Contributed by Jennifer Spector:

There are three pieces of matzah stacked on our table.  We break the middle one, and wrap up the larger one which becomes the afikomen. 

 

This broken matzah symbolizes our broken world, in a time when we need no reminders.  We remember the many families in our community that have been broken and changed, some irrevocably, by the current crisis.  Our family traditions are broken and changed this year, and we all suffer the loss of being together with our dear family and friends.  Let us all pause to reflect on the new meaning of God’s words, “Remember you were slaves in the land of Egypt,” as we think of the loneliness, hunger, financial anxiety, sickness, and fear that so many of us and our community are enduring and have endured.  

Remembering the endurance and resilience of our ancestors through suffering and oppression, we remember that we can persevere as well.  As we eat the matzah tonight - the bread of slavery - we will remember to support our communities in all ways we are able, so that we may lighten their suffering and our own.  

Next year in person...this year in good health!


haggadah Section: Yachatz