Tzafun means hidden, because now is the time to eat the larger piece of the middle matzah that was hidden earlier, the Afikoman. Each person at the seder table receives a piece. The Afikoman will be the last thing we eat tonight, and its taste should linger in our mouths.

The word is of Greek derivation, according to some authorities from ἐπὶ κῶμον [epikomon]; that is, a call for the after-dinner pastime (κῶμον); others hold that it is from ἐπικώμιον (epikomion, festal song). The Jewish form of it occurs in Mishnah Pes. x. 8, which says: “One should not break off the communion meal of the paschal lamb by starting another entertainment, called either ἐπικώμιον [festal song], or, according to others, ἐπίκωμον [an after-meal dessert or pastime].” This rule of making the paschal lamb the last thing to be partaken of in company was applied at a later time (see Rab and Samuel in Pes. 119 b) to the Passover bread; and the piece eaten at the end of the meal received the name Afikoman.


haggadah Section: Tzafun
Source: Kaufmann Kohler