Eggs and Shank Bones

Chochom: The custom is that we place two cooked foods on the Seder plate. One cooked food symbolizes the Korban Pesach and one cooked food symbolizes the Korban Chagigah. It has become a widespread custom to use an egg to symbolize the Korban Chagigah. Since there is no Chagigah this year, why is there an egg on the Seder plate?

Tatty: Eggs-celent question! Indeed, the Tur (483) cites an opinion not to use an egg this year for eggs-actly the reason you said. Still, the Tur cites the opinion of Rabbeinu Peretz who says to keep the Seder plate the same this year as every other year. Indeed, I believe that is the widely-held custom. Why does that make my Seder plate cracked up?

Chochom: It doesn’t fit with the zeroa-shank bone-tibia.

Tatty: One can use any piece of meat for the zeroa. However, there is an old custom to use a shank bone or the tibia on the Seder plate to represent the Korban Pesach. This is because Hashem took us out of Egypt with a zeroa netuya, an outstretched arm. Therefore, there is a custom to specifically use a zeroa, a bone from the animal’s arm to represent the Pesach. It actually looks very nice next to the egg. In fact, I use it every year. They sell it in the supermarket next to the saltwater. What is the problem this year?

Chochom: How did you prepare the shank bone?

Tatty: Good question. There actually is some history there. When we had the Beis HaMikdosh, we used to roast the Korban Pesach over a fire using a spit from a pomegranate plant.

Chochom: Are you allowed to cut down branches from a fruit tree if it’s not for the benefit of the plant?

Tatty: Well, some say there is never a problem with pruning a fruit tree even if it’s not beneficial for the fruit tree. Others say that for the performance of a great mitzvah such as roasting the Korban Pesach, one may cut branches off a fruit tree.

Chochom: Is that how you roasted the shank bone?

Tatty: No, it was too hard for me to get my hands on a piece of pomegranate wood. Instead, I reenacted the roasting of the Korban Pesach using a shank bone and wood. I roasted it directly over a wood fire.

Chochom: Why didn’t you use a grill?

Tatty: Many, if not most, Rishonim are of the opinion that a Korban Pesach that was roasted on a grill may not be eaten. The Korban Pesach had to be roasted directly over a fire. So I followed the Shulchan Aruch and did what I could to symbolize the Korban Pesach by roasting the shank bone directly on a fire.

Chochom: But what should the average homeowner who wants to fulfill this custom do?

Tatty: The VaYaged Moshe says one could hold a fork with the piece of meat on it and roast it over the fire on the stovetop and not let it touch the grates. But ultimately, if that is not possible or there is no time, one may cook the food in any way. Still, we seem to have gone far afield. What does this have to do with the egg?

Chochom: We seem to follow Rabbeinu Peretz’s opinion quoted in the Tur. He said to use an egg on the Seder plate this year as we do every year. The egg is just a remembrance for the Korban Chagigah. It’s not the actual Korban Chagigah. In fact, he reasons that if you don’t use an egg this year, you are intimating that the egg is somehow a real Chagigah. People are going to get the wrong idea. They will think that we are allowed to eat actual sacrifices outside the Beis Hamikdash and Yerushalayim. You should especially put an egg on the seder plate this year to show that the egg is just a symbol and not a real korban.

Tatty: Sounds nice, but what does that have to do with the shank bone?

Chochom: You followed the opinion of the Shulchan Aruch. You were so careful to roast the shank bone in a manner that is valid for the Korban Pesach. People might get the wrong idea, that somehow the shank bone is not just a symbol but an actual Passover sacrifice.

Tatty: Wow, I am shepping such nachas. This is exactly the point that Shelah Hakodesh makes. He says it’s better not to roast the shank bone over fire. One should cook it in water instead for the very reason you mentioned; people may misunderstand. Moreover, if it is cooked, then a small piece of the meat can be eaten by everyone at the festive Seder meal. Now, that it is roasted, it may not be eaten on the Seder night because of the custom on not eating roasted meat on the night of the seder. He even cites support for his view from the opinion that says we do use an egg this year. The similarities shouldn’t be mirrored too closely.

Chochom: But Tatty, so why do you roast the shank bone and still use an egg this year?

Tatty: I follow the custom that my parents have always followed. Perhaps the very fact that we use an egg this year, and moreover specifically use an egg as opposed to meat which is clearly not a korban, demonstrates that we are not actually sanctifying food items as a Pesach or Chagigah. Nevertheless, I will be careful when I discuss the Korban Pesach at the Seder. I will not actually pick up the shank bone so that people will not get the wrong idea.

We should be zocheh that we will be able to offer real sacrifices soon.