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B'nai Emet -> Messages -> Conservative Jewish Commitment -> 2003CharosetNothing in Judaism is done without a reason. Each recipe and its ingredients
have a source. For example, the Mishna in Pesachim 114a talks of a disagreement
between the Sages and Rav Elazar ben Tzadok. The Sages argue that eating
charoset is not a mitzvah, while Rav Elazar maintains that it is. The Gemarah in
Pesachim 116a explains the disagreement. According to the Sages, the charoset is
only there to make the maror more palatable and less bitter. Rav Elazar’s
position had two explanations – one, the charoset is eaten to remind us of the
mortar that held the bricks together when we were slaves in Egypt, and the
second is in remembrance of the apple trees in Egypt. Apple trees? Rashi
explains that the Jewish women in Egypt gave birth under the cover of the apple
trees so the Egyptians would not see, and then kill the Jewish baby boys. Here,
then, is the source for the Ashkenazi tradition of using apples in the charoset.
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