Is one supposed to eat the zero'ah (shank bone) from the Seder plate?

Question

I'd appreciate some clarity on this issue as I have heard and seen conflicting answers on this - in viewing various questions on this site as well as instructions in a haggadah. Here's some of what I have seen:

The shank bone symbolizes the Pesach sacrifice. Since there is no Beit Hamikdash, we can't offer the Pesach lamb. So there seems to be two customs regarding avoiding demonstrating that we are eating the Pesach lamb:

• Many people have the custom not to eat roasted meat on Seder night so as not to think one is eating the Pesach offering outside the Beit HaMikdash

• When we say "Pesach zu" in the Maggid section, we don't point to the bone on the seder plate, whereas we point / lift the matzah and maror.

  Thus, following these precedents, I would assume that one should not eat the bone.

However:

• I have read that one must eat the bone since food prepared for that day of Pesach must be eaten that day and not the next day. Otherwise, this becomes a problem of preparing from one day to the next.

  So, should you eat it as part of the Seder meal, or should you wait until the morning, or what? And why would waiting matter, anyway?

If the bone was prepared before Yom Tov, why would there be any problem of hachanah surely we could use it for both nights without having to eat it?

In short, what's the "final word" on this?

Answer 1

Mishna Berura 473.4 sk 32

(לב) וכן נוהגין בעירנו - לצלות הביצה. ואסור לאכול הזרוע בלילה דאין אוכלין צלי בלילה אבל הביצה אף שהיא צלויה מותר שאין איסור צלי בביצה ולפ"ז אסור לצלות הזרוע בלילה אלא מבעו"י אם לא שדעתו לאכלו למחר באותו היום וע"כ אם שכח וצלאו בלילה יזהר לאכלו מחר בבקר כ"כ המ"א ושארי אחרונים ואם דעתו שלא לאכול הביצה עד ליל ב' גם הביצה אסור לצלותה בלילה אלא מבעוד יום. כתב בח"א רע עלי המעשה שזורקין הזרוע והוא ביזוי מצוה. ומצוה להניח ביו"ט שני בבקר לתוך הצלי שצולין ליו"ט ואוכלין אותו:

At the end of the seif koton, he quotes Chaye Adam who feels with the fact that some people throw the zeroa in the Bin. This is disrespectful for the mitzva so one should put it at the second day of pesach with the meat they grill for Yom Tov.
Note: This explanation has nothing to do when the zeroa was grilled.

Answer 2

The Darkei Moshe (Rema) Orach CHaim 475,10 writes about the zeroa see points below for summary:

כתב מהרי"ו בדרשותיו שצריך לצלות הזרוע והביצה מבע"י דהואיל שאינו אוכלו בי"ט אסור לצלותו בי"ט ונראה דאם רוצה לאכלו בי"ט ראשון ולעשות אחרות לליל י"ט שני דרשות בידו ואז יוכל לצלות אף בי"ט הואיל שאכלו באותו יום ולא כתב מהרי"ו אלא לפי המנהג שנוהגים להשהותו עד ליל ב':
The Mahari veill says one should roast the meat on the bone and the egg during the day before Yom Tov since one does not eat the meat on the bone rather he keeps them till the second night of Seder to use again (it is forbidden to cook from one day of Yomtov for the sake of the next day unless its Shabbos where one requires an Eruv Tavshilin).
But it seems that as long as one intends to eat the meat of the bone or the egg during that Yom tov day's meal (As the meat which is roasted one should avoid eating on seder night as noted Shulchan Aruch 476,2) one can roast the bone with its meat on Seder night as one will eat it on the same day as it was cooked. One can then roast another bone with meat on the second night of seder for usage during Seder as one of the two cooked foods as long as he eats it the next day for the second Yom tov day meal. Even the Mahariv would have agreed to this had the minhag in his place not been to keep the same zeroa for both days.

• So when cooking Zeroa on Pesach night one must eat it the next day and make a new one on second night of seder.
• But if one cooks the zeroa on the day before Pesach one does not need to eat the bone meat rather keep it for both Seder nights and optionally eat it during the second day meal.
• Note: The bone should have meat as the Darkei Moshe ibid, 8 says עצם בלא בשר לא מיקרי תבשיל לכן צריך שיהא מעט בשר סריך עליו

Answer 3

Ben Ish Chay (Tzav 30) says not to eat it the first night or day of Pesach, but that you can roast it on Pesach anyway if you forgot to do so before Pesach. He implies that his responsum collection Mikavtziel may explain why, but I don't have a copy or see one online.