Middle Matzah and Afikomen Song
by Rabbi Goldie Milgram
A tradition at the seder is
to break the middle matzah in two
Then hide the afikoman,
as a game that tells two truths
The children, they're our future,
they must find it,
'cause the seder isn't through,
'till the afikoman's gone.
Chorus:
It's time to hide the afikoman.
It's time to hide the afikoman.
It's time to hide the afikoman.
So the seder flows just right.
Hebrew schools teach afikoman
is the Greek word for dessert
Oh no! This year the scholars say it's not
I hope no egos will be hurt
Rashi's students say it means
"nothing" after the "lamb"
not even dessert!
The afikoman needs munching on. Chorus
Epikomion*, say researchers,
is the word origin we seek
No "after-banquet debauched revelry"
'cause we're not ancient Greeks
Singing the whole seder together
Is our congregation's treat
The afikoman keeps marching on. Chorus
The afikoman, our korban pesach**
Comes from a hidden, broken place
Teaching how our painful journeys
Can reconnect us to God's face
Where mashiach-like awareness***
Reveals it's paradise we taste
Once the afikoman's gone.
[Later in the seder, for finding the afikoman:
It's time to find the afikoman
It's time to find the afikoman
We have to find the afikoman
Or our seder will last all night] This bit of the chorus I found unattributed on the Internet and it gave me the ide which became all the teaching lyrics above.
Melody: Glory, Glory, HalleluYah
**'Passover sacrifice', Mishna Pesachim 119a
***Messiah
*Epikomion…Epi means "after" (as in epilogue), and komos means "banquet, merrymaking" (and is the root of the word "comedy")...'Normally this would involve going off to someone else's house, whether or not you have been invited, and indulging in another party.'…by the time of the Rishonim (Rashi, Rashbam and others), it was emphasized that the last piece of matza eaten should come from the broken and hidden piece. This is the origin of the siman (step) tzafun צפון- meaning "hidden"…Then, starting in the time of the Rishonim (Machzor Vitri, Sefer Rokeach, and others), the afikoman began to refer to the piece of matza eaten during tzafun…So the meaning of afikoman changed from a forbidden act of revelry, to a dessert, to a required piece of matza during the meal. [2]