Trisha Arlin

There are three matzot in this pile,

One on top of the other on top of the other.

The top matza and the bottom Matza are,
perhaps,

A Pesach reminder

Of the two loaves of challah we would eat on Shabbat

(But not tonight!)

Which are themselves perhaps a reminder

Of the two portions of manna

The former slaves received in the desert

From God

Every Friday before Shabbat.

That’s the top and the bottom

But the middle matza?
Ah

That’s the Afflicted Matza.

The reminder of the unleavened bread

We ate as we fled slavery.

This Afflicted Matza,

We break it in half

To separate ourselves,

First from joy

So we don’t forget our pain

So we don’t forget the pain of others.

All this pain

Lives in this first half of the Afflicted Matza

And we will eat this first half now

So that we do not forget that we were slaves,

So that we do not enslave others.

And we are obligated to share those memories.

But–
With the second half of the Afflicted Matza,

Called, the Afikomen,

We break away from the pain

So that we don’t forget the what can follow the sorrow:

The times we enjoyed our lives

The moments when we changed things for the better.

And we are obligated to share those memories, too.

Then, after we have told our stories

And after we have eaten our meal

We search for that happiness.
And we always find it,

Every year,

The Afikomen,

And everyone has a taste

So we don’t forget how good it is to be alive

And free.

The Afflicted Matzoh