Zeroa

Passover Seder plate.Categories (with imaged examples in brackets):
1.Zeroa(shankbone)
2.Beitza(roasted hard-boiled egg)
3.Maror/Chazeret(horseradish)
4.Maror/Chazeret(onion)
5.Charoset
6.Karpas(parsley)

Zeroa(Hebrew:זרוֹע) is alambshank boneor roastchickenwing or neck used onPassoverand placed on theSeder plate.It symbolizes thekorban Pesach(Pesach sacrifice), a lamb that was offered in theTemple in Jerusalem,then roasted (70 CE) during thedestruction of the Temple,thez'roaserves as a visual reminder of the Pesach sacrifice. InAshkenaziand manySephardifamilies, it is not eaten or handled during the Seder, as it represents a sacrifice made at the Temple, but is not actually, making it taboo to eat.Vegetariansoften substitute abeet,quotingPesachim 114bas justification.

History

The origin of the custom comes from theGemarain the tractatePesachimof theBabylonian Talmudand theJerusalem Talmud,which discuss the question of what are those two dishes that theMishnahsays one must bring to theSeder night.According to the Gemara, the two dishes are the Zeroa of thePassover sacrificeand an Beitza (egg) as a symbol of the Chagigah offering.