The leader breaks the middle Matzo, leaving one half on the Seder-dish, and hiding the other half as the Aphikomon to be eaten at the end of the meal.

A Tunisian custom is to say “This is how God split the Red Sea” and then break the middle matzah. 

Israelis of Yeminite origin wrap the afikomen in a napkin and places it over his shoulder throughout the chanting of the Hagaddah, symbolizing both the liberation from Egypt, and more recently, the rescue of the Jews of Yemen in Operation Magic Carpet in 1948.

The More You Know...


haggadah Section: Yachatz
Source: adapted (by Jeffrey Wise)