The Elijah Door

Strauss, Linda Leopold  The Elijah Door    

Holiday House     2012  unp   $16.95

978-0-8234-1911-1       elem    VG-BN    Historical 

A long time ago in a small village "that was sometimes Poland and sometimes Russia", two loving families lived side-by-side for generations until a misunderstanding drove them apart and necessitated the building of an extra door in the Galinsky house so they would never have to see each other again.  David Lippa and Rachel Galinsky always knew they would marry until their families’ feud separated them.  Like a Jewish Romeo and Juliet, they would not be swayed by the dispute and went to the Rabbi for advice.  When Passover arrived, the families decided that there would be no jointly-held traditional Seder that year.  However, the villagers came to the Galinsky and Lippa families with tales of woe so dire that their invitations to Seder caused the customary feast to spread out of each house and into the yards.  The great circle was completed when the Rabbi joined the ceremonial meal in "one great celebration of love and freedom and family", and the extra door was now opened to allow the entrance of Elijah.   This delightful folk tale is enhanced by hand-colored wood- and linoleum-block prints inspired by the traditional Eastern European woodcuts of the nineteenth century.  They highlight this charming Passover story and the Jews' celebration of the Exodus from Egypt and their freedom from slavery.

VG-BN Susan Ogintz            Passover, Jewish Folk tales