Stuart Halpern
Tablet, Mar. 31, 2023
‘A harbinger of hope, a rebuker of the unrighteous, a hearer of stillness amid fractured times, the Seder night’s specter continues to visit, stirring Americans to perceive in his cup their own redemptive possibilities.’
Everyone’s favorite Passover guest is a ghost.
In one of the Seder’s most mystical moments, we pour a glass for Elijah—that mysterious ancient prophet whose arrival will signify the messianic redemption. And we open the door for his anticipated entrance.
For those who might need a refresher on Elijah’s biblical backstory, the Book of Kings describes how this native of Gilead, circa 900 BCE, had the ability to declare famine, resuscitate dead children, outshine and then slaughter 450 prophets of Ba’al in a game of “who worships the real true God?,” rebuke the wicked King Ahab, hear God’s “still small voice” (per the King James Version rendering of 1 Kings 19:12) on a mountain after despairing of his ability to inspire his fellow Israelites to repent, and mentor his successor Elisha before ascending to heaven in a chariot amid a whirlwind. His eventual return, the tradition goes, will come when the world is to be redeemed.
While Jews think about Elijah primarily at Passover, he’s actually been a fixture of American political culture from the very beginning—not only at Passover, and not even only for Jews.
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