Page 24 - Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

over his head. "I found it, Poppy! Now I get to hide
it." He ran from the room, but no one leaped up to
follow.
"He's going to hide it in the bathroom," Hannah said
to no one in particular. "He always does."
"Hush, Hannahleh, don't spoil things," Aunt Rose
said.
"You always hid the afikoman under Grandma Belle's
pillow," Aunt Eva said.
"You knew?"
Uncle Sam guffawed. "You left enough crumbs."
"Knowing and not-knowing," her mother said and
sighed. "It's all part of the game. And the game is to
uncover the hidden order of the universe. Seder means
'order.' I read that in a book."
"What hidden order?" Grandpa Will said. "Do you
think there was order back in the camps? Do you
think . . ."
Eva interrupted smoothly. "Lily, Lily, you are much
too serious about these things. Let the children play.
They are children for such a short time. And it's not as
if we keep kosher or do things as a rabbi would. We
do it for the children. Isn't that right, Belle?"
Grandma Belle nodded. "So they can have fun and
remember their history."
Brushing the stray wisps of white hair from her broad
forehead, Eva rose. "Here we come, Aaron, ready or
not." Signaling the others to follow her, she left the
dining room.
The men stayed at the table talking, but Aunt Eva
and Aunt Rose went into the bedroom in a noisy search.

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