Why: Breaking the middle matzah
Rabbi Zoë Klein, Temple Isaiah
A Tunisian custom is to say “This is how God split the Red Sea” and then break the middle matzah.
Israelis of Yeminite origin wrap the afikomen in a napkin and places it over his shoulder throughout the chanting of the Hagaddah, symbolizing both the liberation from Egypt, and more recently, the rescue of the Jews of Yemen in Operation Magic Carpet in 1948.
Discuss why we hide one half of the matzah. Perhaps because redemption is not complete…our people may have been redeemed from Egypt, but there are still many people that need to be found and rescued. Perhaps because God is sometimes hidden in our world. Perhaps to symbolize an oppressed mentality, where someone who does not know from where his next meal will come hides some for later.
Has anyone at your seder ever felt broken?
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