HAROSHETH. - A symbolic dish made of fruit, part of the Jewish Passover supper ritual. The Mishnah prescribes (Pesahim, II, 8; X, 3) that for the Passover supper a porridge or semi-liquid paste be prepared, called haroseth (from Neo-Hebrew hares, "mud"). This paste was cooked on a base of "dates, figs, almonds," to which wine, vinegar, and cinnamon were mixed. Because of its blond-reddish color it recalled to mind the mud with which the Israelites in the land of Egypt were forced to make bricks (Ex. 1:14). It was the custom for the head of the family at the Passover supper to dip unleavened bread and bitter herbs in this mixture and hand them to the guests. There is no doubt that Jesus Christ followed this custom: in offering Judas "the morsel" or part of the lamb after having "dipped" it (Jn. 13:26), he alludes to a practice about which the historical sources are silent (Talmud, 116a; ed. L. Goldschmidt, II, Berlin 1901, p. 726).

Bibliography

BIBL.: H. L. Strack-P. Billerbeck, Kommentar zum N. Test., IV, Munich 1928, p. 65 ff.).

Urbano Holzmeister

@incollection{ec6_haroseth, author = {Holzmeister, Urbano}, title = {Haroseth}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {1366}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/haroseth} }

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Harosheth

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