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Yachatz – ץחי

Yachatz ‐ Jonnie Katz (6th Grade)

Yachatz is the fourth part of the Passover Seder. This is when we take the middle Matzah and break it into 2
pieces, one half which is bigger than the other. What is the reason for that ritual?

There are many answers on this question. Our Rabbi’s say the reason is that the Jews were supposed to be
slaves for 400 years, but instead they were only slaves for 210 years. The larger half of the Matzah represents the
210 years that they were slaves and the smaller half represents the 190 years that they were free.

Also, the reason why Hashem made their time of slavery shorter was because He also counted the time that Av-
raham and Yitzchak were worrying about them their whole lives, and they were worrying so much that it count-
ed for the years that the Jews were supposed to be slaves. We learn from this that Hashem considers the pain
and anguish of worrying akin to the pain of slavery. This lesson should make us think twice before causing un-
due worry upon others.

Daniel Amos—2nd grade