Passover is a time for making memories that we carry with us throughout our lives. I remember the Seder of my childhood, which continues to influence the way I will lead our family Seder again this year.

I remember that my grandfather would take a piece of matzah and break it in half. One half would be hidden throughout the house for us children to find, and the other half he would hold up and declare: “This is the bread of affliction….” So the story of the Exodus begins. Perhaps it’s a kind of game to keep children engaged, as we would later search for the Afikoman and receive a prize.

But I think that the broken matzah represents much more than a game. I think it conveys the core message of the Passover Seder. Not only in ancient times did we know a world that was broken in so many ways. Wars, hunger, poverty: On and on might we speak of the brokenness that is to be found most everywhere.

Yes, the children search for and bring back not just a piece of broken matzah. They bring back the half that when united with the other half becomes “whole.”  So it is the child, the next generation, who renews our hope that some of the brokenness that we know can yet be made whole. Our faith that there can yet be healing and redemption and peace for us and our world, distant as those ideals appear to be at the present time.

So do I wish you all a sweet and meaningful Passover that will be remembered long into the future.