"Times are tough, economically, for Gabriel and his family this Rosh Hashanah - their antique store and other neighborhood businesses are on the verge of shutting down. As a round challah is baking in the oven, a US Army soldier (astute readers will note his name tag reads 'Tishbi' - as in 'Eliayhu ha-Tishbi,' Prophet Elijah, the Tishbite) knocks on the door hoping to find a place to store a precious family heirloom while he is on duty overseas. He tells Gabriel and his mother that this old French horn brings good luck. They do their best to clean it, but it remains stubbornly tarnished. However, as time passes, the family’s good fortune improves as they perform various mitzvot and give tzedakah throughout their neighborhood. After seven years, the soldier returns, opens the case and is astonished to see how shiny his old horn has become, and offers it to Gabriel as a gift. This story about the importance of tzedakah and Elijah the Prophet is loosely adapted by famed children’s author Eric Kimmel from Yiddish writer I.L. Peretz’s story titled 'Seven Good Years.'" (Jewish Journal)

"On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, a white Jewish boy receives the unusual responsibility of caring for an old, tarnished horn and wonders if his family's subsequent good fortune could be the result of how he carries out his charge. Hard times have hit Gabriel's neighborhood. Many stores surrounding his family's antiques shop have closed, though Gabriel hopes the new year will bring a turnaround. Then an African-American soldier knocks and hands Gabriel an old neglected horn that belonged to the enlisted man's grandfather, requesting that the antiques-store owners keep it during his deployment. Kimmel has updated his story 'The Samovar', which appeared in the collection Days of Awe (1991), about the legendary character Elijah who can take on numerous disguises - like a soldier - to help and influence those less fortunate. The Czarist Russian setting is remade into a contemporary American integrated urban community of Muslims, Jews, African-Americans, Latinos, and Asian residents. Over the years Gabriel engages in tzedakah (acts of charity), and the horn magically brightens each time until its gleaming shine represents Gabriel's family's kindness and new prosperity. Kimmel's shorter, more dialogue-driven narrative carries readers to an understanding of Gabriel's revelation seven years later, when the soldier returns. A moving update of a powerful story." (Kirkus Reviews)