Next week, when we sit down together at our Seder tables, we will take a moment to ingest maror, the bitter herb that reminds us how the Egyptians deeply embittered the lives of our ancestors. While some of us are accustomed to (or even enjoy) the taste of this bitter bite, there is no doubt that the sour sense is present as we take in our horseradish root or the like. This is a most special moment in the Seder because it is not just minhag (evolved tradition) but also a biblical commandment: “With bitter herbs they shall eat” (Exodus 12:8). God calls upon us to take in the astringent herb so that we may never forget the harshness of personal and communal suffering.
In “Women at the Seder: A Passover Haggadah” (a wonderful compendium that celebrates the emergence of uniquely feminine traditions and teachings for Pesach), there is an added understanding offered by Rookie Billet—a leading teacher and administrator in yeshiva high school education and Jewish education for decades—for why we take in maror on Passover:
For the women, the bitterness of life does not express itself in back-breaking labor, in the travail of bricks and mortar, and in all the manner of field work, no matter how physically challenging, painful, or grueling they may be. For a woman, the taste of maror evokes the bitterness experienced when her children are under siege, whether by Pharaoh of old or modern-day enemies. When the safety and security of her family is at risk, when no matter what measures she takes, the bitter reality is that she cannot protect her loved ones from terror, murder, maiming, or mayhem.
I certainly believe this compelling teaching can be applied to any human being who has a great love of children—–parents, teachers, all of us. Indeed, this text conjures up an image I saw recently: Empty strollers on a subway platform in Przemysl, Poland, left by Polish parents for Ukrainian refugees and their babies fleeing the conflict in Ukraine. The bitter herbs remind us that there is no greater pain than seeing children suffer, and that each of us—as members of a righteous community that remembers the bittereness of slavery and suffering—must do our part in caring for those in need. May this Passover season bring us the blessed sweetness of a world at peace.
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— Cantor Emma