The Sexy Little Secret of Passover

A quick post before running over to my old friend Kenny's place for my first Passover Seder in many, many years.

I'm planning on breaking out this fascinating story, courtesy of Rabbi Arthur Waskow, with the assembled (hopefully at the least appropriate moment):

A question: "Why is there charoset on the Seder plate?"

That's the most secret Question at the Seder - nobody even asks it. And it's got the most secret answer: none.

The Haggadah explains about matzah, the bread so dry it blocks your insides for a week.

The Haggadah explains about the horseradish so bitter it blows the lid off your lungs and makes breathing so painful you wish you could just stop. The Haggadah even explains about that scrawny chicken neck masquerading as a whole roast lamb.

But it never explains charoset.

Fear not, Waskow will, and it's kind of juicy ... (charoset -- a tasty combination of nuts and fruits -- is usually explained as a symbol of the mortar used by an enslaved Jewish people to build the pyramids).