Seder Plate

A Seder Plate is a special plate used during the Passover Seder that contains symbolic food eaten by Jewish families. The plate contains six circles around the circumference, each containing a symbolic item of food. Each ingredient used has a special significance to The Exodus story, which is told during the religious meal.

The six items used on the plate are bitter herbs, charoset, a vegetable, a lamb shankbone, an egg, and lettuce.

The bitter herbs represent the "bitterness" of slavery. The charoset is used to represent the bricks and mortar used slaves to build the storehouses of Egypt. The vegetables are dipped into salt water to represent tears and mirrors the pain that the Jewish slaves felt. The shankbone of a lamb is there to represent the lamb sacrificed upon Exodus. And completing the plate is the egg which represents the Passover holiday offerings and the lettuce which also symbolizes the harshness of slavery. Some Jewish families add additional items to their plates which mean different things.