Yachatz

We take the middle of the three matzot and break it in two. The smaller piece is replaced between the other two matzot. The larger piece is wrapped in a napkin and set aside as the "afikomen," from a Greek word that means dessert. Later we will share it. Just as in days of old, the Paschal lamb offering itself was shared during this service at the Temple in Jerusalem. Among people everywhere, sharing of bread forms a bond of fellowship.

For the sake of our redemption we say together the ancient words which join us with our own people and with all who are in need, with the wrongly imprisoned and the homeless. For our redemption is bound up with the deliverance from bondage of people everywhere.

This is the bread of affliction, the simple bread which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat with us. Let all who are enslaved become free. Let all who are oppressed become liberated.

This is the bread of affliction, the poor bread our ancestors ate as slaves in the land of Mitzrayim.

Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are needy share the hope of this Passover celebration.

This year we are here. Next year may we be in the land of Israel.

This year we are all still in bonds. Next year may we all be free.

Cover the matzah.

Stealing the Afikomen

The child in each of us (and all the children at the Seder) watch carefully as the afikomen is hidden away, lost from sight, and later redeemed. We have all learned that the afikomen is used to hold the children's attention until the end of Seder. The tradition has evolved in families to become "stealing" the matzah. The child who finds it pays a negotiated ransom in order to get back to the table. But are we encouraging our children to steal, blackmail, and extort money? Or is this simply another a matter of "that's simply how they did it in the old country..." The wise men who started this custom wanted to remind all of us, young and old, that we can't finish the Seder without acting childlike, and to force us to seek answers to the questions we are (supposed to be) asking. And if it costs us a little extra in the form of a reward or punishment (no pain, no gain), then that is the reminder for which we need to be prepared.