B"H
Tuesday, Nissan 6 5783 (Hakhel Year) / March 28, 2023
The Seder traditions and customs date back thousands of years. The Pesach Seder is our link with our glorious history. Should one of our ancestors from 1000 years ago drop in on us at the Seder, they would feel very much at home and would be very proud. In fact, they would participate in our Seder just as they did in theirs in ancient times.
Tradition is what kept our people and nation together for thousands of years. It is very important to expose our children to our beautiful Jewish traditions and hopefully they will do the same and pass it on to their children as well.
For the Seder we need three matzot. At the beginning of the Seder, before reciting the Hagadah, we break 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 poverty, the bread of the poor person, which 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."
Q. Why do matzot have holes in them?
A.After the dough is rolled into a matzah, holes are punctured in them, to prevent the dough from rising. It is an additional precaution to make sure that it doesn’t rise and thus having the potential of becoming leavened (chametz), which is forbidden on Pesach.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY