Breaking the middle matzah | yachatz | יַחַץ

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 afikomen, literally “dessert” in Greek. After dinner, the guests must hunt for the afikomen in order to wrap up the meal. Because the meal cannot end until all guests taste the afikomen, whoever has found it may ransom it back to the other guests.

We eat matzah in memory of the quick flight of our ancestors from Egypt. As slaves, they faced many false starts before finally securing their freedom. 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, letting it bake in the sun, and thus looking something like matzah.

We hold the three pieces of matzah and say together:

Ha lachma anya—this is the bread of affliction.

At the Seder, we begin as slaves. We eat matzah, the bread of affliction, which leaves us hungry and longing for redemption. The matzah enables us to imagine what it was like to have only poor bread to eat, to be denied our right to live free and healthy lives. But, while we will soon enjoy a large meal and end the Seder night as free people, 795 million people around the world live with the daily reality of hunger. Let us awaken to their cries and declare:

Kol dichfin yeitei v’yeichol—let all who are hungry, come and eat.

Let us work toward a time when all who are hungry will eat as free people. Let all people have access to sustenance. Let local farms flourish and local economies strengthen. Let exploitation of natural resources cease so that the land may nourish its inhabitants. Let our world leaders recognize food as a basic human right and put an end to hunger. Let us support the communities of the world on their paths to sustenance.


haggadah Section: Yachatz
Source: Sofi Gardenswartz