Every year at Passover, Jewish homes around the world open their front doors to welcome in that most important guest, the ubiquitous visitor we look for at all important events in our lives - Elijah. As the little girl in A Place for Elijah learns, “you never know how Elijah comes, only that he does.”
Hachnasat orchim, “welcoming guests,” is a mitzvah at any time of the year, and Passover is no exception. The Passover seder is meant to shared. No one should be left out as we gather around the table to celebrate our freedom from slavery. Praying for a world in which all people are free from oppression is so much more powerful when everyone can join in.
So how exactly might Elijah appear? Maybe as a trio of excited zoo animals, as in The Great Passover Escape? And the Sheep family in And Then Another Sheep Turned Up has certainly mastered the art of squeezing in one more guest at the seder…again and again.
The magical part is not knowing when or how Elijah will appear. The anticipation of his arrival is both a guide for living in the world today and a blueprint for a better world to come. When we open the door for Elijah, all our hopes and dreams for what the world could be are there on the threshold.
This year we may not yet be able to be together on Passover, but we can still invite others to join us virtually. And as always, whether you sit across the table from us, are a face on a computer screen, or present only in spirit, your cup of wine awaits.
For these and other Passover titles, visit our website. While it may be too late order print copies of these books by the time your read this, these book are available as read-aloud e-books from your favorite ebook vendor.