Pesachim 39a — the Talmud in English

Mishna:

It is a positive mitzva from the Torah to eat maror “on the first night of Passover, together with the Passover sacrifice,” as it is written: “They shall eat it with fire-roasted meat and matza, with bitter herbs.” And with every vegetable that contains bitterness, one fulfills the obligation of maror.

And these

are the

vegetables with which a person fulfills his obligation on Passover

for the mitzva of maror:

with ḥazeret,

with tamkha, with ḥarḥavina, with ulshin, and with maror [a vegetable whose name is thus]!

And one fulfills it with them,

both

when they are

fresh

and

both

when they are

dry!

dry!

But not

does one fulfill it with them when they are

pickled

in vinegar,

nor

when they are

boiled [cooked extensively until they have dissolved],

nor

when they are

cooked

in the ordinary manner of cooking.

And the measure for eating maror is an olive-bulk. And it is not necessary to eat a complete olive-bulk from one species alone; rather,

they combine

all these species

for an olive-bulk

!

For if one ate half an olive-bulk from this species and half an olive-bulk from another species , he has fulfilled his obligation .

And

not only with the leaves, but

one fulfills it

even

with their stalk!

And

one also fulfills it

with

maror of

demai !

But not with maror of untithed produce. And although the tithing of vegetables is only rabbinic, nevertheless one does not fulfill it with it, because it is a mitzva performed through a transgression.

And

likewise one fulfills it

with

maror of

first tithe whose teruma has been removed

whose teruma has been removed [terumat ma'aser]! And even if they brought it forward while it was still in stalks, and the great teruma had not been removed from it, one fulfills the obligation with it, as explained above concerning matza.

And

likewise one fulfills it

with second tithe and consecrated property that have been redeemed!

And even though they were not redeemed in accordance with their law initially, as explained above concerning matza.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: With ḥazeret, with tamkha, with ḥarḥavina, with ulshin, and with maror! And it proceeds to explain.

“Ḥazeret,”

it is

ḥasa

[lettuce].

“Ulshin,”

they are

hindavi

[a type of grass].

“Tamkha” —

Rabba bar bar Ḥana said: Its name is tamkhta!

And it is what is called nowadays “ḥazeret.”

“Ḥarḥavina” —

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Atsvata de-dikla!

That is, a fiber that grows and winds around the date palm. And it is a species of seed [Tosafot].

And “maror”

— it is

marirata.

Bar Kappara taught: These are the vegetables with which a person fulfills his obligation on Passover: with ulshin, with tamkha, with ḥarḥalin, with ḥarḥavinin, and with ḥazerin [ḥazeret]!

[lettuce]!

Rabbi Yehuda says:

one fulfills the obligation

even

with

wild ulshin, and

with

garden ulshin, and

with

ḥazeret!

We raised an objection:

garden ulshin

[that is, ordinary “ulshin”]

and ḥazeret, behold

already

he taught it at the beginning

of the beraita. And what did Rabbi Yehuda add by this?

And we answer: Rabbi Yehuda came to add only wild ulshin, with which one fulfills the obligation despite their having an accompanying name. For they are not called simply “ulshin,”” but “wild ulshin.” And

this is what he says: Even wild ulshin

are

like garden ulshin and

like

ḥazeret,

and one fulfills the obligation with them.

Rabbi Meir says: Even

one fulfills the obligation with

asuוס, and

with

tura, and

with

mar yuar!

And all of them are species of vegetables.

Rabbi Yosei said

to Rabbi Meir:

Asuוס and

tura are one

species. And

the vegetable

is bitter. And this is

the same species that is called

mar yuar!

And all of them are one vegetable, which has three names.

The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: These are the vegetables with which a person fulfills his obligation on Passover: with ḥazeret, with ulshin, with tamkha, with ḥarḥavinin, with ḥarginin, and with hardufnin !

Rabbi Yehuda says: Even ḥazeret yulin and ḥazeret galin

are

like them!

And one fulfills with them the obligation of maror, despite their having an accompanying name and not being called simply “ḥazeret.”

Rabbi Ila'a says in the name of Rabbi Eliezer: One may even

fulfill the obligation with

arkabelin!

That is atsvata de-ḥarzayata, which is explained in tractate Eruvin. It is a large and thick fiber. And it is an independent species of plant, which climbs upon the date palm in the form of strings, like vine branches.

And

Rabbi Ila'a said:

I went over all the students

of Rabbi Eliezer,

and I sought a colleague

to assist me, who had also heard this from him,

but I did not find one. And when I came before Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov, he acknowledged to me

that Rabbi Eliezer had also declared arkabelin fit.

Rabbi Yehuda says:

One fulfills the obligation of maror with

any

vegetable

that has sap!

For when it is squeezed at the place where it was cut, white sap like milk emerges from it.

Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka says:

One fulfills the obligation with

any

vegetable that is not very green, like a leek, but

whose surface is whitish,

and it is somewhat light-colored.

Others say: Every bitter vegetable

has these signs. And invariably

it has sap, and its surface is whitish.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: From the words of

all the tannaim

together

who explained all the different names of the vegetables,

we learn

that every

bitter vegetable has sap, and its surface is whitish!

For all the vegetables mentioned have these signs.

Rav Huna said: The halakha is in accordance with Others!

And one fulfills the obligation with every vegetable that has all these signs.

Ravina found Rav Aḥa son of Rava, who was seeking amarrita

[who sought for the mitzva the vegetable called “maror”].

He said to him: What is your reasoning

that maror is preferable to the other vegetables? If

because it is more bitter

[for it is very bitter], nevertheless it is not the most preferable. For

behold

“ḥazeret”

we learned

at the beginning.

And

so

the school of Shmuel taught: Ḥazeret

is preferable to all of them!

And

so

Rabbi Oshaya said: The mitzva is with ḥazeret

more than with the others!

And

the reason is as

Rava said: What is ḥazeret? —

—

Ḥasa!

And

what

is the reason it is called

“ḥasa”? —

Because it is a remembrance of the fact

that the Merciful One took pity upon us

[that the Holy One, blessed is He, took pity upon us]! It follows that lettuce is suitable for the mitzva of maror. And therefore this name was given to it, as a remembrance of the mercy of God upon us when He brought us out of Egypt.

And Rav Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: Why were

the sufferings of the

Egyptians compared to maror

[as it is written, “They embittered their lives”]?

To tell you: Just as this maror, whose beginning

[at the beginning of its growth] is

soft, and

at

its end

its stalk becomes

hard

like wood —

so

the

Egyptians

were.

Their beginning was soft, and their end was hard!

For at first they treated Israel gently, and they enslaved them only in exchange for wages, in order to entice them to work. And in the end they subjected them to harsh labor . It follows that the mitzva of maror is best fulfilled with lettuce, which possesses the stated characteristic. Rav Aḥa son of Rava said to Ravina: I retract my position!

I retract my position and will no longer seek out marirata

.

Rav Raḥumi said to Abaye: From where

do you know that this maror

that the Torah commanded concerning is a species of vegetable?

Say

that it is

the gall of a kufya

[the gall of a fish whose name is kufya].

He said to him: Maror was compared to matza. Therefore, we require maror that is

similar to matza. Just as matza

comes from

things that grow from the ground, so maror does not

come

except from things that grow from the ground.

And he further asked him:

But say it is harduf

[a bitter tree with which Moses sweetened the waters at Marah]! And from where do we know that it is a vegetable?

And he answered him:

We require it to be similar to matza.

Just as matza

comes from

a species of seeds

[for it comes only from the five species of grain],

so maror

is only from

a species of seeds.

And he further asked him:

But say it is harzifu

[a seed that is a deadly poison for cattle and is not food], and from where do we know that it is an edible vegetable ?

And he answered him:

We require it to be similar to matza.

Just as matza

comes from edible produce

that is purchased with second-tithe money

[for second-tithe money may be redeemed only for food, as it is written: “And you shall spend the money on whatever your soul desires, on cattle, on sheep, on wine, on strong drink, and so forth”],

so maror

is only food

that is purchased with second-tithe money

second-tithe .

Rabba bar Ḥanin said to Abaye: Say that one does not fulfill the obligation of maror

.

except with

one

species alone! And let us require specifically the bitterest species of them all. And why does one fulfill the obligation with many species of vegetables?

He said to him: Behold,

“bitter herbs”

is written.

This implies many species.

And he asked him again:

But say,

“bitter herbs”

means

two

species alone, for the minimum of a plural is two.

He said to him: Since it was compared to matza, it is

similar to matza. Just as matza

comes from

many species

[the five species of grain],

so

with

maror

one fulfills the obligation with

many species.

Rabba bar Rav Huna said in the name of Rav: All the

vegetables concerning which the Sages said that a person fulfills his obligation with them on Passover are sown in one garden bed!

And it might have entered one’s mind that they are not subject to the prohibition of diverse kinds with one another because they are all one species. And the Torah prohibited only sowing two species together.

And we raised an objection:

Does this mean that there is no prohibition of diverse kinds with them? —

Rava objected:

We learned:

Ordinary ḥazeret

and

ḥazeret galin,

they are one species. Therefore, they are sown together, and there is no prohibition of diverse kinds with them. And likewise

ulshin and wild ulshin, leeks and wild leeks, coriander and wild coriander, mustard and Egyptian mustard, and Egyptian squash and dela'at ha-rmutza

[a bitter squash that must be sweetened in hot ashes] — each pair separately is sown together, because the two vegetables in it

are not diverse kinds with one another!

And although the name of one is the name of the vegetable itself without an accompanying name, while the other is called with the addition of an accompanying name [such as “ḥazeret galin” or “wild ulshin”], nevertheless they are one species.

It follows that specifically the two in each pair, such as

“ḥazeret”

and “ḥazeret galin,” are not

[not diverse kinds with one another]. But

ḥazeret and ulshin,

which belong to two different pairs,

are not

one species. And although both are included among the vegetables with which one fulfills the obligation of maror, they are diverse kinds with one another. And this is difficult for Rav.

And if you would say

to answer that

all

the species taught in the above Mishna

were taught together,

and even if they are not from the same pair they are not diverse kinds with one another — this cannot be said.

For

Rav himself said:

It was taught in pairs

in the Mishna. And specifically two that belong to the same pair are not diverse kinds with one another.

And we answer: What is the meaning of

“sown

in one garden bed,”

as Rav said

[concerning all the vegetables with which one fulfills the obligation of maror]? He did not say that they are sown in a mixture. Rather,

they are sown according to their law!

And they are indeed different species. And they may be sown only in accordance with the laws of diverse kinds, namely, at such a distance that they do not draw nourishment from one another, such as distributing five species over an area of six handbreadths by six handbreadths.

“may be planted

in one garden bed”

that Rav said

mean [concerning all the vegetables that may be used for bitter herbs]? It does not mean that they may be planted in a mixture. Rather,

they may be planted according to the law!

They are indeed different species, and they may be planted only in accordance with the laws of diverse kinds—that is, at such a distance that they do not draw nourishment from one another, such as by distributing five species over an area of six handbreadths by six handbreadths.