Tzafun צָפוּן : IT'S AFIKOMEN TIME

Some history before we have some fun: When the Temple still stood in Jerusalem, it was customary to make an offering of a paschal lamb at this season. Now we eat the afikoman in memory of the offering.

Tzafun means “hidden,” and the afikoman is usually hidden for young people (but really anyone) to find. Why end the meal with this? Because we want the dinner to end with the taste of slavery/freedom in our mouths—thus the taste of matzah, rather than some unrelated sweet.

But this explains eating matzah late, not the charade of hiding it. The hiding works on two levels: it intrigues the kids—and it allows us to affirm our sense of the Hidden and Mysterious. On this theory, we hide the larger half of the broken matzah because we are affirming that there is more that is Hidden and Mysterious in the world than any information we can gather.

Source: The Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Passover

And now...I TZA time for FUN (pun very intended). Are you ready for a virtual Afikomen hunt like no other? It's time for Where's Waldo...Afikomen Style!


haggadah Section: Bareich
Source: The Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Passover