Megan Pope is a Brooklyn-based playwright, comedy person, and thirst trap satirist. Despite their last name, they are actually very Jewish.

*Campy Voice* THREE Matzahs stand before us. But only ONE will be cracked in half and hidden for later (the middle one). 

As we break the unleavened bread, we are reminded that it is the bread of poverty which our ancestors made in the land of Egypt. A bread made with haste as they fled oppressive circumstances. This year, like most years, it also holds the weight of those who could not get out or are still running. 

There is no prayer that goes with Yachatz. It is supposed to be a time of silent reflection. We’ve had a shit-load of time for that this year... we’ve broken ourselves off from the world - from friends, family, and loved ones... we’ve sheltered ourselves in small apartments and had plenty of time to make bread that rises all the way... I’ve done so much reflecting on who we are and what we’re doing on this (insane-and-sometimes-amazing-but-currently-facacata) planet that I feel like I’m going to explode. 

In this sense, Passover and Yachatz may feel redundant. BUT! As I previously mentioned in my hopefully recognizable Drag Race/America’s Next Top Model reference at the top, Yachatz is ALSO about hopefulness and re-discovery. It’s about breaking and hiding with the knowledge that we will be returning to the broken piece later on (...even if the person who hides it, let’s say your grandpa, forgets where he hid it and it takes an extra 20 minutes to locate meanwhile your grandma has already jumped to the worst case scenario deciding you’ll never find it and it will rot in the wherever-it-is space causing giant rats and bugs infest the house forever and ever until everyone dies).

Finding a broken piece of matzah is cool (mostly because it’s been stuffed in a bookshelf and covered in dust and one of your cousins is going to dare your other cousin to eat it), but the anticipation? Is thrilling. Which proves that waiting, yearning, hoping, and preparing can be enjoyable. Something that I feel we, as Jews, often forget. Worry is very Jewish. But, as demonstrated by the afikomen, so is a childlike wonder for what’s next. A desire to search and hope and find.

In her recent essay, “No I'm Not Ready,” author Anne Helen Petersen writes about her anxiety surrounding our collective return to post-COVID 'real world': “It’s going to feel periodically awful in new ways… but it’s also going to be amazing… Our post-pandemic selves will contain multitudes.”

We’re at a period of breakage, but there are also big things that have been wrapped up and hidden away for a beautiful and rewarding discovery down the line. As we break the middle matzah, let’s guide healthy Jewish wonder and anticipation out of the shadows. What have you discovered in the breakage that you’re excited to carry forward? What are you excited to discover/re-discover? How will you continue to give yourself breaks even as the world returns? 

Oh, and good luck finding the Afikomen … *Campy Voice* May the best Jew? Win! 


haggadah Section: Yachatz
Source: Megan Pope