HOW TO PREPARE
THE SEDER PLATE
The special foods we place on this plate have a special meaning
ZEROA - THE SHANK BONE
- Roasted meat represents the lamb that was the sacrifice
on the night before the Jews
left Egypt - The shank bone should be roasted
- If you can't get a shank bone, you can roast chicken necks
- They are meant as a representation & not meant to be eaten but you can't use them
for the 2nd Seder - You need a second set of chicken necks for the 2nd Seder
BAYTZA - HARD BOILED EGG
- Represents the holiday offering brought in the days of the Bais HaMikdash (holy temple)
- After the egg is hard boiled, you roast it in the oven until you see some brown marks on it
- This egg is not eaten during the seder
KARPAS - GREEN VEGETABLE
- After the first washing of the hands, we eat a green vegetable
- It's to remind us of the 600,000 Jews were slaves in Egypt who were forced to do
back-breaking labor. - It should be a root vegetable that isn’t bitter like celery, potatoes & parsley
- Sephardim use green onions
- The vegetable will be dipped in salt water
MAROR - BITTER HERBS
- Reminds us of the bitterness of the slavery of our forefathers in Egypt
- Grated white horseradish (Moror) &/or romaine lettuce (Chazeres) can be used as bitter herbs
- Most people put both a raw horseradish root & at least one Romaine lettuce leaf
on their seder plate - If you have more than 2 people, you will need to place an additional plate with lettuce on the table
- Either of these or both can be used for the bitter herbs & to make the sandwich
- Used towards the end of Magid (telling the Passover story) after the 2nd washing - see the Seder Schedule
CHAROSES
A
NUT, APPLE & WINE PASTE
- Is a mix of apples, nuts & wine which should remind us about the mortar & brick made by the Jews while they worked as slaves for Pharoah
- A scoop is placed on the Seder plate
- It is used towards the end of Magid (telling the Passover story) after the 2nd washing
- it is combined with the bitter herbs for Korach (sandwich) to make the taste of the bitter herbs
more palatable - There is only a small amount of Charoses on the Seder plate so you may need extra
on a plate so everyone has enough
The above items are usually placed on the Seder plate
in the form of 2 triangles - one below the other
ALSO ON THE TABLE
MATZAS
- 3 whole matzas covered by a cloth cover
SALT WATER
- Used to dip the vegetable we eat for Karpas (green vegetable) after the first washing of the hands
- 1 bowl of salt water for every 4 people should be adequate
HARD BOILED EGGS - PEELED
- Used towards the end of Magid (telling the Passover story) after the 2nd washing
- Everyone eats a hard boiled egg dipped in salt water
- There is only one egg on the seder plate so you need a bowl or plate of hard boiled eggs so there are enough eggs for each person to have one
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