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Comments on Why two types of maror?
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Why two types of maror?
Some seder plates (or layout instructions in haggadot) use two bitter herbs (I'm used to seeing horseradish and endive), one labelled maror and one labelled chazeret. Others have only a single space for maror. What is the second one for, and is this custom or something stronger?
We eat maror twice, once for al achilat maror (dipped into the charoset) and once as part of the "Hillel sandwich". I was taught (um, somewhere...) that the Hillel sandwich addresses a dispute about timing -- some say to eat the matzah, maror, and (when the temple stood) lamb separately and others together, so we do both. I've never heard about a dispute about what to use for maror with the outcome of "do both", but I'm far from learned. None of the haggadot I've seen say to use maror for one and chazeret for the other.
It's possible that there's no dispute but, rather, we try to go beyond the minimum by experiencing two different types of bitterness -- a similar idea to hidur mitzvah, in a way.
It's possible that this is a difference among communities, and that some understand an obligation for two distinct bitter items and others do not, and the makers of seder plates and haggadot want to maximize the number of people who can use their products.
What is really going on with the second item for maror?
Post
One possible reason, but I have no source for it being a requirement in any way, is that we have two different categories of Maror. One is things like horseradish - immediately and unequivocally bitter. The other is things like romaine lettuce - bitter after a while but not obviously bitter.
This reflects two aspects of the experience of the Jews in Egypt. There are certain actions, such as the command to kill all the newborn boys, that are clearly horrible. But many aspects of slavery came on gradually, and the effects on the nation (as opposed to the individual hard labor) were not immediately obvious, even though by the time of the Exodus the slavery was extreme.
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