Yachatz – Breaking the Middle Matzah

The fourth step of the seder is yachatz, breaking the middle matza. The larger piece will become the afikoman, the dessert of our seder. The smaller half is the reminder that there is brokenness in our world, in our community, and in ourselves. 

May our broken world know peace. May the physical and metaphoric walls between people be broken down with cooperation and tolerance. May there be peace.

May communities that are fractured know wholeness. May individuals who disagree find pathways to respectful dialogue and bridge building. May there be kindness.

May this holy night remind each of us that we are precious to God and to one another. May we find strength deep inside to grant ourselves grace and compassion. May our requests for help find loving response.

At this moment of acknowledgment of division, pain, and hardship, we pray that through the course of this Seder night and the days of this holy time, that our ritual observance will provide for a measure of healing. Healing of heart, mind, and spirit. May there be wholeness even amidst the brokenness.

(Break the middle matzah and hide the afikomen).