Families together again this Pesach

This week, for the first time in three years, seats that were empty at seder tables in Israel will be filled.

Some seats, such as Ran Gvili’s, will remain empty – a sombre reflection of what his absence will always represent for his grieving family. But, Rom Braslavski will be at his family seder. So will all the living hostages that were released from terrorist captivity last October. They are finally free.

Yet Pesach in Israel this year will be marked under Iranian fire. It is a bitter irony that Israelis will celebrate freedom without being free from the Islamic regime’s threats of annihilation.

Meanwhile, for many here at home, there will also be empty seats.

There will be no replacing Rabbis Eli Schlanger or Yaakov Levitan at their family seders. Reuven Morrison’s family will find an empty chair where his larger-than-life personality once emanated. Little Summer Britvan will sing the four questions without her big sister Matilda by her side. Pesach may be a festival about freedom but these and other families will never be free from their grief.