The Egg
The egg on the seder plate, along with the zeroa or shankbone, echoes an instruction in the Mishnah to include at least “two cooked foods” in our seder. The Talmud says the two foods represent two sacrifices, the korban pesach (Pesach sacrifice) and the korban chagigah (festival sacrifice), that were originally brought in the Temple on Passover.
What does the tradition’s choice of an egg as one of those "two cooked foods" mean?
Like the matzah, which represents both suffering and freedom in one food, the egg has taken on more than one symbolic meaning.
On the one hand, along with the parsley or green vegetable of karpas, eggs are a symbol of new growth, suitable for this “Festival of Spring.” Passover, the holiday of redemption, is a time of rebirth and renewal, and emphasizing its connection to spring reinforces that meaning. On the other hand, eggs are a food associated in Jewish tradition with mourning. They are often eaten by mourners at the first meal following a funeral of a loved one; and at the final meal before the fast of Tisha B’Av, eggs are served dipped in ashes. The seder plate egg reminds us of the way we observed Passover in Temple times; at the same time, it reminds us that the Temple has been destroyed, and the spiritual, ritual, and communal opportunities it offered to us are lost with it.
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