With Passover looming close, less than a week away, one of the things Jewish consumers worldwide will be looking for is their bitter pickings – what they will be using for Maror for the Seder.
In the old Marrano days, many a tale was told of Jews finding their fellow compatriots by looking at which person was buying the bitter things in the fresh produce selection right before the Passover holiday. Jewish custom called for a bitter herb of some sort to be served on Pesach. The question remains, what bitter herb was it that was being bought and what qualifies as the traditional Maror?
In Jewish heritage, the place to go to for explanation of Jewish laws was the compendium of Oral Law that first began as the Mishne and then expanded into the Talmud. Regarding the Maror, we turn to Pesachim (39) where the law is explained that Maror is a plant that features sap, has somewhat of a color tinge of grayish and is bitter. It is definitely a veggie and cannot be a fruit product.
Many European Jews use the root of a vegetable for their Maror. They use a horseradish root. It is a plant. It is whitish-grayish and boy, oh boy, is it bitter (or is that taste sharp?!). Yet, many authorities opine that the favored Maror to use is a lettuce-like plant. That has usually meant Romaine Lettuce for many a Seder. It does seem from many of the Halachic discussions in various Jewish tomes that any lettuce used should have a bit of bitterness.
"What if you cannot find Romaine Lettuce? Can we go foraging for an herb for Maror. There are various plants in the wild that seems to fit the bill."
Hence, when going for a foraging course, this writer wondered if Bitterdock can be used for a Seder Maror. It definitely is way more bitter than Romaine lettuce and it oozes its sap quite copiously and there is no mistaking it can have a grey cast
Then again, is it possible to find a wild plant with a more grayish pallor? Perhaps, then, the burdock plant is more akin to Maror. It, too, is bitter, oozes quite well, and yes, this one has a grayish tinge on the underside.
Quite a question – whether or not foragers can find their bitter herbs in the wild. Another monkey wrench thrown into the discussions in recent years has been due to growing techniques changing. If you grow the Romaine Lettuce hydroponically, will it still qualify as a veggie grown from the ground?
The CRC, which is the Kashrus authority in Chicago, writes their ruling, based on rabbinic authorities, that:
“The use of hydroponically-grown Romaine lettuce at the Seder is much more straightforward, as Chazon Ish (Kilayim 13:16) conclusively proves fromGemara, Pesachim 35b that wheat that grew unattached to the ground (e.g. in a flowerpot) may be used for matzah at the Seder. Since many of the requirements for marror, including that it must be produce of the “land”, are derived from the halachos of matzah (see Gemara, Pesachim 39a) it follows that hydroponically-grown marror may surely be used at the Seder.”
The CRC did mention, however, that there is a difference between authorities whether hydroponically grown vegetables would be blessed with a Ha’adama or Shekahol Bracha. Depending on that answer of what you think the proper blessing might be might color whether or not you can use those new-fangled lettuces for your Seder table.
If that didn’t complicate the question of your Maror enough, guess what NASA has just done last year to add a wrinkle in the issue? They’ve grown Romaine lettuce up in space. Yup, the new question is what about Maror grown on the moon?
For those Talmudic scholars wanting to debate the issue, we’ve given you these facts to start you off. The lettuce grown in space was grown on a specially devised rack called “VEGGIE”. The way it works is that a pillow with seeds on it are installed to a root mat, then put into the VEGGIE apparatus. The crew then gets to water the plants and a “flat panel light bank that includes red, blue and green LEDs” provides the lights and action to grow the seeds.
This author doesn’t purport to be the Halachic authority on what strange ways to find a Marror kosher for the Passover Seder. For that, ask your local Orthodox Rabbi. However, what I can recommend is that if you’d like to find out more about the Pesach Seder than just bitter herbs, go to https://www.worldofbelz.org/pesach-passover/
In the old Marrano days, many a tale was told of Jews finding their fellow compatriots by looking at which person was buying the bitter things in the fresh produce selection right before the Passover holiday. Jewish custom called for a bitter herb of some sort to be served on Pesach. The question remains, what bitter herb was it that was being bought and what qualifies as the traditional Maror?
In Jewish heritage, the place to go to for explanation of Jewish laws was the compendium of Oral Law that first began as the Mishne and then expanded into the Talmud. Regarding the Maror, we turn to Pesachim (39) where the law is explained that Maror is a plant that features sap, has somewhat of a color tinge of grayish and is bitter. It is definitely a veggie and cannot be a fruit product.
Many European Jews use the root of a vegetable for their Maror. They use a horseradish root. It is a plant. It is whitish-grayish and boy, oh boy, is it bitter (or is that taste sharp?!). Yet, many authorities opine that the favored Maror to use is a lettuce-like plant. That has usually meant Romaine Lettuce for many a Seder. It does seem from many of the Halachic discussions in various Jewish tomes that any lettuce used should have a bit of bitterness.
"What if you cannot find Romaine Lettuce? Can we go foraging for an herb for Maror. There are various plants in the wild that seems to fit the bill."
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Then again, is it possible to find a wild plant with a more grayish pallor? Perhaps, then, the burdock plant is more akin to Maror. It, too, is bitter, oozes quite well, and yes, this one has a grayish tinge on the underside.
Quite a question – whether or not foragers can find their bitter herbs in the wild. Another monkey wrench thrown into the discussions in recent years has been due to growing techniques changing. If you grow the Romaine Lettuce hydroponically, will it still qualify as a veggie grown from the ground?
The CRC, which is the Kashrus authority in Chicago, writes their ruling, based on rabbinic authorities, that:
“The use of hydroponically-grown Romaine lettuce at the Seder is much more straightforward, as Chazon Ish (Kilayim 13:16) conclusively proves fromGemara, Pesachim 35b that wheat that grew unattached to the ground (e.g. in a flowerpot) may be used for matzah at the Seder. Since many of the requirements for marror, including that it must be produce of the “land”, are derived from the halachos of matzah (see Gemara, Pesachim 39a) it follows that hydroponically-grown marror may surely be used at the Seder.”
The CRC did mention, however, that there is a difference between authorities whether hydroponically grown vegetables would be blessed with a Ha’adama or Shekahol Bracha. Depending on that answer of what you think the proper blessing might be might color whether or not you can use those new-fangled lettuces for your Seder table.
If that didn’t complicate the question of your Maror enough, guess what NASA has just done last year to add a wrinkle in the issue? They’ve grown Romaine lettuce up in space. Yup, the new question is what about Maror grown on the moon?
For those Talmudic scholars wanting to debate the issue, we’ve given you these facts to start you off. The lettuce grown in space was grown on a specially devised rack called “VEGGIE”. The way it works is that a pillow with seeds on it are installed to a root mat, then put into the VEGGIE apparatus. The crew then gets to water the plants and a “flat panel light bank that includes red, blue and green LEDs” provides the lights and action to grow the seeds.
This author doesn’t purport to be the Halachic authority on what strange ways to find a Marror kosher for the Passover Seder. For that, ask your local Orthodox Rabbi. However, what I can recommend is that if you’d like to find out more about the Pesach Seder than just bitter herbs, go to https://www.worldofbelz.org/pesach-passover/
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