Haggadah:Yachatz/1
Yachatz
Introduction
Unknown Origins
"Yachatz" (the breaking of the middle matzah before Maggid, the leaving of the larger of its pieces to be eaten as the Afikoman, and its attempted "theft"), is one of the most eagerly anticipated parts of the Seder, especially among many of its younger participants. The origins of this custom, however, are far from clear. In contrast to most of the other sections of the Seder which have ancient roots found already in the Mishna, there is no explicit reference to the institution of "Yachatz" in either Tannaitic or Amoraic literature. Interestingly, Rambam's Mishneh Torah also betrays no awareness of the existence of such a custom. What, then, is the source for the tradition, and what is the significance of the practice?
The Way of the Poor
When discussing the nature and meaning of the phrase "לֶחֶם עֹנִי," the term used to describe matzah in Devarim 16, Bavli Pesachim writes:
דבר אחר לחם עוני עני כתיב מה עני שדרכו בפרוסה אף כאן בפרוסה
Alternatively, in the verse, “leḥem oni” is actually written without a vav, which means a poor person. Just as it is the manner of a poor person to eat a piece of bread, for lack of a whole loaf, so too, here he should use a piece of matza.
According to this explanation, using just a piece of a matzah, rather than a whole, symbolizes that it is "poor man's bread". The gemara does not provide any practical application of this statement and never mandates that one is therefore required to break one's matzah before eating it. R. Papa inBavli Berakhot, though, attests to the fact that on Pesach it was customary to use bless over both a whole and broken piece of matza:
אמר רב פפא הכל מודים בפסח שמניח פרוסה בתוך שלמה ובוצע מאי טעמא (דברים ט"ז:ג') לחם עוני כתיב
Rav Pappa said: Everyone agrees that while fulfilling the mitzva of eating matza on Passover, one places the piece inside the whole and breaks. What is the reason? With regard to matza the phrase “Bread of affliction” (Deuteronomy 16:3) is written.
Might this concept, nonetheless, serve as the basis for (or, at least, relate to) the custom of "Yachatz"? If there is a connection, though, why is the matzah broken before reciting "Maggid", rather than right before fulfilling the mitzvah of matzah?
"Grabbing Matzah"
The Tosefta (and Bavli Pesachim) speak of a custom designed to keep the children awake:
ר״א אומר חוטפין מצה לתינוקות בשביל שלא יישנו ר׳ יהודה אומר משמו אפילו לא אכל אלא פרפרת אחת אפילו לא טבל אלא חזרת אחת חוטפין מצה לתנוקות בשביל שלא יישנו...
It is not clear what the practice of "חוטפין מצה" entails, how it was meant to arouse the children, nor when it was to take place.1 As the root "חטף" means to "snatch," it would seem to relate to grabbing the matzah,2 though the manner and motive of such grabbing is left unstated. In more modern times, this statement has been associated with the practice of "stealing the afikoman," at Yachatz.3 Is this, though, the original intent of the words? Did the initial custom (whatever it included) relate at all to the institution of Yachatz?
