STEP 1:
Select one theme of Passover that feels especially important to
you this year, such as:
Renewing life: karpas
Being free: matzah
Telling our sacred story: magid
Feeding the hungry: ha lachma anya
Asking important questions: mah nishtanah
Honoring multiple voices: arba 'ah banim
Connecting to past generations: b 'khol dor vador
Celebrating life: hallel
Yearning for sacred space: l 'shanah ha'ba'ah b'yerushalaim
Get up from the seder table. Search your hosts ' home for different ways in which your important Passover
theme is reflected in people, places and things. (Just as the kids
did, ask your hosts what's
out-of-bounds!)
Hints:
If RENEWING LIFE is important, look for signs of
springtime, personal and spiritual growth, new interests, new family
members, rekindled relationships, pruning back, getting second
chances, planning for the future, renovation.... If you find
daffodils, slipcovers or a pregnant guest, you're on the right
track!
If BEING FREE and freeing others
is important, look for the ways we increase independence for
ourselves and others, degrees or certificates we've earned that give
us confidence and permission to act boldly, symbols of commitments
to social justice.... If you find a dishwasher, a set of car keys, a
home-made haggadah or a backpack, you're on your
way!
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STEP 2:
When you 've completed your
search, return to the seder table. Share what you've been searching for and describe all the evidence
you've discovered. These discoveries are the
afikoman you've found. The
daffodils, the car keys
-- they are symbols of sacred
commitments for you, just as the haroset, matzah, and marror are
for many.
Now your seder can go on with blessing and song as the taste of
afikoman lingers on.
STEP 3:
Claim your prize.
THE PRIZE FOR GUESTS: When you return to your own homes or
places of work, you get to search for the important themes of
Passover that are present in your own lives, even if they are
slightly concealed.
THE PRIZE FOR HOSTS: You 've gotten a head
start - your friends and relatives have made a "sacred map"
of your home and have
revealed how embedded the themes of Passover are. Now, after
everyone leaves, you get to search out the spaces that were
out-of-bounds.
Play AFIKOMAN FOR GROWN-UPS during
your seders after the young people have looked for the
afikoman. Invite the young people to join with you if you
wish. Or hold another search with friends and family
still in town after the seder nights: after all, you have at
least 6 more days of Passover and enough leftovers for a
tribe.
Some Sephardic Jews keep a piece of the afikoman
all year as a sign of God's blessings. Post this card
someplace you can see it yearlong. Let it remind you of the
themes of Passover that are strong and vibrantly present in
your life.
Feel free to make
copies. |
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