The Ka’arah- Seder Plate

The Ka’arah is a plate specifically designed for the Seder, with spaces to display the essential items on the Seder table: the shankbone, the roasted egg, the maror (bitter herbs), the Charoses, and, according to most opinions, also the karpas. The Ka’arah is placed before the master of the house. Other members of the household do not require individual Ka’aros, but will obtain their Seder foods from the master of the house. The custom of Square and Biyana Chassidim is that all men, from the age of thirteen and onward, obtain their own Ka’aros. Similarly, the custom of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l and the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt”l was that all men receive their own Ka’arah.

Many have the custom that all the men have their own matzos before them, but not their own Ka’aros. The custom of Chabad, Tchernobal, and Leluv Chassidim is to place the Ka’arah to the left of the head of the household, with his Kiddush cup to the right.

There are different customs regarding when the Ka’arah should be assembled and brought to the table:

A) Some have the custom to assemble it and bring it to the table before Yom Tov. This is the view of the Chayei Adam, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, Mateh Moshe, Shelah Hakadosh, Rav Yaakov Koppel zt”l, the Chasam Sofer, and Rav Y. Dushinsky zt”l.
B) Others have the custom to assemble and bring it to the table after donning the kittel, before Kiddush. This is the view of the Pri Megadim, Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l, Chabad Chassidim, and the custom of those in Yerushalayim.
C) Others have the custom to assemble and bring it after Kiddush. This seems to be the view of the Shulchan Aruch.
D) The Gra holds that one should bring the Ka’arah to the table after eating the Karpas (vegetable dipped in salt water). One should conduct themselves according to their custom.

It is required to immerse metal and glass utensils that are purchased or acquired from a non-Jew in a mikvah prior to their first use. This mitzvah is referred to as Tevilas Keilim, the immersion of utensils. The Ka’arah also needs to be immersed in a mikvah prior to its first use, as it comes in contact with the Seder food. It is preferable to obtain the nicest Ka’arah possible, and many use a silver Ka’arah.

Charoses at the Seder

The view of Rav Elazar Ben Tzadok is that charoses constitutes a mitzvah. The Gemara presents two explanations of Rav Elazar ben Tzadok’s opinion. One explanation is that the thick texture and cloudy color of the Charoses recall the mortar that the Jewish slaves used for making bricks in Egypt. Another explanation is that the Charoses serves to remind us of the “Tapuchim” in Egypt. Rashi and Rashbam explain that the Jewish women in Egypt would painlessly and quietly give birth beneath the apple trees so that the Egyptians would not discover that a Jewish male was born. We follow the view of Rav Elazar Ben Tzadok.

The Rishonim write that Charoses is made from fruits mentioned in the Tanach, symbolizing the Jewish people (apples, figs, dates, walnuts, almonds, and pomegranates, with some adding grapes and pears). The Ari z”l would eat Charoses made from grapes, figs, dates, nuts, apples, pomegranates, and pears. The Ari z”l mentioned that the common custom among Ashkenazim was to make Charoses from nuts, apples, and pears. As noted above, one reason for eating Charoses is to recall the “Tapuchim” in Egypt. Rashi and Rashbam explain that Jewish women would give birth beneath apple trees so as not to have their male children discovered by the Egyptians.

It should be noted that Tosafos explains that the Biblical word “Tapuach” refers to a citrus fruit, like an esrog or an orange. This view of Tosafos was cited by Harav Yosef Dov Soloveichick zt”l. For this reason, Rav Hershel Schachter shlit”a (in a shiur) maintains that if one wishes to be accurate, they should use oranges or other citrus fruits for the charoses. Harav Avraham Blumenkrantz zt”l adds that in many Sefardic homes, apples are not used at all for the Charoses. Those who do use apples should also include some citrus fruit or juice. However, this does not seem to be the common custom.

The Gemara in Pesachim continues, teaching that we should add spices to the Charoses to remind us of the straw in Egypt. The Rama writes that the custom is to add cinnamon and ginger. The Baal Hatania explains that these spices resemble straw because even after being grated and ground, they maintain a strand-like form, similar to straw. Although the common custom is to use powdered cinnamon and ground ginger, it would seem that using powdered spices does not properly fulfill this custom, as they are no longer strand-like.

Harav David Feinstein shlit”a writes, “Semi-ground, long-shaped spices such as cinnamon and ginger should also be added, since they symbolize the straw that the Israelites worked with. While unground cinnamon or ginger is not widely available in America, these spices in their unground form have become available and can be used for charoses.”

As mentioned earlier, the fruit is chopped and ground into a thick mixture to resemble the mortar that the Jewish slaves made in Egypt. However, if it remains too thick, one would not be able to dip the Marror in the Charoses. Therefore, we add red wine to thin it out. The red wine also serves to recall the first of the ten plagues – the plague of blood.

The Chayei Adam and Chok Yaakov write that one should bring the Charoses to the table while it is thick. Right before dipping the Marror into it, wine should be added. When Pesach falls on Shabbos, the wine should be added before Shabbos. If one forgets, the wine can be added on Shabbos in an abnormal way, by first placing the wine into the vessel and then adding the Charoses. One should not mix it with a spoon or other utensil but should mix it with their finger or by shaking the vessel.