An analogy of the afikomen to the House of Israel

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From: Dell Griffin
To: ben Yosef
Subject: An analogy of the afikomen to the House of Israel

Shalom,

I received this question and since it is getting close to Passover, thought it might be something good to elaborate on tonight. Tomorrow night I hope to have one last message for you before Passover begins related to the four cups of wine we drink at the Seder. But here is tonight's question:

"If possible, would you address the symbolic meaning associated with the breaking of the Matzah at the Seder Meal in one of your messages. You explained the breaking of the afikomen in an earlier message this week associated with the House of Israel and the House of Judah."

First, you have to realize that I have the "Return of the House of Joseph" on the brain. It is like an obsession. I hear it and see it and dream it every day and night and read it into just about everything that I read or happen across or that happens to me on a daily basis. I can't help it. I've tried to go cold turkey and not write about it or say anything about it for an entire year (back in 1995 when I took a job as the manager of a print shop in Fort Worth, TX). But at the end of that year it was more of an obsession than ever and since then I have yielded to it. So you might say that I am "hopeless."

However, I don't think I'm reading a whole lot into the idea of the afikomen relating to the two Houses. Let me explain.

I am going to assume that you already know a lot about the Seder and hone in on the portions of it that apply specifically to the afikomen to make my case:

First, there is the step in the Seder known as YACHATZ. This is the breaking of ONLY the middle matzah, which is sandwiched between two other matzot before the Seder begins. There are various opinions about what the 3 Matzot represented. Some opinions say the top matzah was the "Cohenim," the middle matzah the "Levites" and the third, the rest of Israel. Others say they represent the three Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or the three "seahs" (measures) of flour from which Abraham baked matzot for the three angels or three types of thanksgiving offerings (which the Torah requires for persons 1) released from prison; 2) recovered from a serious illness or 3) who have crossed an ocean or a desert. All of Israel was in one of these three categories and therefore OWES Hashem a thanksgiving offering (Orchos Chayim, Maharal, Rav Sherira Gaon and Mordecai).

So let's start our analogy to the two houses with these concepts. For clarity's sake, instead of calling the Assimilated Northern Kingdom the "House of Israel," I will refer to them as Joseph-Ephraim (because it is often confusing to speak of the House of Judah as distinct from Israel).

If the middle matzot represents the LEVITES, then the fact that the larger half is broken and hidden away signifies the exile of a part of Israel from which the priesthood was chosen. Remember that the priesthood in Egypt was of the order of Malchizekek (Shem), the "firstborn" of Noah, to whom Abraham paid his tithe. The firstborn sons WERE the priests of Israel before Hashem instituted the Levitical order of priests because of the zealousness of the Levites at Sinai.

The Hebrew word for "firstborn" is BECHOR. But as represented in Hashem's choice of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Ephraim, the BECHOR is not necessarily the first to come out of the womb. Rather, it is a spiritual designation, right and responsibility. Since it was the PHYSICAL firstborn who were REDEEMED in Egypt (through the application of the blood on the doorframes), it seems that the SPIRITUAL firstborn is lost in the shuffle. And when Hashem decreed that the Levitical priesthood should assume this role, it seems that the "tribe of the firstborn," Joseph-Ephraim, again was set aside for some reason. In other words, if the authority of Torah itself did not tell us otherwise, we might be led to believe that the Levites USURPED the spiritual responsibility of the firstborn. Obviously then Hashem's purposes with Joseph-Ephraim being the TRUE BECHOR remain HIDDEN, in EXILE if you will and awaiting the fullness of REDEMPTION. The known Levites today of course are Jews. So you can see that Hashem "broke off" a piece of the priesthood by replacing the role and responsibility of the FIRSTBORN Joseph-Ephraim with the LEVITES, who are of the House of Judah.

The analogy with the middle matzah representing Isaac doesn't seem to fit at first glance. There is no CLEAR division of Isaac. But Isaac represented a korban Pesah in some sense when Abraham told Isaac that Hashem would provide the SEH (lamb), which was Isaac before Hashem caused an AVIL (ram) to be caught in the thicket. But since no bones of the korban Pesah were broken the analogy with Isaac (who never left Eretz Yisrael) seems hard-pressed to relate to any kind of EXILE.

But there is a very clear division of the BIRTHRIGHT from Abraham going to Isaac instead of Ishmael. Here again, this theme of the BECHOR comes through the promise that Abraham's SEED would be reckoned through ISAAC. Mystically, that SEED is passed on through JACOB and again, EPHRAIM, who Genesis 48:19 states will be the MELO HAGOYIM or "fullness of the Gentiles." Judah seems to have been completely bypassed in this progression, except for this "aspect" of Isaac that is not "broken." Judah remained faithful to the covenant and Joseph-Ephraim did not.

The three measures of flour used to bake cakes for the angelic visitors on their way to destroy Sodom seem to relate very specifically to the matzah, since this entire meal was prepared in haste. But as far as we can see the analogy ends there. We have no tradition that the matzah prepared by Abraham for his guests were broken or its significance. The charity of Abraham and Sarah do stand in stark contrast with the selfishness of Sodom. Perhaps this was some kind of remedy for the bread of shame, which we have elaborated upon in more detail at our website www.torahvoice.org/remedy.htm and which does have relevance to the House of Joseph in exile.

The three categories who must offer a KORBAN TODAH (thanksgiving offering) -- the wayfarer, the one who recovers from a serious illness and the released captive could all have mystical connotations to the EXILES scattered across deserts and oceans, captive to the world and its ways and spiritually diseased without the Light of Torah.

I find it particularly significant that the smaller piece of Matzah -- the so-called Lechem Oni or "bread of affliction" represents in the most authoritative commenataries the parts or portion of Israel that IS redeemed and the larger afikomen the parts of portion that yet AWAITS redemption. Of course a JOE returning from exile would relate that to the regathering of Joseph-Ephraim, but the rabbonim include the more esoteric aspects of redemption which they say are yet incomplete.

According to the Sfas Emes, the HIDING of the Afikomen symbolizes that the Exodus was only the beginning of the process of redemption, AND PART OF IT IS STILL HIDDEN. This is why, he says, the eating of the Afikomen, which today symbolizes the Korban Pesah, represents our LIBERATION and begins the second part of the Seder, WHICH IS DEDICATED TO THE FUTURE REDEMPTION. This is also why the Afikoman is the last food eaten so that its taste remains in our mouth for the rest of that night. In other words, ALL of the redemption focuses on the return of this larger portion of the unleavened bread. Another way of saying this is the whole meal points to the DESERT!!

My son Aaron, now 10, once pointed out to me that AFI-KOMEN might relate to the "nose on your face." In Hebrew, an AF, is a "nose" AFI is "my nose". KOMEN is from the verb in Hebrew that means to "rise up." So what causes your nose to rise up? If you answered, Desert, I know you made your dear mother happy on those occasions when she came to the table with homemade apple pie alamode, chocolate cake, coconut cream pie or strawberry shortcake!

We can't TASTE or SMELL the relatively bland AFIKOMEN because it is like a DESERT for which the full recipe is not yet available and for which we do not yet have the spiritual senses to appreciate fully, because the REDEMPTION is not yet complete and the EXILE is still in EXILE.

On the other hand, the celebration of the active REDEMPTION is confined to the MAGGID -- the telling of the story and this is done ONLY in connection with the Lechem Oni, the smaller portion of the broken matzah, also called the Bread of Freedom. In the analogy, it seems pretty clear that this is the family of Judah.

Most every Orthodox Seder will make this distinction very clear. For instance, the Art Scroll Mesorah Family Hagaddah includes these two marginal notes next to YACHATZ and MAGGID: "A matzah is broken and set aside for later use. The REDEMPTION is at this moment incomplete, we are free from Egypt but ... we still look forward to a future REDEMPTION when we will celebrate Passover, as of old, in the Holy Temple in a rebuilt Jerusalem."

Just the concept of a "rebuilt Jerusalem" is an awesome concept. Psalms 122 makes it clear that a rebuilt Jerusalem MUST include ALL of the tribes.

The four questions asked at the start of the MAGGID, also refer to stages of exile from complete slavery to "Pharoah" to complete "freedom" (willing bondservants of Hashem). In fact, the mystic sages, primarily the Ramchal, wrote that "four is the number of exile1" This is derived from the Genesis 1:2 "And the earth was TOHU (void) v'BOHU (and without form) with CHOSHEK (darkness) upon the P'NEI T'HOM (face of the deep) and the RUAH EL-HIM (Spirit of G-d) hovered over the face of the waters.

TOHU is the Babylonian exile since it made the world spiritually barren. BOHU is the Persian exile because of the confusion and genocidal decree of Haman. CHOSHEK is Greece because of the LIGHT of spiritual darkness that Grecian culture has spread across the world at odds with Torah faith. The P'NEI T'HOM is Rome because of the deep pit in which the nations have been mired through Roman systems and ideologies. But the Messiah to Come is Hashem's deliverance, hovering over the face of the waters.

The fact that the word Afikomen is believed to be of Greek origin is another interesting point. Rav Hutner explains it this way: Edom is the last of the exiles and the GREEK exile of Rome or that part of Rome which is intellectual; science that promotes secular humanism, atheism or the idea that the "world came first, not Hashem." In one word, then the AFIKOMEN is a symbol for the ARROGANCE of the Nations against Hashem into which the Exiles have assimilated and must come out. Bringing them back is the aspect of the larger part signfifying the redemption yet to occur.

As Rabbi Kantrowitz, one of my teachers at Yeshivat Ohr Someah here in Jerusalem said it, "the Geulah (redemption) has come but the bigger half is yet to come. We are yet to see a COMPLETION of the redemption."

I am also reminded of the words of the Rambam, Moshe ben Maimon or the Maimomides: "The redemption is not complete until the children of Israel return to their PLACE (land) and the exalted status of their forefathers."

The fact that one does not eat after the AFIKOMEN and is allowed to drink only WATER is a means of telling us that when the other half, the missing part -- the portion of Israel still in exile or the JOES if you will -- return and reunite with the Lechem Oni, the redemption is completed and you can't improve on it any further.

The Maharal Prague brings an interesting idea that EXILE is a punishment but also part of Hashem's blueprint of Creation. The fact that Israel is EXILED to Mitzrayim (from the Hebrew word for the one afflicted with the Tzarat affliction popularly called LEPROSY) indicates their punishment was for Lashan Hara. We also see this in the word PHAROAH, which is literally the "mouth of evil." Certainly it would take such a "mouth" to rule the METZORAHS, (unclean people with unclean lips). The Hagaddah, and its HOLY WORDS are specifically a means to atone for the sin of Lashan Hara (slander or gossip). PESAH (Passover) literally means "mouth to relate." But the story one relates is HOLY WORDS and a HOLY STORY.

But the Maharal Prague explains that EXILE (represented by the number 4) is "four pulling out from ONENESS." So by the same idea the earth, which is far from flat or spatially defined in two dimensions has "four corners."

There are other allusions to the afikomen relating to the portion of Israel who has yet to return from Exile, most notable is the HIDING of the Afikomen and the search BY THE CHILDREN usually. In other words, the rescue and return is for a "future generation."

I also think the word MATZAH, which means literally "found" is significant. This has special relevance to me personally and my work here in Jerusalem based on a message I received in the Torah Codes. My given name is spelled DALET-LAMED GIMEL-RESH-YOD-PEH-NUN. The likelihood of that combination of letters showing up one time in any size equidistant interval in the Torah is 0.77. Yet it shows up three times in the Torah and in one instance, keys on the phrase "beN yoseF YIMTZAH yisRael Gam s'guLah ephaDto." Note the word YIMTZAH, which is translated "He will find." The whole phrase reads, "a son of Joseph will find Israel, also his Ephod is s'gulah" (a mystical term I may explain at a later time."

So the Passover Seder has become a VERY important occasion in our home when those at our table literally ACT OUT (in the context of the Orthodox Hagaddah) the finding of Israel in exile and their renewal of covenant and return to Hashem and Torah, deliverance from Lashan Hara and preparation to Return to Eretz Yisrael.

Shalom Shalom & Hashem's love & blessings & Hag Sameah,
ben Yosef

Dell Griffin

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