Seder Symbols

The Seder plate contains foods that have special symbols for this holiday:

Charoset: A mixture of chopped walnuts, wine, cinnamon and apples that represents the mortar the Jewish slaves used to assemble the Pharaoh's bricks. We dip the marror into charoset to lesson the bitter herbs' taste. Recipes for charoset vary widely among Jews: the above list of ingredients is more common for Ashkenazic Jews. One Sephardic recipe includes bananas, dates, raisins, apples, nuts, wine, and cinnamon.

Parsley / Karpos: Symbolizing springtime and rebirth, it is dipped in salt water to remind us of the tears of the Jewish slaves.

Roasted Egg / Beitzah: Another symbol of Spring and a symbol of festival sacrifice.

Shank Bone / Zeroa: Symbolic of the sacrificial lamb offering.

Bitter Herbs / Marror: Freshly cut horseradish reflects the bitter affliction of slavery.

Orange: An innovation on the Passover plate based on an urban legend. During a bat mitzvah service, a traditional Jewish man remarked about the woman rabbi on a bimah (pulpit): "she belongs there like an orange belongs on a Seder plate." Thereafter many people place an orange on the Seder plate as a symbol of the sweetness of freedom and equality.

During the Seder, four glasses of wine are poured to represent the four stages of the Exodus: Freedom • Deliverance • Redemption • Release

A mysterious fifth cup of wine is poured and placed on the Seder table. This is the cup of Elijah, an offering for the Prophet Elijah. There is also an innovative cup of Miriam. During the Seder the door is opened to invite the prophet Elijah in.