Interactive Haggadah

The Passover Plate

The plate is placed at the head of the table. The food symbols are referenced during the Seder. They remain on the plate and are not to be eaten.

The foods are:

Moror (Bitter Herbs)

Karpas (Vegetable)

Charoses (chopped fruit and nuts mixture)

Z'roa (Bone)

Baytzo (Egg)

Chazeres (Vegetable)

The Significance of Matzah

"This matza that we eat on Passover-what is its meaning and what is its significance? The matza is a reminder of the haste with which the Israelites left Egypt. The dough that they were sunbaking on the hot rocks of the Egyptian fields was removed before it could leaven, and so it remained flat."

(The Concise Family Seder Prepared by Rabbi Alfred J. Kolatch. Jonathan David Publishers, Inc. Middle Village, New York. © 1997 by Alfred J. Kolatch)

[Editor's Note]: The Passover service calls specifically for Three Matzot. Naturally, there are several explanations why.

The Three Matzot

"Why 3?" you might ask.

Apparently, at regular Sabbath and festival meals, there are just 2 loaves of bread over which one recites the blessing.  To distinguish the holiday of Passover, "a third is used to mark the joyous nature of the occasion," according to Rabbi Alfred J. Kolatch's "The Family Seder."

Kolatch cites scholars' explanation for the 3 matzot as representing the Jewish community: priests, levites and Israelites.

[Editor's Note]: Now I just love this.  I had read an entirely different explanation for why there are 3 matzot.  According to Rabbi Eliezer Papo, Dan Yadin Ve-alef Hamagen, a major rabbinic figure born in Sarajevo in the latter part of the 18th century, the three matzot symbolize thought, speech, and action (top, middle and bottom matza, respectively). Read on for the wonderful explanation of why we break the middle matza.

Btw, the photograph above captures a slice of my own personal history as the handmade matzo bag belonged to my ancestors.

Yahats: Breaking the Middle Matsah

"The three matsot symbolize three things:

	the top one symbolizes thought;

		the middle one symbolizes speech; 

			and the bottom one symbolizes action."

"We take the middle matsah, symbolic of speech, and b r e a k it in two.

	We place half of it between the other two matsot as a hint that 

	one should link his speech to his thought and to his action.

	One's words should be thoughtful, consistent, and honest. 

	They should lead to proper action." 

"The other half, symbolic of the words of the Torah, is   (hidden away.)	

	This teaches that the wisdom of Torah is attained by the modest."

		-Rabbi Eliezer Papo, Dan Yadin Ve-alef Hamagen

"[Eliezer Papo] was a major rabbinic figure, born in Sarajevo in the latter part of the 18th century. He wrote commentaries, halakhic works, sermons, and ethical texts.He is best known for his book, Pele Yoets, a concise encyclopedia of Jewish concepts."

(Source: A Sephardic Passover Haggadah. Yahats: p.21.; Biographical Info. on Papo: p.112. Translated with commentary by Rabbi Marc D. Angel. KTAV Publishing House, Inc.Hoboken, NJ 1988)

Moror (Bitter Herbs)

Why bitter? Because this reminds us of the bitter lot of the enslaved Israelites.

Karpas (Vegetable)

This custom was common in ancient times. You can use celery, parsley, cucumber, radish, potato.

Charoset

The Charoset symbolizes the mortar made by the Children of Israel for their Egyptian taskmasters.

[Editor's Note]: In my Ashkenazi family, the Charoset is made with chopped apples, walnuts and cinnamon and some wine.  In Morocco, dates are used. And in Italy...pignoli nuts! I'd like to try that version someday.

The Shank Bone

The bone is symbolic of the "mighty arm" of God, as the Bible describes it, which influenced Pharaoh to release the Children of Israel from bondage.

The Egg

The egg symbolizes the festival sacrifice from Template days. Some authorities interpret it as a symbol of mourning for the loss of the Second Temple which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E.

Chazeret

The sixth compartment of the Seder Tray can hold: nothing, an orange (women's addition), or a second vegetable. The most common vegetables used are lettuce, watercress, or radish. Otherwise, any variety of vegetable that is or becomes bitter can be used.

The Biblical verse, `They shall eat it (the paschal lamb)
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs" (Numbers 9:11)
is probably the basis for the use of chazeres as one of the symbolic foods.
The verse speaks of bitter herbs (plural) and not a bitter herb.
Therefore, two types of bitter herbs (vegetables that have a bitter tang)
were introduced.

"The Mishna (Pesachim 2:6) speaks of chazeres as one of the herbs
(vegetables) that can be used on Passover to fulfill one's religious obligation.
It was not, however, uniformly adopted by all authorities.
Rabbi Isaac Luria, the 16th century mystic of German extraction,
also known as the `Ari' (using the initials: ha-Ashkenazi Rabbi Isaac),
is known to have used chazeres as one of the symbolic foods
on his Passover table.

But, the equally great 18th century scholar, Rabbi Elijah of Lithuania
(better known as `The Vilna Gaon'), did not place chazeres
on his Seder table."

Source: The Family Seder, Prepared by Rabbi Alfred J. Kolatch.

[Editor's Note]: You'll notice that I have no image of Chazeret to include here.  I guess my family sides with Rabbi Elijah of Lithuania, whether we realized it or not.