Rabbi Wohlberg: Pesach...It Ain't What it Used to Be

For all of us, this year’s Pesach just “ain’t what it used to be!” The Seder – the central Jewish family event of the year – is going to be missing some members of the family. Attendance will be limited and so will the social interaction that makes the family Seder a memorable event.

 

But some good can come of this. Maybe the challenge of this year will make us appreciate the Seder even more next year! Maybe those who are missed this year will be cherished even more next year.

The Pesach Seder provides us with memories. I still remember the first Seder when I was old enough that my brothers allowed me the honor of hiding the Afikomen. I was so excited at how smart I was in having chosen a safe hiding place … a hiding place I knew my father would never discover. 
     
My brothers were nervous, fearing that I, being so young, had not chosen a safe place. While my father was busy searching, my brothers insisted that I tell them where I had hidden it. I refused. And then came their threat of death! So I spilled the beans. And when I told them, they were horrified! “Daddy’s going to kill you when he finds out. You dope!”

My father didn’t find it and then, terrified, I took him to the Afikomen’s hiding place, with my brothers following in hot pursuit. We walked down to the cellar and over to a locked closet where my mother put away all her chametz. I opened the door and there, in the breadbox, was the cherished Afikomen. Knowing my father’s temper and knowing his strict adherence to Jewish law, my brothers and my mother waited breathlessly for his reaction. But incredibly, the anticipated rage never came.

Came Pesach, the family was only able to afford the minimum amount of six Shmurah matzahs – three for each Seder – and those three were completely eaten before the meal began, so that everyone present at the table would have enough to eat the required amount to fulfill the mitzvah of eating matzah on Pesach. Nothing was left for the Afikomen. So, my father said, “I didn’t have matzah for an Afikomen then, I don’t have matzah for an Afikomen now. But then, I was living in the persecution of the shtetl and didn’t know if I would ever have an Afikomen. Here I am, living in the freedom of America and knowing I will definitely have an Afikomen next year!”