Break the middle matzah.  The larger half becomes the afikomen .  During Talmudic times, rabbis said things should be done to make sure children stay awake and are engaged in the Seder.  This is where the tradition of children looking for the afikomen and stealing it from one another throughout the evening began.

Don't Sit on the Afikmomen (to the tune of Glory, Glory Halleluya)

My dad at every Seder breaks a matzah piece in two

And hides the afikomen half - a game for me and you

Find it, hold it ransom, for the Seder isn't through

'til the afikomen's gone

Chorus:

Don't sit on the afikomen

Don't sit on the afikomen

Don't sit on the afikomen

Or the meal will last all night

One year Daddy hid it 'neath a pillow chair

But just as I raced over, my Aunt Sophie sat down there

She threw herself upon it - awful crunching filled the air

And crumbs flew all around

Chorus:

Don't sit on the afikomen

Don't sit on the afikomen

Don't sit on the afikomen

Or the meal will last all night

There were matzah crumbs all over - oh, it was a messy sight

We swept up all the pieces though it took us half the night

So if you want your Seder ending sooner than dawn's light

Don't sit on the Afiko-o-men


haggadah Section: Yachatz