Six symbols of the Passover Seder

Most Seder plates have six "dishes" for the six symbols of the Passover Seder.

The symbols are:

Bitter herbs ( maror ) , usually horseradish, to symbolize the bitterness of Egyptian slavery.

Vegetable ( karpas ) , usually parsley, representing the tears shed during Egyptian slavery. The karpas is dipped into salt water during the Seder.

Bitter vegetable ( chazeret ) , often lettuce, used in addition to the maror as a bitter herb. Sometimes this is omitted, depending on the specific Jewish community.

Haroset , a ground mixture of apple, nuts and spices mixed with wine, to symbolize the mortar used by Hebrew slaves to build Egyptian structures.

Shankbone ( zeroa ) , symbolic of the Pascal lamb offered as the Passover sacrifice in Biblical times.

Roasted egg ( beitzah ) , represents the festival sacrifice made in biblical times.

Source: Congregation Beth Chaim, Princeton Junction, N.J., www.bethchaim.org