שלחן עורך
Eating the festive meal

QUESTION: Why is it customary to eat an egg at the beginning of the meal?

ANSWER: It is customary for a mourner to eat eggs. Hence, an egg is eaten for the last meal before the fast on Tishah B’Av, when we mourn the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. Similarly, on Pesach the fact that we do not have the Pesach-offering reminds of us the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. Thus, we place an egg on the Seder plate and eat it at the start of the meal.

It is interesting to note that every year the first seder and Tishah B’Av take place on the same day of the week.

(רמ"א סי' תע"ו, ב', ועי' ט"ז)

Alternatively, the Egyptians were strict vegetarians. They did not eat meat or fish or anything which came from the animal kingdom, such as blood, milk, or eggs. Due to this lifestyle, shepherds were “abhorrent to Egyptians” (Bereishit 46:34), and they despised anyone who ate animal derivatives (see Ibn Ezra, Shemot 22:8).

Hence, to demonstrate that we are emancipated from Egypt and have no fear of the Egyptians or respect for their practices, we eat an egg at the outset of the festive meal and follow it up with fish, meat, and all the dainties.

(אוצר כל מנהגי ישרון מר' אברהם אליעזר ז"ל הירשאוויץ)