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At the end of the Pesach Seder we eat some matzah.
This is called the Afikoman, which means "dessert."
Before the Temple's destruction, the afikoman was not a piece
of matzah; rather, it was the Pascal lamb: On the afternoon
before Passover, Jews everywhere came to Jerusalem and brought
lambs to the Temple. A tiny part of each lamb was burned on
the altar and the rest was eaten at the end of the Seder. (Hence
the phrase "Please pass the Pascal!")
Ever since the Romans destroyed our Temple about two millennia
ago, we do not offer sacrifices. So we eat matzah in place of
the Pascal Lamb as a commemoration.
One of the reasons offered as to why it was replaced with matzah
is that matzah represents the food of oppression. In a spiritual
sense, until the Jewish People are once more able to offer up
sacrifices in the rebuilt Temple we are in a state of oppression.
That's the reason why the afikoman is broken in half, to teach
us that we have yet to become "whole."
This is also one reason that we end the Seder with the phrase
"Next year in Jerusalem." Why? Because our Seder is
incomplete so long as it is missing those special mitzvot such
as the Pascal lamb that can only be performed in the Temple
in Jerusalem.
*Children over the years have been kept awake during the seder
by playing a game of hide-and-go-seek with this "dessert."
The person leading the seder will hide the Afikoman and at the
appropriate time ask all the kids to go find it. Since the seder
cannot come to a conclusion without eating this Afikoman, children
will get toys or other gifts as a reward for finding it.
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