charoses

Alternative Spellings

charoset, charosis, haroset, kharoyses, charoises

Definitions

• Sweet, mushy mixture that represents mortar at the Passover seder.

Example Sentences

• "Shira's Persian grandma makes charoset with figs."
• "One of my favorite parts of Passover is chopping the apples for charoses."

Languages of Origin

Textual Hebrew

Etymology

חרוסת

Who Uses This

Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements

Regions

North America

Dictionaries

The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

Notes

Ingredients vary by region of origin. Middle Eastern and Sephardic Jews largely use dates, rather than apples. Common among Ashkenazim in the US: "The mixture of apples, sweet red wine, and chopped nuts that is placed on the seder plate at Pesach." (JPS)