At our Seders on Monday night, we will hold up the middle of
three matzot and proclaim: “This the bread of affliction, which our ancestors
ate in the Land of Egypt.” Then we will
break it in two.
When we break the matzah, we remind ourselves that our world,
too, is broken. This sphere is one of misunderstandings,
shortcomings, disappointments, and failures.
Our dreams come to naught. We say
things we don’t mean. We hurt others,
both on purpose and unintentionally.
There is poverty and pain. Not
only is the world broken, but we are broken, too. Life, like a piece of matzah, is bumpy, uneven,
and brittle.
But all is not lost.
When we’ve told the story and our stomachs are full, we remember
that lost piece of matzah. We’ll realize
that our meal is incomplete without it.
The broken bit has become the afikoman, the dessert. What appeared worthless is actually perfect
just as it is. What was once hopeless
has been redeemed. This world is simultaneously
imperfect AND marvelous, as is each one of us.
A Seder is a telling of the Exodus story through food. Each bite, each idea, each song is a piece of
a jigsaw puzzle of understandings. By
reliving our slavery and our liberation, we declare our supreme
identities: free people capable of
empathy. Through the telling of the
story, the fragments become the whole.
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