Yachatz - Braking the Middle Matzah
We break the matzah in two, reflecting the deep brokenness in our world and our commitment to repair it.
There are three pieces of matzah stacked on the table. We now break the middle matzah into two pieces. We wrap the larger of the pieces and, at some point between now and the end of dinner, one of us will hide it. This piece is called the afikomen, literally “dessert” in Greek. After dinner, the kids hunt for the afikomen. Because the meal cannot end until all guests taste the afikomen, whoever has found it may ransom it back to the other guests.
We eat matzah in memory of the quick flight of our ancestors from Egypt. As slaves, they faced many false starts before finally securing their freedom. So when the word of their freedom came, they took whatever dough they had and ran with it before it had the chance to rise, letting it bake in the sun, and thus looking something like matzah.
This is the bread of poverty which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. All who are hungry, come and eat; all who are needy, come and celebrate Passover with us. This year we are here; next year may we be in Israel. This year we are slaves; next year we will be free.
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