Q: What do the different foods on the Seder plate represent?
A: First, before the festival of Pesach commences, we eliminate all chametz (leavening) from our homes. Chametz corresponds to yeshut, ego, the outer dimension of the sefirah of understanding, from which severe judgments are aroused.
Wine corresponds to joy, the inner dimension of the sefirah of understanding.
Matzah corresponds to self-nullification, which is the inner dimension of the sefirah of wisdom.
Maror (bitter herbs) awakens the great compassion of the sefirah of (tiferet) beauty.
Charoset – The mortar symbolized by the charoset represents the eternal (netzach) building of the Nation of Israel.
Karpas – According to the Book of Formation, the feeling of slavery is a negative manifestation of the sefirah of hod (splendor). The positive manifestation of hod, includes a feeling of ruling. The karpas represents slavery, and redemption from slavery. Karpas is an acronym for samech (60 times 10,000 or 600,000 Jews) perech– slavery.
