Here’s an ethical issue and Jewish source response:
Case
There are two types of Passover “afikomen games.’ In many homes, the leader of the seder hides the afikomen and the children search for it. In some seders, however, the leader keeps the precious matzah next to him or her, and the children try to “steal” it without being noticed.
As Shira and David, the Weinstein children, grew older, they began to question the practice each Pesach of ”stealing” the afikomen. While they enjoyed the presents, they also took very seriously the concepts that their parents and Hebrew School teachers had taught them about honesty. How could it be that Judaism advocates stealing the afikomen, even if it is only a game? They proposed to abolish this time-honored Pesach custom when they went to their cousin’s seder, where there would be small children. The adults did not want to throw out the old custom.
How can we permit “stealing” the afikomen, thereby teaching children that it is permissible to steal?
Answer
[a] Some opinions (M’orai Ohr) say that it is praiseworthy to desist from this custom precisely for the objection raised.
Most disagree and find that “stealing” the afikomen is all right.
[b] The Talmud (Pesachim 109a) gives us the overriding reason why this custom is encouraged: in order to keep the children awake. Since being at the seder and telling the Passover story is the only mitzvah in the Torah in which children (minors, not at the age of bar or bat mitzvah) must participate (Exodus 13:8), it is crucial that the children remain awake as long as possible. The most effective method of accomplishing this is by playing the “game” of taking the afikomen, later to be traded in for valuable prizes.
[c] No child falls asleep from boredom as long as the afikomen ransom has not been arranged. Maimonides (Hilchot Chametz u-Matzah 7:3) codifies this practice by stating that “the matzah is grabbed from one another.”
But although we understand the underlying reason for this practice, the Weinstein children seem to have a point, and the question remains: how can Judaism condone such a practice? We know that in Judaism the ends never justify the means. What, then, is the deeper meaning of this custom, and what is its legitimacy?
[d] Rabbi Pinchas HaLevi Horowitz (Germany 1730-1805) suggested a novel and interesting approach: We know that God promised Abraham that the Jews would leave Egypt with great wealth (Genesis 15:14). This is repeated in the Torah when God commands the people to ask the Egyptians for gold and silver (Exodus 3:21-22) But when did this “asking” take place? If it had happened before the great plague of the First Born on the night of the seder, then the Egyptians would not have been too keen on giving their valuable possessions. It could not have happened the next morning, as everyone was rushed to leave Egypt. There was not even time for the bread to bake properly, and that is why we have matzah. So, the taking of the Egyptian riches must have occurred during the night of the seder, when only the children were allowed out of the house. God had specifically commanded that “No person may go out of his door until the morning” (Exodus 12:22. During that night, the adults could not go out, but the children could. It was, therefore, the children who took the gold and silver of Egypt, fulfilling God’s promise. Thus, the practice today may be considered a reenactment of what occurred in Egypt on that fateful night.
And lest anyone believe that this is actually stealing, the Talmud (Sanhedrin 91a) discusses this question. Alexander the Great asked about this “borrowed” Egyptian gold and silver that was never returned. The people answered that when they were paid the ages of 210 years of slave labor (many more times the amount of the gold and silver), they would gladly give back the riches. Thus, it was not stealing at all, but rather a meager payment for their work. Nechama Leibowitz (Studies in Shemot, Parshat Bo) explains that the Torah (lishol mai-im) does not connote the act of borrowing, but, rather, receiving a gift (from the Egyptian people) that is not intended to be returned. Therefore, it was not stealing at all.
Joel Grishaver, “You Be the Judge 2”, pgs. 25-27
Used with permission from Joel Grishaver
