Elijah, Uncompromising Herald of Better Times

Rabbi Melanie Aron

April 12, 2003

My favorite part of the seder is opening the door for Elijah. Perhaps because it is such a high point in the after dinner part of the service. The after dinner section has its drier passages in Hebrew that my Orthodox brother-in-law makes sure we never skip. Or maybe its Elijah himself, a very interesting character who has developed over the centuries during which his story has been told.

Elijah in the Book of Kings is a hard man. Perhaps not as harsh as his disciple Elisha who turns bears on some children who heckle him, but still not such a friendly fellow. He stands alone against the prophets of Baal, and he despairs of the Israelites. In frustration he says to God, The Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to the sword, I alone am left, and they are out to take my life."

This aspect of Elijah comes to us in the seder as well. We don't know the origins of opening the door for Elijah but the speculation is that it is a later custom. Originally, Jews opened the door at the beginning of the seder, at the part where we say, Let all who are hungry come and eat. Later, as Christianity became the established religion of the Empire and the spring holiday