This rabbi may have a hit on his hands.
Rabbi Moshe Rosenberg penned a mash-up of the timeless tale of Passover matched with another harrowing legend of persecution: that of Harry Potter and the wizarding community, as dreamed up by J.K. Rowling in her blockbuster series. Taken together, the two form the basis of Rosenberg’s The (unofficial) Hogwarts Haggadah, a prayer guide for the upcoming Jewish holiday.
Already, Harry Potter fans and observers of Passover are getting pretty excited about the new way to celebrate. The haggadah is currently the top seller on Amazon in the Judaism and Jewish holiday categories, as it weaves philosophical questions about the holiday with character studies of Harry Potter figures.
“There are so many parallels between Harry Potter’s journey from unwanted orphan to the savior of wizarding that I’m surprised this is the first major haggadah to be written about it,” the Queens, New York rabbi explained in an interview with the Times of Israel; he’s also the author of Morality for Muggles. “The Harry Potter books contain many of the key elements and lessons of the Exodus story—uplifting the downtrodden, sharing our current wealth and prosperity with others, education, different learning styles, parent-child relationships, unconditional love and kinship with one another, and so on.”
Traditionally, Passover recounts a tale of slavery and suffering, and also requires observers to stick to stringent dietary standards during its eight days, including avoiding leavened bread products. So the zeitgeist-y mix of magical lore and biblical story may get kids—and Potterhead adults—engaged in the tradition in a whole new way. Even Chelsea Clinton suggested via Twitter that she’ll be snagging her own copy.
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Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com