“So who has found the afikomen?” we ask. The finders hold the napkin-covered matzah tightly in their hands and are determined to bargain. It is a part of our lesson plan—this small rebellion. Each year we teach a new generation to resist bondage, to envision someplace better, to savor freedom, and to take responsibility for the journeys of their lives. And each year with the afikomen ritual, they hold power in their hands, just long enough to say, “yes” or “no” with all eyes on them. With people waiting. “We can’t finish the seder without it.” Just long enough to learn to ask for what they want.

For two thousand years, the Jewish people have been separated from our families and from our nations, though our ancient culture survives and grows. For hundreds of years the book of Genesis has been interpreted as justifying human domination and destruction of the earth, though it tells of the beauty of creation. For decades, Jews and Muslims have been reinforcing the wall between them, though its foundation was laid by colonists and its height is built up to serve foreign military interests. Let us stop fighting each other for someone else’s profit. Let us remember our kinship and learn how each other has grown in the years since we stopped listening. May we humble ourselves before history and before one another, and make the world whole again. (from "Love and Justice in Times of War" Haggadah)


haggadah Section: Tzafun