A devotional for Passover by Ryan Karp
Most people can’t even say the word. You have to use the back of your throat and the result is a little bit of spit coming out. And no, there is no English translation for it.
The way my Gentile wife described charoset when she first saw it was that it was sort of like the filling for an apple pie. However you relate to the mixture of apples, honey, nuts, juice, and cinnamon, it is DELICIOUS! It is one of my favorite parts of Passover. Every Jewish person knows when it is coming because it follows the awfully bitter horseradish. But the peculiar part is that it is not one of the three parts of the Passover as mandated by the book of Exodus and reiterated by Rabbi Gamaliel in rabbinic literature. So why do we have it?
You can tell by the ingredients that the mixture, which is described as a reminder of the mortar that the Hebrew slaves used, is incredibly sweet.
“The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.”
Exodus 1:13-14
And more than the mortar explanation, I like the concept of what the sweetness brings to the Passover meal. As a family sits around the Passover dinner table, they partake of parsley and salt water, dry matzah and horseradish. These are not exactly the most enjoyable treats. But while all of these elements remind us of the trials that we suffered in Egypt as slaves, there are very few occasions within the order of the service that remind us that God did indeed deliver us from slavery.
Yet when we take the matzah with the horseradish and then cover it with the sweet charoset so that the bitterness of the horseradish is masked, I love that picture. Yes we suffered, but let’s not forget that all of those ill feelings or thoughts of our tribulations pale in comparison of the sweetness of God’s deliverance. That is why we don’t taste the bitterness, only the sweetness.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
Romans 8:18
“For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting. And His faithfulness to all generations.”
Psalm 100:5
Ryan Karp grew up in suburban Maryland with a Jewish father and Gentile mother. His family celebrated the occasional Jewish holidays but other than that, there was no real connection to the Jewish religion except the occasional synagogue visit. When Ryan was eight, his father accepted Jesus as his Messiah after experiencing a Passover presentation by a Chosen People Ministries missionary. After seeing how the Jewish celebration of Passover foreshadows Jesus’ death and resurrection, his father came to faith and the family changed forever.
Ryan came to faith when he was ten years old. While on a tour to Israel with a group of young Jewish people, he shared that he believed that Jesus is the Messiah; the organization, with whom Ryan had traveled to Israel, made him leave the trip. His heart broke for the people on the tour. It was at this time that the Lord placed in him a desire to learn more about the scriptures and to share his faith with his Jewish people.
Ryan is now serving with Chosen People Ministries as Chicago Branch & Ministries Director and National Director of Young Adult Mobilization & Outreach. He enjoys speaking in churches about the Jewish roots of the Christian faith and has a deep and sincere desire to share the Gospel with the Jewish people and to share with churches how to do the same.