Now comes the time when one of the children opens the door, and we invite the prophet Elijah to join us. Our tradition says that Elijah will come to announce the arrival of a new age, a time of peace and joy for everyone in the world. So each year at Pesah we open the door for Elijah, hoping that this is the year he will come, bringing peace.
We finish the seder by asking God to build Jerusalem and keep it strong. But the evening is not over. We remain around the table, singing songs such as "Ehad Mi Yoday'ah?" ("Who Knows One?") and "Had Gadya," ("An Only Kid"). We laugh and talk until it is very late. When we were slaves in Egypt, we could not do this--but now we are free.
By bringing the bundles of barley to God, the Israelites were asking God to send rain and to make this second crop a good one. The 50th day is the date of Shavuot, the holiday that celebrates God's gift of the Torah. Although we do not bring barley to the Temple anymore, we still count the omer, the days between the second day of Passover and Shavuot. The picture above shows an omer counter. Have you ever counted the days until an important event in your life? How can counting the days to Shavuot add to the excitement of the holiday celebration? |
