Esther Egg
The tradition of the Esther Egg began with 1st century Jews who were secret followers of Jesus. It was the tradition of these followers to mourn the suffering of Jesus on the 14th of Aviv by fasting and breaking their fast with a roast egg, a symbol of re-birth, in affirmation of the resurrection of the dead. This egg also became a symbol for them of the Paschal lamb which they no-longer sacrificed following the splitting of the temple veil. In order to avoid being thrown out of the synagogues, the mourners would claim that the fast and the egg were in memory of Esther's fast, and hence they became known as Esther Eggs. In time these traditions spread among other Jews too. Rabbinical tradition was able to identify these practices as belonging to the followers of Jesus and made some reforms to prevent the traditions from being used as a way to convert Jews into followers of Jesus. The fast of Esther was moved to the 13th of Adar. The Fast of the 14th became the Fast of the Firstborn. The Beitzah which had worked its way into the Seder was given the significance of the Korban Hagigah instead of the Korban Pesach.
