Karpas-a green vegetable, most often parsley. Karpas represents the initial flourishing of the Israelites during the first years in Egypt. Karpas also symbolizes the new spring.
Haroset-This mix of fruits, wine or honey, and nuts symbolizes the mortar that the Israelite slaves used to construct buildings for Pharaoh. The name itself comes from the Hebrew word cheres or clay.
Maror--This bitter herb allows us to taste the bitterness of slavery. Today, most Jews use horseradish as maror. We dip maror into harosetin order to associate the bitterness of slavery with the work that caused so much of this bitterness.
Z'roa--A roasted lamb shank bone that symbolizes the lamb that Jews sacrificed as the special Passover offering when the Temple stood in Jerusalem.
Beitzah--A roasted egg that symbolizes the hagigah sacrifice, which would be offered on every holiday (including Passover) when the Temple stood. The roundness of the egg also represents the cycle of life--even in the most painful of times, there is always hope for a new beginning.
