is bitter and the bitterness is found at the stalks as well as the tops of the leaves.

This juice was used as a medicine in the ancient world. Medicines are known to be bitter . Since the lettuce was the source of the bitter medicine ,it too was called bitter-marror!

As such, the term has now come full circle. The bitterness in the marror- medicine healed you . Similarly the bitterness and disappointments of life are actually a healing for us. Thus the bitterness, the constant return to another life are really good!

It only doesn’t taste that way!

So here we have 4 ideas about the “bitter” Romaine Lettuce:

1)the things that start out sweet must be suspect. Perhaps they will turn bitter in the end as Pharaoh did.

2)by focusing on the food we eat we are no better than the animal.

3)the marror is also called chazeres which hints at the return to dust as well as the soul’s reincarnation to correct this life’s wrongs.

4)the ancients used the juice of the lettuce as medicine. It had many therapeutic attributes. Hence, it was called marror-for medicine is always bitter.

As such, the lettuce was also called marror for being the source of the bitters.

Here we see that the bitterness was seen as healthful and curative. Therefore the bitterness of life brings the ecstasy of redemption , just as it did in the time before the Exodus!

We can now understand the reason for the division of marror into 2 piles.

At first the pains of life are bitter ,however they bring forth the chazeres , the renewal of life. Ultimately it brings ther renewal of the Divine Presence in Jerusalem through Meshach ! May he come NOW!