We open the door at the Passover seder to welcome Eliyahu Ha Nabi....a custom which was not always connected to checking that the Spanish Inquisition (or similar groups) were outside checking on us!
We invite Elijah also because he is the promised harbinger of the era of redemption.
That statement can be interpreted with a sufic inflection:
The Kotsker Rebbe reminded us that Elijah enters the seder through our hearts and not through the front door.
By increasing our sensitivity to inspiration and intuitive knowledge (opening the door in our hearts) we can (as it were) hasten the time when prophecy will be restored.
We cannot attain 'gilui Eliyahu' without G-d's grace.....but we can all strive to prepare our souls for the possibility that we may one day be granted such an enlightenment.
Eliyahu Ha Nabi is also the Comforter and we certainly need some of that in these difficult days for our nation globally. May we see peace and coexistence flourish in our day.
Hag Pesah Sameah.
Safed
2024
