Passover: Afikomen - When G-d gives every Jew a taste of what they really are
Seder night lasts one second - it takes no time. When I have to make up with somebody I do not love, until I make up, it takes so long. When I make up with someone I love so much, it takes no time because we love each other anyway. If we would have been slaves in Egypt, it would have taken a long time to become free. But, the truth is, we were never slaves. We were alwavs free. And, to return to what we really were, took just one second. Seder night is when G-d gives every Jew a taste of what they really are.
Our children don’t talk to us sometimes because they think we really don’t see them. Pesach has so much to do with seeing. “Lo yeiraeh lecha chametz”. “You shall not see chametz” - don’t see chametz. People who look at chametz all the time, don’t see their own neshama (soul), don’t see their own children, don’t see G-d. Seder night, when there is no chametz in the house, when the house is clean, then suddenly G-d gives me the vision of seeing my children again, of seeing how they really are and how fast they can reach the highest level.
The saddest day in the life of children is when they are disappointed in their parents. When babies are born, it is clear to them that their parents are the best people in the world. They cannot imagine anybody being better than their father and their mother. Sadly, they grow up and they realize that their parents aren’t the best. The don’t want to talk to us anymore. Seder night the Ribbono Shal Olam gives my children back the vision to see, even though at this moment I am not the best I can be, what I really am, and how fast it will take me to get there. And, then my children are so happy, they love me so much again because it is restoring their vision, the way they remember me.
Why do children love their parents so much? The way children know their parents is in a very deep way. They don’t know biology, they never read a sex book, but they know this is my father, this is my mother. Imagine if, when children are born, we would have to take them aside and explain to them the facts of life and why this is their father and this is their mother. How close would they be to us? And, sadly, when they find out how a baby is born, they love us less, because it takes away all the holiness.
An exile Jew is one who has read a book on G-d, on theology, he is a Kabbalist. It’s like an adult, looking at his parents. Pesach is when we are looking at G-d again, like a baby on the day it’s born. It’s not less, it’s not stupid. It is the highest.
Seder night, G-d gives us back the vision. “Ani Hashem, Ani velo acher”. “I am the Lord, I and no other.” How beautiful everything is. Howlittle it takes to reach the highest place.
Why do our children steal the afikomon and then give it back to us? There is a lot of talk about it. First of all, what are we giving over to our children? Do you think our children remember everything we say? Do you think my daughter remembers that last year she wanted to turn on the television on shabbos and I told her not to? No. She remembers those moments when I didn’t say anything. She remembers those holy moments, those secret moments.
Do you think children don’t know how much we pray for them before they were born? They know everything.
Seder night is when I am giving over Yiddishkeit to my children, I am giving over to them G-d knowledge. The Torah was given later, on Shavuot. G-d knowledge is when it is clear to me, there is nothing to think about - that is Seder night, So, you know what the children do? They take the afikomon and hide it. And, they tell me, I want you to know what I am taking from you. I am taking from you all the secrets. All the things which nobody knows, I know about them. Sometimes secrets, unholy secrets, the more you tell them, they become unholy, they become profane. Holy secrets, when you tell them to somebody you love very much, become even deeper secrets. My children tell me, you are giving over to me tonight all the hidden things, the deepest depths. Then, I say to my children, please, can you give back a taste of that bread? Can you give me back a little taste of all those holy moments, those deep prayers?
At my Seder, I had the privilege of doing something special. A lot of people eat the afikomon with the teeth of a rasha. They sit there and tell jokes; they talk about the food. I had the privilege to make, at my Seder, a rule that from afikomon on, no one is permitted to talk. They are barely permitted to breathe. it is so holy, because when my children give me back the afikomon, it is not only my afikomon, it is the afikomon of my father, and my mother, and my bubba, and my zaide. It is the afikomon that goes back to Avraham Aveinu.
Everybody knows that when the angels came to visit Avraham Aveinu, it was Seder night. Who stole the afikomon at Avraham’s Seder? It was the holy mother Sarah who stole the afikomon. Who knows more secrets than our mother Sarah, the secret of secrets? So, the angels said to Avraham, “Ayeh Sarah ishtecha”, “Where is Sarah your wife?” “Where is she keeping the afikomon?” Avraham answered, “hinei baohel”, “Lo, she is in the tent.” It is all hidden, all hidden away.
Brooklyn, 5745
Edited from Connections Magazine Vol 1 No 2
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