Our  Seder plates include five items:

• zeroa , a roasted shank bone representing the Paschal lamb, the holiday offering made

in Temple days (vegetarians today often use a roasted beet for its blood-red color, or a

roasted sweet potato for the pun of calling it the Paschal Yam;)

• beitzah , a roasted egg (symbol of re/birth)

• maror , the bitter herb (usually horseradish), symbolizing the bitterness of slavery;

• karpas , the green vegetable, symbolizing spring growth and renewal;

• charoset , a mixture of apples/nuts/cinnamon (following a common Ashkenazic

recipe) or dates/nuts/honey (following a common Sefardic one), representing the clay

or mortar used by the Israelite slaves.