Why three matzah

What is the afikomen and why is it hidden? Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. Part of Everything you need to know about Passover. Everything you need to know about Passover. Delivered Fridays. At the beginning of the seder, we break one of the sheets of matzah and call it the bread lekhem of affliction oni. It is the meager sustenance of slaves, the meanest fare of the poor, the quickly produced food of those who make a hurried, under-cover-of-dark getaway.

Yet later, it represents freedom, the bread we ate when we were liberated from Egyptian bondage. In both situations, as slaves in Egypt and once we were free, we ate the same flat wafers.

What was different was our own attitude when we ate: cowering, accepting our subservience, then claiming our rightful dignity as human beings equal before God. Just as we transform mentally and physically, the symbol of our status is transformed. Part of the Passover Seder includes the matzah, in which three pieces are wrapped together -- Three pieces of matzah, each in a separate section, yet joined into one. The matzah is unleavened. Throughout the Scripture, leaven is a symbol of fermentation and corruption and is a symbol of sin.

For example, in Leviticus we read: No grain offering, which you bring to the Lord, shall be made with leaven, for you shall not offer up in smoke any leaven…as an offering by fire to the Lord. This offering was to be made without leaven as a symbol that it was holy before the Lord. Exodus tells us that only unleavened bread should be eaten at Passover.

Since leaven is a symbol of sin, to begin the Passover season by eating only unleavened bread is symbolic of beginning a life free from sin. Jesus was our perfect example of this because he lived a sinless life. When the Jewish people were leaving Egypt, God was about to give them His Torah which was to be their guide for holy living. We will continue with our Seder while you each partake in this private moment.

Wishes and blessings around themes of freedom are especially appropriate tonight but feel free More clips from Brandi Ullian. Edits by Brandi Thompson Ullian. Courtesy of Huffington Post. At the Passover Seder, when we recall the tale of the Ten Plagues visited upon the ancient Egyptians in the Bible, it is important to remember that not all of the plagues manifested themselves in the form of physical afflictions.

Rabbinic sages explain that the ninth plague -- the plague Urchatz Urchatz. Kadesh Kiddush. Group sings: Barukh ata adonai, eloheinu melekh ha-olam, borei p'ri hagafen. Blessed is the force that created the fruit of the vine. Barukh ata adonai, eloheinu melekh ha-olam,shehecheyanu v'kiyimanu v'higi'anu laz'man hazeh. Blessed is the force that has sustained us and brought us to enjoy this season. Let us raise our cups to signify our gratitude for this feast of the unleavened bread, a time for remembering our departure from Egypt and the value of freedom.

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