Shank Bone 1

One of the most unusual items on the Passover Seder Plate is the Shank Bone of a Lamb. When one looks at this plate prominently displayed at the Seder it captures your attention immediately.  Why would this dry, uneatable bone hold the central place of the main display at the table?  Is it to keep the dog (with the big brown eyes) happy?

No, actually, the bone is the main part of the story.  In ancient times the bone used to contain roasted meat which the family would eat.  We are told in Exodus 12:3-11 how to select and prepare the lamb.

The famous Hillel Sandwich (eaten just before dinner) was a composite of three items: Motzah smeared with bitter herbs (morror) and a piece of roasted lamb.  Today that sandwich (without the lamb) is only a bitter reminder of what it used to be.

The Afikomen (Tzofun) which is eaten as the dessert was formally a morsel of the roasted lamb, saved to be savored at the end.  This savory taste was strong enough to last into the night.

Shortly after 70 AD Lamb's meat was removed from the Passover Seder as a reminder of the Temple's destruction.  In the good times over 260,000 lambs were killed in the ritually acceptable method in the Temple on the day of Preparation.  After the Temple was destroyed, there was (is) no longer a place to kill the lamb in the proper manner.  

The Jewish people stopped serving Lamb's meat on the Passover.  They placed an empty bone on the Seder plate.  They removed the meat from the Hillel Sandwich.  And they replaced the final taste of Lamb with a bit of Motzah.  Lamb is not served at the Seder in order to remember ... The Temple is destroyed.

;;; and the Jewish people hope for a Revival ... a time when they can return to the old pattern of faith ... to be continued ...