Haggadah:Karpas/0

Karpas

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The custom known today as Karpas is mentioned briefly in Mishna Pesachim 10:3-4:

EN/HEע/E

(ג) הֵבִיאוּ לְפָנָיו, מְטַבֵּל בַּחֲזֶרֶת עַד שֶׁהוּא מַגִּיעַ לְפַרְפֶּרֶת הַפַּת.

The passage's language is somewhat difficult, but it appears to speak of eating or dipping some food before the main meal.  The Mishna mentions chazeret explicitly, but the truncated phrase "and they brought before him" allows for the possibility that other foods or vegetables were brought as well.  No reason is given for the custom, and at first glance it would seem to have nothing to do with recounting the Exodus, making one wonder why it was incorporated into the Seder.