In our town in Mexico many complain on the tradition of stealing the Afikomen by the children at the Seder of Pesach. Since we are constantly engaged in teaching our children to avoid that common behavior in our society. Does one have to keep that tradition in our days?
A. Some Poskim quote that tradition. Sidur Yavetz quotes that practice as following the Talmud Pesachim 109a that mentions the grabbing of matzos on the night of Pesach and explain that the reason is since after the hard labor and toil involved in the preparation and setting of the Seder, the kids may just fall early asleep and miss the last matza.
To keep them up, considering the gift they may receive in the exchange, we follow the above tradition.
We must add that the kids should be warned to hide the Afikomen under a bed, in a bathroom or in a place were it could get wet.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a.
Important Numbers
