Haholchim B'Torat HaShem
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Passover Part 10b
Haholchim B'Torat HaShem
Saturday December 2 2017, 11:39 PM

In speaking about which herbs are acceptable for the Marror; the bitter herb, I left off with the issue of lettuce. There is no question that lettuce is the preferred marror of the Talmud. The Jerusalem Talmud even notes that all the herbs acceptable for marror are, in fact, first cousins of lettuce (further proof that horseradish is NOT marror). But how is lettuce a bitter herb? Yes, some varieties are tangy...but bitter? Wild lettuce is indeed extremely bitter, and is even a mild narcotic (search "opium lettuce").But cultivated lettuce is not. There are several explanations in Talmud for this. One is the fact that even the sweetest lettuce, if left in the ground past its normal harvest date, becomes bitter. There is a valuable lesson in this. The Israelites went down to Egypt in "royal style"; their brother being the Viceroy. It was a sweet time for them, until "there arose a new King, who knew not Joseph", who enslaved them. According to the Talmud, the slavery was at first voluntary, with appeals to participate in building projects based on their patriotism. This soon became mandatory. How often in life do we make choices that seem "sweet", but wind up enslaving us, making our lives bitter? So, in this interpretation, the marror is not now bitter, but is a warning of things to come, if we make incorrect choices. Another Talmudic explanation is that lettuce has a tough texture. If eaten by itself, one's jaw begins to ache after a few minutes. Here, too, it's not a question of bitter taste, but rather a sweet experience, that turns bitter. Another interpretation, this time offered not by rabbis, but historians, is that in some languages related to Hebrew, the name for lettuce is "Merriru" (bitter). In the ancient Near East, lamb with lettuce were a common Spring treat. The lamb is reminiscent of Aries, the Ram in the Zodiac, that is the first symbol of the twelve signs, and ushers in Spring. (Compare the lamb with mint, known even today in many Christian cultures). According to this view, HaShem is telling us that yes, it is Spring. But Spring has a new significance; the Exodus, the new beginning of a life of Torah. The ram was a major Egyptian deity. We now slaughter it. The lettuce, once a symbol of the sweetness and renewal of Spring, now has the dual meaning of sweet and bitter; slavery and freedom, similar to the matzah. In life, what happens is less significant than how we relate to what is happening. Spring arrives, Man cheers, but for the Jew, we see the deep lessons of life and history. Spring is OUR business, not just something that happens to us. This is the paradigm of life. In my next installments, i shall describe the Seder; its elements and meanings.