Afikomen

On Friday night Zach and I attended a Passover feast with my mother held by Victor Ludlow, Professor of ancient scripture at BYU. He's been holding these Passover feasts every spring for the past 38 years. Since he does more than one a year, he's officiated at more Passovers than most Rabbis. It was a lovely evening spent enjoying this Jewish tradition that has lasted for more than 3300 years.

The most memorable part of the evening for almost everyone involved is the partaking of the "bitter herbs", or raw horseradish. My stomach gets queezy just thinking about it. Just sniffing the terrible requisite appetizer brings tears to your eyes and starts you to coughing. The first time during the evening you taste the bitter herbs is awful. The second time, when it is eaten with the sweet Haroset, is worse. The third time, when eaten with the matzah bread and haroset is absolutely painful since you have to chew the terrible sandwich before it is swallowed. The taste lingers in your mouth and nose before it travels down to an already upset stomach. It is to remind the Jews of the bitterness of slavery but also of the bitterness of sin. Never in your life will you forget the first time you partook of the bitter herbs.

At another point in the evening a piece of unleavened bread, or matzah, is folded in a napkin and hidden. This is called the Afikomen and Christians understand this to represent Christ. This piece of matzah is always part of the second of three pieces (Father, Son and Holy Ghost), broken and wrapped in cloth and then redeemed at a price. The price is paid by the Patriarch of the table whoever that might be. On Friday night that happened to be Zach since the only other males at our table were students. The Afikomen is secretly passed around on laps under the table and at the appointed time the Patriarch calls it forth to redeem it from whoever is the lucky winner. There really is no limits on the price that can be asked for this piece of Afikomen.

Professor Ludlow told a true story of a nine year old girl that happened to be the lucky winner of the Afikomen and she asked her Grandfather for a meal at McDonalds, just the two of them. (This is where the crowd says, "Ahhhhhhhhhhh".) This girl had been paying attention though and she added on the phrase, "In Honolulu" because she knew her grandparents were planning a trip there that year. Well true to his word the grandfather took this little granddaughter to McDonalds, just the two of them, in Honolulu while grandma ate catered food in the hotel. It made me think of Zach's parents since they are going to Hawii this summer for their anniversary. I'm sure some child, grandchild, or favorite daughter in law could extract such a promise from him. What say we have a Hutchins Passover? Any takers?

Well my mother ended up with the Afiekomen and their exchange went something like this- Mom: When you buy a house, a room just for me. Zach counters: A shrine to your memory and a house down the block. Mom: A shrine with a door and a window. Zach: Done, but no specifications about the door, window or floor space. He is a man of his word. Expect to see a shrine with a door and window in our house some time in the future.

The actual date of Passover isn't until April 19th. I suspect I will hold a children's version in our home when the time comes this year. It is a feast filled with meaning, tradition, and fun. L'chiam! To life!