As well as the festive items that add beauty to every holiday table, the table for the Passover Seder includes a special Seder tray containing symbolic foods. This Seder tray is placed at the head or center of the table. 

At an ordinary Sabbath or holiday meal, two loaves of bread are placed on the table, and a blessing is recited over them. On Passover, however, instead of simply using two  matzot  as substitutes for the leavened bread which is prohibited during Passover, a third  matzot  is added to celebrate the joy of the occasion. Some scholars have seen the use of three  matzot  to represent the whole of the Jewish community. 

The Seder tray usually has six indentations in which the following symbolic foods are placed: 

  • Maror,  or bitter herbs. Either the head of a horseradish or grated white horseradish is placed in the  maror  compartment.  Maror  symbolizes the bitterness of the enslaved Jews described later in the Haggadah. An extra dish of horseradish is placed aside, with enough for each participant to have a sufficient amount during the Seder. 
  • Karpas, or vegetable. At one point during the Seder, participants dip a vegetable into salt water. Celery, parsley, cucumber, radish, or potato are the vegetables commonly used.  
  • Charoset,  or food mixture. There are many recipes for this sweet mixture.  Charoset  is symbolic of the mortar the Jews made when they worked for their Egyptian taskmasters. 
  • Zeroa,  or bone. The bone is symbolic of the "mighty arm" of God, as the Bible describes it, which influenced Pharaoh to release the Jews from bondage. 
  • Baytza,  or egg. A hardboiled egg is roasted and placed on the tray. The egg is symbolic of the sacrifice brought in Temple times.     

Alongside the place-setting of each guest, a glass is placed for the drinking of the four cups of wine (or, for our younger participants, grape juice). Four cups of wine are consumed during the Seder as a reminder of the four references to Redemption that are mentioned in the Book of Exodus: 

  • I will  bring  you out of Egypt. 
  • I will  deliver  you from bondage.  
  • I will  redeem  you with an outstretched arm.
  • I will take  you to Me for a people.  

Several bowls of salt water are placed on the table for use during the Seder. The salt water is used as a dip for the  karpas  and also for dipping the hardboiled eggs, which are eaten immediately before the main meal is served. The Cup of Elijah is kept nearby.  


haggadah Section: Introduction
Source: The Concise Family Seder