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A ikoman ‐ Rebekah Lemeshev (10th Grade)

The Afikoman is the bigger half of a piece of Matzah which is broken off of the center Matzah of the three mat-
zos that are placed before the leader of the seder. It is then usually hidden for children to look for and is then eat-
en at the very end of the seder. Although many questions arise regarding this topic, a prominent one seems to be
why we make the Afikoman the larger piece instead of the smaller one.

Two apparent interpretations regarding this question are given. According to simchatyechiel.org the reason we
take the larger half instead of the smaller one is because on Pesach we are supposed to feel poor. After all, Mat-
zah is often thought of as “the poor man’s bread”. A poor person tends to save their larger portions for later, so
we should also save the larger portion of the Matzah for later (the end of the seder).

According to Yosef Y. Jacobson, we see another reason as to why we divide the Matzah and take the larger half.
According to Yosef, we are a divided people. The smaller half of the people are stubborn and they continue to
sit at the table of their ancestors following every ritual. This smaller half represents the small half of the Matzah
which declines to leave the table to find different options in their religion. The larger portion of people, which
represents the large half of the Matzah, have gone from the seder table and found alternatives to the Torah.
These people do not feel connected to the story and the people that go along with it. So, like the Afikoman, they
leave the table and hide from their ancestry. The Afikoman is an important tradition that has many interpreta-
tions. Even if one may not agree with these explanations it is still important to listen because every opinion is
interesting in its own way and should therefore be included.

A ikoman/ ןופצ - Noa Ashlag (6th Grade)

Where’s that piece of Matzah we hid all the way at the beginning of the Seder? Tzafun is the 12th step in the
passover seder, where we look for the Afikoman. Everyone looks forward to this tasty “dessert” at the near end
of the long seder. The word Afikoman means dessert in Greek.
The big question is, why do we do this? Does the Afikoman commemorate something from ? םירצמ תאיציOr is
it just a fun way of eating dessert?

In some families, the father hides the Afikoman and the kids find it, and in others the kids must steal the Afiko-
man and then the father finds it. In either case, there are multiple explanations. Rabbi Eliezer and the Rambam
explain that the kids steal and or hide the Afikoman so the children will stay awake until the end of the long se-
der. Rabbi Menashe Klein, the Ungvar Rebbe, says that this custom is a re-enactment of the story of Yaakov
stealing the blessings that Esav was supposed to get. Midrash Pliah says that Yitzchak told Esav, "Your brother
came with trickery," adding, "and he took out the afikoman." According to the Midrash, this event took place on
Passover. The kids stealing the Afikoman shows Yaakov stealing the bracha, and the brachot are the presents
they will receive. Another opinion is that we want the kids to be involved in the seder.

I think the lesson of the Afikoman/ Tzafun is that we need to teach our kids about Judaism so they can continue
it on. Another lesson we can learn is that we need to encourage the children to be part of the Haggadah. It isn’t
some history lesson; we are still part of it today.