YACHATZ. 

There are three pieces of matzah stacked on the table. We now break the middle matzah into two pieces.

As we break the matza, we think of those whose lives have been split asunder by this virus. We think of those who are sick; family members quarantined who cannot visit their hospitalized loved ones; the bereaved for whom there is less closure without a funeral, without normal shiva visitations.

Seder this year is during the plague of Covid-19. So this year we do not say “ke’ha lachma anya” – this is LIKE the bread of affliction we as slaves consumed in Egypt, but ha – this IS the bread of affliction, as we are, in the very present, at this very moment, living through dark times.


haggadah Section: Yachatz
Source:  Excerpt from Times of Israel blog by Ari Weiss