Yachatz (Breaking the middle Matzah)

Ha lachma anya – This is the bread of affliction our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.

We will now each take a piece of matzah and break it into two. I will take one half of my matzah and hide it (the Afikoman). The Afikoman will be found at the end of the Seder.

Before you break your piece of matzah, take a moment to think about what the breaking represents.

The Pesach story begins in a broken world, amidst slavery and oppression. The sound of the breaking matzah sends us into that fractured existence, only to become whole again when we find the broken half, the Afikoman, at the end of the Seder. At this point, the matzah will be transformed – it will cease to be the bread of affliction and it will become the bread of hope, courage, faith and possibility.


haggadah Section: Cover
Source: Original