Zeroa

(Hebrew: זרוֹע‎) is a lamb shank bone or roast chicken wing or neck used on Passover and placed on the Seder plate. It symbolizes the korban Pesach (Pesach sacrifice), a lamb that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, then roasted (70 CE) during the destruction of the Temple, the z'roa serves as a visual reminder of the Pesach sacrifice. In Ashkenazi and many Sephardi families, it is not eaten or handled during the Seder, as it represents a sacrifice made at the Temple, but is not actually, making it taboo to eat.[1] Vegetarians often substitute a beet, quoting Pesachim 114b as justification.[2]

Passover Seder plate. Categories (with imaged examples in brackets):
1. Zeroa (shankbone)
2. Beitza (roasted hard-boiled egg)
3. Maror /Chazeret (horseradish)
4. Maror /Chazeret (onion)
5. Charoset
6. Karpas (parsley)

References

1. "The Shank Bone (Zeroah)". www.chabad.org. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
2. "A Vegetarian Shankbone". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved 2020-04-04.