(14) Three times a year you shall hold a festival for Me: (15) You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread—eating unleavened bread for seven days as I have commanded you—at the set time in the month of Abib, for in it you went forth from Egypt; and none shall appear before Me empty-handed;
(ב) אֲפִלּוּ בְּשַׂר עֵגֶל וְעוֹף, כָּל דָּבָר שֶׁטָּעוּן שְׁחִיטָה, אָסוּר לֶאֱכֹל צָלִי בְּמָקוֹם שֶׁנָּהֲגוּ שֶׁלֹּא לֶאֱכֹל צָלִי. הַגָּה: נוֹהֲגִים בִּקְצָת מְקוֹמוֹת לֶאֱכֹל בַּסְּעֻדָּה בֵּיצִים, זֵכֶר לַאֲבֵלוּת, וְנִרְאֶה לִי הַטַּעַם מִשּׁוּם שֶׁלֵּיל תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב נִקְבַּע בְּלֵיל פֶּסַח, וְעוֹד זֵכֶר לַחֻרְבָּן שֶׁהָיוּ מַקְרִיבִין קָרְבַּן פֶּסַח. וְיֵשׁ נוֹהֲגִין שֶׁלֹּא לֶאֱכֹל שׁוּם טִבּוּל בַּלַּיְלָה, רַק ב' טִבּוּלִים שֶׁעוֹשִׂים בַּסֵּדֶר (מַהֲרִי''ל).
16th century code of Jewish law written by Rabbi Yosef Caro
Even in regards to the meat of a calf or a bird, anything which requires Shechita (ritual slaughter) is forbidden to eat (the night of Passover) in a place where it is the custom to not eat roasted food (on the night of Passover).
Rema {Rabbi Moshe Isserles' Ashkenazic/Polish commentary on the Shulchan Arukh}
Some places have the custom to eat Eggs at their Seder, as a symbol of mourning, and I think the reason is to see that the night of Tisha B'av (which commemerates the destruction of the Temple) is rooted in the night of the Passover Seder. Furthermore, it is in remembrance of the destruction of the Temple, where we used to bring our Passover offerings. But some have the custom of not eating anything which might be dipped...
The Gemara asks: What are these two cooked foods mentioned in the mishna? Rav Huna said: Beets and rice. The Gemara relates that Rava would seek beets and rice for his meal on Passover night, since this ruling came from Rav Huna’s mouth. Although Rava realized that Rav Huna was merely citing examples and did not mean that one must eat those specific foods, he wanted to fulfill the statement of his teacher precisely...Ḥizkiya said: The two cooked foods can even be fish and the egg that that was fried on it. Rav Yosef said: One requires two types of meat on Passover night, one in remembrance of the Paschal lamb and the other one in remembrance of the Festival peace-offering, which was also eaten on Passover night. Ravina said: For the two cooked foods one may use even the meat on the bone and the gravy in which it was cooked.
כשהיה בית-המקדש קיים היו מביאים לירושלים עם קרבן הפסח גם קרבן חגיגה; את בשר קרבן החגיגה אכלו לפני קרבן הפסח. היום אנו מניחים בקערה ביצה מבושלת, זכר לקרבן חגיגה.
יש נוהגים שלא לאכול את הזרוע ואת הביצה עד למחרת ה"סדר"; לפי מנהג אחר אוכל עורך ה"סדר" את הביצה שבקערה בליל ה"סדר" או למחר היום.
Encyclopedia Yehudit
When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, they used to bring, along with the Passover offering, a special Holiday offering. They would eat the meat of the Holiday offering before that of the Passover offering. Today we place a cook egg on our Seder plate, in remembrance of the Holiday offering.
There are some who have the custom of not eating the Shankbone or Egg until one full day after the last Seder. There is another custom that some people eat the Egg from the Seder plate on the night of the Seder itself, or the next morning.
(יא) (יא) ונ"ל הטעם וכו' - והגר"א כתב עוד טעם מפני שהביצה הוא זכר לחגיגה וכמבואר לעיל בסימן תע"ג ס"ד וע"כ צריך לאכלו ג"כ ומה שאין אוכלין הזרוע לפי שעושין אותו צלי כמ"ש בסימן תע"ג ואין אוכלין צלי ויוצאין באפיקומן שאוכלין עכ"ד ולפ"ז נראה דיהדר לאכול גם בליל א' אותה ביצה שעל הקערה ושאר ביצים שאוכלין הוא משום שנשתרבב המנהג:
The Mishnah Berurah was written by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, a 19th century Rabbi in Poland
The GRA (a late 18th century Lithuanian Rabbi) further wrote that the reason for the Egg is as a remembrance of the Holiday offering. And as it explains elsewhere, we need to eat this, as well. But we do not eat the Shankbone as it is roasted (and eating roasted things is forbidden until the Temple is rebuilt)....and we see that eating the egg on the Seder plate is a beautiful action, and any other Eggs we eat that night are simply multiplying the custom.
A Kabbalistic take on the Egg, which corresponds each letter of the name of God with a rationale behind the purpose of the Egg
|
yud |
wisdom |
egg laid by a live hen |
|
|
hei |
understanding |
egg found in slaughtered chicken |
|
|
vav |
zeir anpin; the six emotive powers |
egg fertilized by male bird within a distance of sixty houses |
|
|
hei |
kingdom |
unfertilized egg produced by the hen when she is warmed by the earth |
Eggs in the Talmud
Susan Weingarten
Excerpt from "A Humanistic Haggadah"
BEITSAH - EGG - [Roasted egg held up for all to see.] BEITSAH Why do we have an egg on the Seder plate? The egg is a symbol of life and of the rebirth that occurs each Spring. But the egg is also fragile and so it also represents potential that can be destroyed. Growing life needs warmth and love and security, guidance, hope, and vision. Beitsah is also a symbol of the interdependent web of life.
Rabbi David Pincus commentary on the Haggadah
Gevurah - The Beitza symbolizes the Korban Chagigah. An egg is round, and closed in on all sides, which implies limitation and finite-ness, which is the idea of Gevurah, which implies strictless and limitations. So it symbolizes physical gifts, which are finite and limited. The Beitza is on the plate to remind us that even physical gifts from Hashem must be connected in our mind to their source, which is also Hashem. And we cannot only look at spiritual gifts as having a spiritual source (i.e. Hashem), but we must look at those physical gifts as well as coming from Hashem.
I was also thinking that this breakdown is interesting in another way. The Z'roah is the right side, the side of Chesed, which is the "masculine" side. And its symbol on the seder plate is the Z'roah, which is a Kav, a line, which is similar to the letter zayin, which means "zachar," male. (V'hameivin yavin.) So that's an interesting correspondance. Also, the Beitza is on the left side, and symbolizes Gevurah, which is the "femenine" side. And the Beitza is similarly an appropriate symbol for the femenine side since an egg would certainly correspond to the femine side for obvious reasons.
Ariel Pelaia, about.judaism.com
Roasted, Hard-Boiled Egg (Beitzah, ביצה): There are several interpretations of the symbolism of the roasted and hard-boiled egg. During the time of the Temple, a korban chagigah, or festival sacrifice, was given at the Temple and the roasted egg represents that meat offering. Also, hard boiled eggs were traditionally the first food served to mourners after a funeral, and thus the egg serves as a symbol of mourning for the loss of the two Temples (the first in 586 BCE and the second in 70 CE).
During the meal, the egg is merely symbolic, but usually, once the meal begins, people dip a hard-boiled egg in salt water as the first food of the actual meal.
The Symbolism of the Egg
Mama Lisa's Blog
The egg is also part of the Jewish Passover holiday that takes place in the Spring. The egg is placed on the Seder plate and is a symbol of sacrifice and loss. Yet to some it also symbolizes the full cycle of life, and therefore hope and rebirth. (The egg is a more recent addition to the Seder plate compared to the other symbolic items that are found there and its symbolic meaning seems to be more open to interpretation.)