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Pesach Appetizer


Question:

Why do we eat a vegetable – called Karpas – before we eat the Matza at the Seder?



AskTheRabbi.org answered:

The Talmud explains that by beginning the Seder meal in an unusual way, with a vegetable instead of with bread (matza actually), the children will be curious and ask, "Why are we beginning the meal with a vegetable instead of bread?" Once their curiosity is aroused, they will be more attentive to the story of the Exodus. Why a vegetable? Just as a vegetable serves as an appetizer, so too the unusual things we do this evening are meant to whet the children's curiosity.


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