B"H
Tuesday, Adar 23, 5777 / March 21, 2017
The Passover (Pesach) holiday begins Monday night, April 10. In Israel Pesach is celebrated 7 days. In the Diaspora, it is celebrated 8 days. In Israel only one Seder is performed. In the Diaspora, two Sedarim are performed. The first Seder is Monday night and the second Seder, Tuesday night.
The difference between Israel and the Diaspora, goes back two thousand years. In Israel, where the High Court (Sanhederin) was situated, they knew the exact day when the new month (Rosh Chodesh) began, thus they knew when the holidays begin. In the Diaspora, where the news took long to reach, they didn’t know in time when Rosh Chodesh was, so they observed an extra day holiday and performed a second Seder.
The Seder traditions and costums date back thousands of years. The Pesach Seder is our link with our glorious history. Should one of our ancestors drop in on us at the Seder, they would feel very much at home and would participate in our Seder just as they did in theirs in ancient times.
At the beginning of the Seder, after the Kiddush, the one who leads the Seder breaks the middle matzah in two. The larger piece is wrapped in a cloth or napkin and hiddenso it can be eaten later at the end of the meal. This piece of matzah is called "Afikoman." The smaller matzah is placed back between the two whole matzot, and is left there during the recitation of the Hagadah.
Q. What is the significance of the threematzot on the Seder Plate?
A.1) They represent the three categories of the Jewish people; Kohen, Levi and Yisrael. 2) They also represent the three patriarchs; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Q. Why do we breakthe middle matzah?
A. The Torah refers to matzah as "Lechem oni" - "bread of poverty." A poor man when he has a loaf of bread will always think about the next meal. He fears that he may not have anything to eat later, so before he eats his meal he usually breaks off a piece and saves it for later. Thus, we leave the smaller piece on the table and recite the story of the Exodus over it – representing the bread of povertywhich the Jewish people ate in Egypt.
Q. What is the reason for "wrapping" the Afikoman and "hiding" it?
A. The Torah tells us that at the time of the Exodus Jews were so rushed to leave Egypt that they didn't have time to bake their dough into bread. Instead, they "took their dough before it became leavened and they bound it up in their clothesupon their shoulders." By wrappingthe Afikoman, we recall the fact that the dough was "bound in their clothes."
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY