Adapted from the JewishBoston and VBS Haggadot

There are three pieces of matzah stacked on the table. We now break the middle matzah into two pieces. The host should wrap up
the larger of the pieces and, at some point between now and the end of dinner, hide it. This piece is called the afikoman, literally
“dessert” in Greek. After dinner, the guests will have to hunt for the afikoman in order to wrap up the meal…and win a prize.
We eat matzah in memory of the quick flight of our ancestors from captivity. As slaves, they had faced many false starts before finally
being let go. So when the word of their freedom came, they took whatever dough they had and ran with it before it had the chance
to rise, leaving it looking something like matzah.

As we go through the seder, 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.

And it begins with a breaking.

We are free, but we remember when we were slaves. We are whole, but we bring to mind those who are broken. The middle matzah is broken, but it is the larger part which is hidden. Because the future will be greater than the past, and tomorrow’s Passover nobler than yesterday’s exodus. The prospects for the dreamed future are overwhelming to the point of making us mute. So it is in silence, without blessing, that we break and hide the matzah and long for its recovery and our redemption. 


haggadah Section: Yachatz
Source: Nikki Golomb