• Four cups of red wine or grape juice — Each cup is related to a different Biblical verse that promises that God will redeem the Israelites from bondage in Egypt.
  
  
• Parsley — a spring vegetable that reminds us of the renewal of spring.
  
  
• Bitter Herb (usually horseradish) — reminds us of the bitterness of the slavery that the Israelites endured in Egypt.
  
  
• Charoset — a sweet, chopped mixture of nuts, fruit and wine.  This symbolizes the mortar that the Israelites used to build the store houses for Pharaoh.
  
  
• Salted water — represents the tears the Israelites shed when they were slaves in Egypt.  The parsley is dipped in the salt water.
  
  
• Hardboiled Egg — represents the cycle of the seasons and the wish for a fruitful spring.
  
  
• Matzah — the unleavened bread the Israelites baked before leaving Egypt.
  

The Seder Plate

     The seder plate contains a sample of each of the special ritual foods used in the seder as well as several additional items.  The actual seder plate can be a beautiful art object or a simple plate.  There is a Jewish art tradition of creating especially beautiful seder plates in a wide variety of materials including ceramics, precious metals, and wood.  The plate on the right is from Czechoslovakia and dates from the 19th century.

Foods on the Seder Plate:

• A piece of Romaine lettuce or celery — symbolizes spring.
  
  
• Roasted egg — reminds us of the cycle of the seasons and of the sacrifices in the Temple.  (The roasted egg is not eaten.  A hard-boiled egg is eaten right before the beginning of the festival meal.)
  
  
• Roasted lamb shank bone — reminds us of the pascal offering in the Temple.
  
  
• Parsley — a spring vegetable that reminds us of the renewal of spring.
  
  
• Bitter Herb (usually horseradish) — reminds us of the bitterness of the slavery that the Israelites endured in Egypt.
  
  
• Charoset — a sweet, chopped mixture of nuts, fruit, and wine.  This symbolizes the mortar that the Israelites used to build the storehouses for Pharaoh.
  
  
• Salted water — represents the tears the Israelites shed when they were slaves in Egypt.  The parsley is dipped in the salt water.

Three pieces of matzah are usually put on a separate plate and covered with a napkin or a special matzah cover.

The matzah cover on the left is from Hungary and dates from the 19th century.  It has three pockets in which each matzah is placed.