Collection Information: Afikomen, Afikomen was collected on May 24th, 2014 at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. It belongs to the sub-genre of nursery rhymes called fingerplay.
Informant: The informant was Andrew Samuels. He is a 22 year old male from Los Angeles, California. He grew up as the oldest of two boys in a Jewish family He is currently a college senior studying economics.
Text:
Afikomen, Afikomen, (shade eyes, look from right to left)
I’ll find you there,
Inside a napkin, (palms together)
Under a chair (put right hand under left)
Afikomen, Afikomen,
When seder is done,
You’ll be all gone, (hands extended with palms up)
There won’t be a crumb (shake head back and forth in a “no” motion)
Context: This is a piece of Jewish folklore that is only performed during the Seder dinner of Passover. The Afikomen tradition is meant for the children of the household, and as such, this fingerplay is performed by children.
Meaning and Interpretation: At the end of the Seder dinner during Passover, the children will all look for a piece of matzah that has been broken in half and then hidden somewhere around the room. Whichever child finds the Afikomen gets some sort of treat or reward. This fingerplay describes this tradition, as the kids will look for the Afikomen when Passover Seder has concluded and once they find it, they will eat it.
Collector’s Information: Chris Faulkner, Dartmouth ’14, Russian 13, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Spring 2014
