The Making of the Afikoman
(Take the middle matzah of the three on your Seder plate. Break it into two pieces. Wrap the larger piece, the Afikoman, in a napkin to be hidden later. As you hold up the remaining smaller piece, read these words together:)
"A whole vessel can contain its measure, but a broken one can hold the Infinite."
According to tradition, we leave the top matzah whole and take the middle matzah to break in half so we can bless the top matzah later, because we aren't supposed to bless things that aren't whole.
But when you break something in half, aren't each of the halves now a complete whole?
Is your body or soul ever completely whole? We feel blessed for the creation of our universe, even though many atrocities and acts of injustice make it broken. We know that nothing is ever completely whole, so let's be thankful for all the pieces that work towards making a whole.
Over the course of the evening, we are going to follow the Afikoman on its journey. Step one of that journey is breaking apart an otherwise unremarkable piece of matzah. What we learn is that the first step to liberation is an act of breaking. The second step is naming that brokenness. In this case, the name is Afikoman.
We now invite you to go around your table and name one thing what you would like to break in your own lives.
(Break into small groups and each person gives one answer.)
Inspired to create
your own Haggadah?
Make your own Haggadah and share with other Seder lovers around the world
Have an idea
for a clip?
People like you bring their creativity to Haggadot.com when they share their ideas in a clip
Support Us
with your donation
Help us build moments of meaning and connection through
home-based Jewish rituals.
OUR TOP CONTRIBUTORS
Passover Guide
Hosting your first Passover Seder? Not sure what food to serve? Curious to
know more about the holiday? Explore our Passover 101 Guide for answers
to all of your questions.