The Top 3 Places to Hide the Passover Afikomen
One of the best parts of Pesach the seder is when either the children or the adults hide the afikomen. It depends on each family’s customs, but either the child hides the afikomen or the adult does. Some family’s reward the adult or child who finds the afikomen with a prize or a gift. In this blog, I will provide the top three strategic places to hide the afikomen to ensure that it will not be found, for at least ten minutes. Bedrooms are off limits. You can only hide the afikomen in the living room, dining room, or kitchen.
- Under the couch. Most adults do not want to bend down and look under couches after eating a full meal at 1 AM. They will most likely be lazy and tired and will only search places that are eye level. Such as bookshelves, desks, kitchen counters, and so on. That is why you must hide this piece of gold in locations where adults must crouch down. If the child is hiding the afikomen and the adult is searching for it, take advantage of this location. If it is the opposite case for your family, the adult should not hide the afikomen under the couch. Children are small, short creatures, the floor is usually eye level for them. Additionally, they don’t mind showing off their gymnastic moves and crouching down to annoying places. I’ve tried hiding the afikomen in this location in the past and it took forever for my father to try and find it. It was past midnight, and he was extremely tired, so I ended up showing my special hiding place to my entire family and guests.
- In the fridge. I asked my niece, “if you were to hide the afikomen so Abba couldn’t find it, where would you find it?” And she said the fridge, which is genius. No one is looking in the fridge after the Passover seder, that is actually the last place you would look. We are all stuffed from Shulchan Aruch, and we don’t even want to peek into the fridge. This is the perfect location for both child and adult. You can hide the afikomen in the vegetable drawer because no child willingly looks at vegetables. Or if you’re the child, you can hide the afikomen in the bottom of the fridge or the shelves on the side. Your fridge is probably stuffed from all the Passover shopping so I’m sure you will find crevices and ways to stick the afikomen in.
- Don’t hide it at all. People are so focused on where the afikomen is going to hide the whole seder that they would never think that it wouldn’t be hidden in the first place. Obviously, there is a mitzvah to hide the afikomen so you can move it a few inches away from the original spot. I’ve tried this one year at home. My father was standing up to go look for the afikomen, because obviously it is hiding somewhere in the living or dining room. It never dawned on him that the afikomen would be exactly where he left it. If you like to hide it each year, then this idea isn’t for you, but it sure is funny and entertaining.
Hopefully, you’ve gained some ideas on where to hide the afikomen or where to look to find it. Use your creativity and all the resources in your home, make it exciting because it is something that both children and adults look forward to each Passover.