Daf Ditty Pesachim 13: Elijah not welcome Erev Shabbes

If your dispersed ones will be unto the end of the heaven, from there the Memra
(Logion) of the Lord your God shall gather you by the hand of Elijah, the high
priest and from there He shall bring you near by the hand of the King Messiah

Targum Ps.-Jonathan to Deut 30:4

not a crumb of leavened

or unleavened bread
and no manna fell

no water sprang out

of the bunker’s wall
the last potato was gone

we sat and we munched

chunks of potato-peels
more bitter than herbs

we didn’t dare to sing

and open the door
for Elijah

we huddled and prayed

while pillars of clouds
massed above our heads

and pillars of fire

loomed like blazing traps

Passover Night 1942 by Yala Korwin

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And if you wish, say instead: When Rav said that the halakha is in accordance with the opinion
of Rabbi Yehuda, he ruled in accordance with the opinion of this tanna, as it was taught in a
baraita: With regard to the fourteenth of Nisan that occurs on Shabbat, one does not remove
leaven on Passover eve in the usual manner. Rather, one removes everything leavened before
Shabbat, and one burns ritually impure teruma: Teruma in abeyance, whose purity is
uncertain, and even any pure teruma that he does not require for his Shabbat meals. And one
leaves from the pure leaven food for two meals, the meal at night and the one in the morning, in

2
order to eat and finish until four hours of Shabbat morning. This is the statement of Rabbi
Elazar ben Yehuda of Bartota, who said it in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua.

The Sages said to him: One should not burn pure teruma, as perhaps those who can eat it will
be found on Shabbat, and he will have retroactively violated a Torah prohibition by burning pure
teruma unnecessarily. Instead, one places the teruma aside, and if no one is found to eat it, he feeds
it to the dogs or renders it null and void in his heart. He said to them: They already sought people
to eat the teruma and they did not find any other priests in the city to eat it. They said to him:
Perhaps those priests who could eat the teruma on that Shabbat slept outside the wall of the city
and will enter the city on Shabbat morning, at which point they could eat the teruma.

He said to the Sages: According to your statement, that you take into account this unlikely
scenario, one should not even burn teruma in abeyance, as perhaps Elijah the Prophet will
come on Shabbat and establish prophetically that the teruma is not ritually impure, and render it
ritually pure. They said to him: That possibility is no source of concern, as the Jewish people
have already been assured that Elijah will come neither on a Friday nor on the eve of a
Festival, due to the exertion involved preparing for the upcoming holy day. Consequently, Elijah
will certainly come neither on Friday, nor on Shabbat itself, which is Passover eve.

RASHI

Summary

3
There is a dispute regarding the fourteenth of Nissan that falls on Shabbos whether terumah
that is tahor should be burned.

If the fourteenth of Nissan falls on Shabbos, Rabbi Elazar ben Bartosa said in the name of Rabbi
Yehoshua that we eliminate all chametz before Shabbos, and we burn foods of terumah that are
tamei, suspended or tahor. From the food that is tahor we leave over food that is enough for two
Shabbos meals which one can eat for the first four hours of the day.

The Chachamim disagree and they maintain that the terumah that is tahor should not be burned on
the thirteenth of Nissan, because he can feed the terumah to guests who are Kohanim, and if there
are no guests, he can feed the terumah to dogs owned by Kohanim on Shabbos or he can nullify
the chametz. Even if no guests are found, there may be guests who stayed outside the walls of the
city but who are within the two-thousand-amah techum of the city and they are permitted to walk
into town. Rabbi Elazar ben Yehudah countered that if this is the case, then even foods that were
suspended should not be burned, because Eliyahu may arrive and he will rule that the foods are
tahor.

The Chachamim, however, maintain that Eliyahu does not arrive on the eve of Shabbos or Yom
Tov because the Jewish People are preoccupied with their Shabbos or Yom Tov preparations. The
Halacha follows the opinion of Rabbi Elazar ben Yehudah. (13a) 4. A man deposited chametz with
Yochanan Chakukaah and mice pierced the bag and Rebbe told Yochanan to sell the chametz in
the market.

A man deposited a bag full of chametz with Yochanan Chakukaah. The eve of Pesach arrived, and
mice had pierced the bag and the chametz was flowing out. Yochanan came before Rebbe to
inquire if he should sell the chametz as it had minimal value at that time. The first four hours Rebbe
told Yochanan to wait, and in the fifth hour Rebbe told Yochanan to sell the chametz in the market.
This is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Meir, who maintains that chametz is permitted in
the fifth hour, but Yochanan could not take the chametz for himself as this would arouse suspicion.

Destroying Tithe

Our Daf quotes a baraita that brings the teaching of Rabbi Elazar ben Yehuda ish Bartota in the
name of Rabbi Yehoshua regarding erev Pesah that falls on Shabbat. In such a case
the hametz must be destroyed on Friday, leaving just enough for the Shabbat meal.

Rabbi Elazar taught that all hametz should be burned on Friday, including tithes – whether or not
they were tahor (ritually pure) – and food for two meals on Shabbat should be left from non-
teruma hametz that must be finished before four hours into the day on Shabbat morning.

The baraita records the following conversation that took place in response to Rabbi Elazar’s
teaching:

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Q. Why should the tithes be burned on Friday? Perhaps we will find kohanim on Shabbat who
could have eaten them, and it will turn out that the tithes were burned for no reason, which is
forbidden?
A. Before burning them we looked for people who could eat the tithes, and did not find anyone.

Q. Perhaps there are such kohanim that slept outside the walls of Jerusalem, and tomorrow they
will enter the city?

A. Were we to worry that someone might come tomorrow, then we should also refrain from
burning teruma that is a safek (doubt), i.e. that we are unsure about its status since it may have
become tameh (ritually defiled), because perhaps Eliyahu ha-Navi will come tomorrow
(Shabbat) to herald the arrival of the Messiah, and he will be able to tell us whether
the teruma became tameh or not.

They said to him: That possibility is no source of concern, as the Jewish people have already
been assured that Elijah will come neither on a Friday nor on the eve of a Festival, due to the
exertion involved preparing for the upcoming holy day. Consequently, Elijah will certainly come
neither on Friday, nor on Shabbat itself, which is Passover eve.

According to tradition, Eliyahu will not come to rule with regard to questions of halakha.
Nevertheless, the case of teruma that may have become tameh can be resolved by Eliyahu because
it is a question of establishing the facts in a specific case, not a question of establishing
a halakhic ruling.

While the baraita discusses whether or not it is appropriate to burn teruma on the day before erev
Pesah, it does not deal directly with the question of burning regular hametz (hullin). According to
many rishonim the conclusion that needs to be reached is obvious – if we can burn teruma, then
we can certainly burn hullin. Some argue, however, that we are allowed to burn the teruma only
because it is available solely to a limited number of people – namely, kohanim – to eat.

Hullin, however, can be eaten by anyone, so it is likely that someone will come tomorrow who
would be willing to eat the hametz. Therefore, we should not destroy it until the latest possible
time.

Dr David Ariel writes:1

Classical Jewish texts depict a Messiah who will come to redeem the Jewish people, gather the
exiled to the land of Israel, and rule over a prosperous nation, and relate other more detailed (and
diverse) traditions about the Messiah’s arrival as well as the conditions of the messianic era.2

The Arrival of the Messiah

1
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-messianic-age-in-judaism/
2
Excerpted and reprinted with the permission of Schocken Books, a division of Random House, Inc., from
What Do Jews Believe?

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The rabbis speculated on the conditions under which the Messiah was likely to appear.

He will not arrive on the Sabbath, since that would require people to violate the Sabbath in
welcoming him [Babylonian Talmud Pesahim 13a]. [The prophet] Elijah [who is supposed to
usher in the messianic age] will arrive no later in the week than Thursday, leaving room for the
Messiah to arrive by Friday. Elijah will announce the arrival of the Messiah from Mount Carmel
in the Land of Israel [Jerusalem Talmud Pesahim 3:6].

Many rabbis believed that the Messiah would arrive suddenly on the eve of Passover, the first
redemption, which serves as a model of the final redemption [Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Pischa
14].

Corruption and Degradation Will Precede Redemption

One statement from the time of the rabbis describes the era leading up to the Messiah in the darkest
terms of societal corruption:

“In the footsteps of the Messiah, arrogance [chutzpah] will increase; prices will rise; grapes will
be abundant but wine will be costly; the government will turn into heresy; and there will be no
reproach. The meeting place [of scholars] will become a bordello; the Galilee will be destroyed;
the highland will lie desolate; the border people will wander from city to city and none will show
them compassion; the wisdom of authors will stink; sin-fearing people will be detested; truth will
be missing; young men will humiliate the elderly; the elderly will stand while the young sit; sons
will revile their fathers; daughters will strike their mothers, brides will strike their mothers-in-law;
and a man’s enemies will take over his house. The face of the generation is like the face of a dog!
Sons have no shame in front of their fathers; and on whom can one depend? Only upon our father
in heaven [Sotah 9:15].”

This era will be characterized by God’s war against Gog and Magog and other catastrophic events.
Another statement, which may date from the time of the Hadrianic persecutions (132-35 C.E.),
offers the dark assessment that the Messiah will arrive in a period when Jews collaborate with their
enemies, Torah learning disappears, poverty increases, and religious despair deepens:

“The son of David will not arrive until informers are everywhere. Another view: Until there are
few students left. Another view: Until the last coin is gone from the pocket. Another view: Until
people despair of redemption…as if there is no support or help for Israel [BT Sanhedrin 97a].”

Some sages predicted that the Messiah would not arrive until Israel observed the commandments
more fully:

“Rabbi Judah said in the name of Rav: If all Israel had observed the very first Sabbath, no nation
or tongue would have ever ruled over her…Rabbi Yohanan said, following Rabbi Simeon bar
Yohai: Were Israel to observe two Sabbaths punctiliously, they would be redeemed immediately
[BT Shabbat 118b].”

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Some rabbis believed that the arrival of the Messiah had no relation either to political and societal
events or to individual actions. They believed that there were a finite number of souls destined to
enter the world and reside within human bodies. When the supply of fresh souls was exhausted,
the Messiah would arrive [BT Yevamot 62a;BT Avodah Zarah 5a;BT Niddah 13b] […]

Converting to Judaism in the Messianic Age

A central question that preoccupied the rabbis was how the messianic age would differ from the
present age.

One concern was that many Gentiles would convert to Judaism at the last moment just in order to
participate in the new age. Some sages concluded, therefore, that “converts are not received in the
days of the Messiah,” just as they were not welcome in the days of David and Solomon [BT
Yevamot 24b].

A dispute arose among the rabbinic sages about the desirability of encouraging Gentiles to convert
to Judaism. While most welcomed converts, others raised doubts about their sincerity. Rabbi
Helbo, who mistrusted the sincerity of converts, stated that “converts are more difficult for Israel
than a sore [BT Niddah 13b].” Others suspected that converts might not remain loyal during the
messianic era. They decided that converts could be accepted, but with difficulty because they were
likely to revert to their former ways in the heat of the messianic upheavals [BT Avodah Zarah 3b].

Specific Features of the Messianic Age

Foreign nations would not be obliterated in the messianic era. Nations such as Rome would come
to the Messiah to pay tribute to him, but their appeals for favor would be rejected [BTPesahim
118b].

Some rabbis faced the messianic age with anticipation, others with dread. One viewpoint suggested
that knowledge of Torah would continue to decline in the messianic age: “A bad announcement
was conveyed to Israel at that moment. In the future, the Torah will be forgotten [Mekilta de-Rabbi
Ishmael, Pischa 12].”

Others forecast that in “the future era, the synagogues and academies of Babylonia will be
transported to the Land of Israel [BT Megillah 29a].”

Still others held that humans would take on a new appearance: some thought that man would
achieve a height of 160 feet, while another suggested he might double that. There is no suggestion
that the Messiah himself is a wonder worker, but many sages believed that the messianic age would
be a time of wonders. Women would give birth painlessly, hens lay eggs continuously, and food
appear in abundance [BT Shabbat 30b].

There were controversies about the nature of the messianic era. Followers of the sage Samuel
maintained that it would be similar to their own era, except that the Jewish people would be
returned to Israel and the Davidic monarchy restored. Samuel saw “no difference between this
world and the messianic age other than subjugation to dispersions [BT Shabbat 63a].”

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Others, such as Rabbi Eliezer, believed that the next era would be unprecedented and qualitatively
different. This debate represented the two poles of Jewish belief about the messianic era. One view
sees it in terms of normal human existence under conditions of Jewish political independence; the
other as something wholly new that defies prediction.

During the messianic era, the Messiah will reign victorious and rebuild the Temple. He will restore
the priesthood to the Temple, and the traditional sacrifices will be reinstated. The return to the
golden age of the Jewish people will be complete. Many popular Jewish prayers express this
messianic longing for the rebuilding of the Temple and above all for the return to Zion. Perhaps
even more than the coming of the Messiah, traditional Judaism has sought this dream of the return
to Zion.

The Jewish people will be complete.

Many popular Jewish prayers express this messianic longing for the rebuilding of the Temple and
above all for the return to Zion. Perhaps even more than the coming of the Messiah, traditional
Judaism has sought this dream of the return to Zion.

Too Busy for Mashiach

Rabbi Jay Kelman writes:3

3
https://www.torahinmotion.org/discussions-and-blogs/eiruvin-43a-too-busy-mashiach

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One of the educational goals of the Sages--especially as the exile wore on--was was to instill a
belief in the coming of the Mashiach. They did so by the use of such terms as, "it shall be put aside
until Eliyahu comes", used in unresolvable monetary disputes; or Teiku, which literally means that
the issue shall stand [unanswered], becoming an acronym for Tishbi yetaretz kushiot
vbaayot ("Eliyahu will resolve questions and problems").

These terms resonated with faith and hope for the future. They could not be meant literally, as a
prophet may not be called upon to resolve disputes of Jewish law. That is the realm of our Sages,
who must rely on their intellect and not on the word of G-d. Eliyahu is not coming to "make pure
and impure...but rather to bring peace to the world, as it says: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the
prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of
the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers" (Malachai 3:23-
24; Mishna Eduyot 8:7).

The fourth chapter or Eiruvin has as its main theme the issue of techumim, the restriction on
traveling more than 2,000 amot outside the city limits, and the mechanism by which we can double
that limit. In discussing its many details, the Talmud (Eiruvin 43a) raises the question as to whether
the prohibition of travelling beyond the techum applies if someone is travelling at a height of more
than 10 handbreadths (approximately 1 metre) above ground level[1]. In an era before plane travel,
the Talmud explains that this could happen one of two ways: either a person could have kefizat
haderech-i.e., he could high-jump his way to his destination--or, more simply, he could travel on
a boat that rides high above the waterline.

In debating this issue, the Talmud records the case of one who takes a vow to become a Nazir on
the day when the "son of David" (Mashiach) comes; perhaps he is afraid of getting drunk from joy
upon Mashiach's arrival, and needs the power of a vow to stop himself. The Talmud rules that it
would be permissible to drink wine on Shabbat and Yom Tov, but wine would be forbidden on
weekdays. The Gemara deduces that it must be that the law of techumim does apply, even at a
height of more than 10 handbreadths--thus making it impossible for the Mashiach to come on
Shabbat, as he will be coming from outside the techum. Therefore, since the Mashiach can't come
on Shabbat due to his inability to travel, the one who took the vow may drink all the wine he wants.

The Gemara rejects this line of reasoning. Maybe the laws of techumim do not apply, and the
Mashiach could travel and, in theory, arrive on Shabbat.

However, we have a tradition that Eliyahu Hanavi will come the day before, to announce the
coming of the Mashiach on the morrow. Since Eliyahu did not come on Friday, we can rest assured
that Mashiach will not come on Shabbat; and hence, the potential Nazir can drink all the wine they
desire. Of course, the Gemara notes that this advance warning should also apply on a weekday; so
why not allow one to drink wine at all times? As long as Eliyahu did not come yesterday, the one
who took the vow can surely drink wine today.

The Gemara responds that perhaps, Eliyahu will come and appear before the beit din
hagadol (Supreme Court), but most will still be unaware of his arrival. While it is true that Eliyahu

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could come quietly on a Friday, "it has already been promised to the Jewish people that Eliyahu
will not come on the eve of Shabbat, and not on the eve of Yom Tov, because of the burden". People
are busy on Fridays, and erev Yom Tov is a very inconvenient time to have to greet Eliyahu and
prepare for the Mashiach (wow!!).

So, while the laws of techumim may not apply, there is no worry that Eliyahu will come on Friday
to herald the arrival of the Mashiach on Shabbat; and hence, the one who took the vow can drink
wine to his heart's content.4

This, to me, is a most fascinating passage. What appears to be a technical discussion about the
laws of walking on Shabbat and a potential Nazir drinking wine turns into a conversation about
redemption, peace, and the coming together of the generations.

Morris Faierstein writes:5

In the talmudic-midrashic literature, traditions about Elijah and the future return of Elijah are
widely found.6

Almost all scholars who have written on Elijah as fore- runner have cited the talmudic-midrashic
Elijah passages. Rather than dealing with each text separately, which would be cumbersome, we
will deal with the whole corpus of return of Elijah traditions in the talmudic-midrashic literature.
In the majority of rabbinic texts which refer to Elijah's return his task is to resolve those questions
and halachic problems which the rabbis could not agree upon or for which they had no answer.
This concept is epitomized by the term teyqtP6 which ends eighteen talmudic discussions.47
Teyqu came to mean "the Tishbyite will resolve difficul- ties and problems."

More explicit statements such as "Let it be left until Elijah comes"48 or "Let no one touch them
until Elijah comes"49 are also found in talmudic literature.50 In the last mishnah of tractate
Edduyoth (8:7), which Klausner considers "the principal passage concerning the mission of Elijah
in the Messianic age,"51 Elijah also acts as the ultimate arbiter. He is to decide questions of
genealogy and the ritual purity of certain families. In addition to being the final arbiter, Elijah has
other functions. In one tradition he will be responsible for the resurrection of the dead,52 and in
another he will restore three vials containing the manna, oil for anointing, and water for purifying
menstruous women.53

In these passages there is no mention of the Messiah or of the relation between the return of Elijah
and the coming of the Messiah. There is a belief that the return of Elijah will be one of the features
4
Most fascinatingly, the Gemara says that such reasoning does not apply to the Mashiach himself. Once he arrives, other nations
will seek to become our servants and will gladly take care of all necessary preparations, allowing us to greet the Mashiach.
5
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3265536.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A80cc85b2af19b232629f9eea3f32b502
Why do the Scribes Say That Elijah Must Come First Morris M. Faierstein Journal of Biblical Literature Vol. 100, No. 1 (Mar., 1981)

6
These traditions have been collected by M. Friedmann (Ish-Shalom),43 S. M. Segal,44 and Strack- Billerbeck.45

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of the messianic age, but his return is independent of the Messiah's coming. That is, there is no
reason why the Messiah cannot come before Elijah. Indeed, the tenor of these passages is that the
Messiah will come before the return of Elijah. There is only one passage in talmudic-midrashic
literature which knows of the concept that Elijah will herald the coming of the Messiah.

In an anonymous baraitha54 we find the following:7

Come and hear: [If a man said] Let me be a nazirite on the day which the son of David comes,55
he may drink wine on Sabbaths and festival days, [43b] but it is forbidden to drink wine on any of
the weekdays. Now, if it is granted that the law of Sabbath limits is applicable, it is quite intelligible
why the man is permitted [to drink wine] on Sabbaths and festival days; but if it be contended that
the law of Sabbath limits is inapplicable why [it may be asked] is it permitted [for the man to drink
wine] on Sabbaths and festival days?-There the case is different since Scripture said, Behold I will
send you Elijah the prophet etc. and Elijah surely did not come on the previous day. If so, even in
the case of weekdays, [the drinking of wine] should be permitted on any day since Elijah did not
come assume that he appeared before the high court, then why should we not here also assume
that he appeared before the high court?-Israel has long ago been assured that Elijah would not
come either on Sabbath eves or on festival eves owing to the people's pre-occupation. Assuming
that as Elijah would not come the Messiah also would not come, why should not [the drinking of
wine] be permitted on a Sabbath eve?-Elijah would not, but the Messiah might come because the
moment the Messiah comes all will be anxious to serve Israel.5

It is questionable whether this one passing reference can be seen as significant support for the
Elijah as forerunner hypothesis. The evidence this text provides is both scanty and contradictory.
Its existence must be noted, but it is too flimsy a foundation on which to support the idea that
Elijah as forerunner of the Messiah was widely known or accepted in rabbinic circles. The
discussion about this passage is best ended with teyqu, it stands unresolved.

The other references to Elijah as forerunner of the Messiah are found in midrashim edited after the
close of the talmudic canon (500 C.E.). In Pesiqta Rabbati, a medieval midrash on the festivals,
a statement is found that "three days before the Messiah comes, Elijah will come and stand upon
the mountains of Israel and weep and lament upon them."57 A similar sentiment is expressed in
Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezar, a midrash edited in the eighth century C.E. Here we read that Israel will
not be redeemed until they repent, and they will not do the great penance until Elijah returns.58
As with the targumic material there is no reliable way of dating these traditions independently of
the texts in which they are found. They must therefore be set aside evidence for the Elijah as
forerunner hypothesis, since these texts, in their present form, are too late to reflect accurately
traditions current in the first century.

In our search through the talmudic-midrashic literature we have found only three statements which
know of the concept that Elijah will be the forerunner of the Messiah. Of these, two must be
excluded from consideration because of the late date of the texts in which they are found. These

7
in b. Erubin 43a-b

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are the passages in Pesiqta Rabbita and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer, leaving us with the one passage in
b. Erubin 43a-b. From this one statement we can conclude that this idea was known in some
rabbinic circles, yet it does not tell us how widely this idea was known or accepted. From its
context, a passing reference in a debate on the laws of Sabbath limits (Erubin) which have no
eschatological import, significant conclusions may not be drawn. The evidence is scanty and can
be twisted in opposite directions.

The relative silence of the rabbinic sources which have been preserved tends toward the negative
conclusion that the idea of Elijah as forerunner of the Messiah was not widely known or accepted
in rabbinic circles. On the other hand, the rabbinic dictum which says, "'we have not seen it' is not
acceptable as proof '67 must be kept in mind. That a specific tradition has not been preserved in a
given source or preserved only in one place is not conclusive proof that it was not more widely
known.8

8 Elijah the Prophet: The Guard Dog of Israel Chana Shacham-Rosby, Jewish History volume 30, pages165–182(2016)

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Why Sing About Elijah After Shabbat?

Orach Chayim 295

RAMA: And it is our custom to say and to remember Elijah the Prophet on Motzei
Shabbos, to pray that he will come and announce the redemption. (Tur)

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Yehuda Shurpin writes:

There is a widespread custom to sing hymns or at least make mention of the

prophet Elijah on motzei Shabbat (Saturday night). As the Code of Jewish Law (above) describes,
by mentioning Elijah’s name, we are praying that he “come and proclaim the redemption.”1
But what is the connection between Elijah the Prophet and Saturday night?

First Chance to Come

The basic rationale is that Elijah the Prophet is described by the prophet Malachi as the harbinger
of the arrival of Moshiach and the final redemption.2

The Talmud states that Elijah will not come on a Friday so as not to disturb the Jewish people
while they are in the midst of their Shabbat prep.3 Additionally, there is a prohibition against
traveling beyond a certain limit on Shabbat (techum Shabbat, 2,000 amot outside of the city), and
according to the view that this applies to non-terrestrial journeys as well (i.e., traveling higher than
ten handbreadths off the ground), Elijah could not come on Shabbat either.4

Based on this, once Shabbat has passed, and Elijah can come once again, we mention his name as
a prayer that he should indeed come and announce the redemption.5

Interestingly, the Rebbe challenged the notion that Elijah cannot come on Shabbat. He noted that
if one took a Nazirite vow to start on the day that Moshiach comes, he could be a Nazir on Shabbat
as well,6 indicating that Moshiach (who follows Elijah) could possibly come on this day.

In a fascinating exchange with Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter (later to become the Rebbe of Gur)
the Rebbe noted that we pray for Moshiach to come each day, including Shabbat. When asked how
that fits in with the above statements about Elijah’s coming, the Lubavitcher Rebbe replied that
Elijah is destined to answer many of the outstanding complicated questions that the sages
have.7 “Certainly he will be able to come [on Shabbat] and answer how it fits as well.”

Regarding the tradition that Moshiach would not come on Friday, the Rebbe commented:
“Certainly the Jews won’t have any complaints if he did come on erev Shabbat, even if it means
that they will prepare less food for Shabbat.”

Rabbi Pinchas Menachem replied (and the Rebbe agreed) that it is not only the Jews who are in
exile; G-d, too, is in exile, and He certainly would not have any complaints if Elijah came on erev
Shabbat!8

He Who Sings Praise Under the Tree

Another reason given for this custom is that it is brought in the name of the Midrash that
every motzei Shabbat, Elijah enters the Garden of Eden, sits beneath the Tree of Life, and records
the merits of the Jews, especially the merits of those who were careful to keep Shabbat holy.9

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Making Differentiations

Havdalah, the prayer that demarcates the end of Shabbat and the start of the work week, means
“separation.” Indeed, its text praises G-d who “separates between the holy and the mundane,
between light and dark, between Israel and the nations, between the seventh day and the six days
of activity.”

This connects to Elijah, who according to some opinions,10 will be tasked with differentiating and
clarifying the lineage of Jewish families.11

One More Shabbat and Moshaich Will Come

According to tradition, if all Jews keep just one Shabbat, Moshiach will come. Thus, at the
conclusion of Shabbat, we turn to G-d saying: We kept Shabbat, now please send Elijah to herald
the redemption.

What to Say

There are different customs regarding how the name of Elijah is invoked. Some say his name a
certain number of times (e.g., they say “Eliyahu Hanavi'' 40 times, “Eliyahu Hatishbi” 40 times,
“Eliyahu Hagiladi” 40 times, and then recite each one again three times, concluding with “Eliyahu
Hanavi,” for a total of 130 times. They then conclude with “bimiheira yavo eileinu im
Moshiach ben David,” “he will speedily come to us with Moshiach ben David”).12 Others recite
every verse in Scripture that mentions him by name,13 while many simply sing or recite a hymn
that mentions his name.
Mentioning Elijah on motzei Shabbat is said to be a remedy (segulah) for forgetfulness and brings
forth blessings for a successful week.14

Of course, the main point is that we start off the weekday with a fervent prayer that Elijah herald
the final Redemption. May it be speedily in our days!

FOOTNOTES
1.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 295. Shulchan Aruch Harav, Orach Chaim 295:5.
2.
See Malachi 3:23.
3.
Talmud, Eruvin 43b.
4.
Ibid.
5.
Tur, Orach Chaim 295; Magen Avraham, Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 295:1; Shulchan Aruch Harav, Orach Chaim 295:5.
6.
See Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Nezirut 4:11.
7.
See Zohar 28a and Shalah, Torah Shebaal Peh, Tav.
8.
See Torat Menachem 5742, vol. 2, p. 674; for more on this, see Shaarei Geulah, vol. 1, ch. 7.
9.
Tosefta Shabbat quoted in Elya Raba 295:9; Kaf Hachaim 295:19.

15
10.
Others however write that that will not be the reason for his coming, rather it will be to establish peace within the world
(See Mishnah Ediyot 8:7; Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim 12:2).
11.
Abudraham, Seder Tefilot Lemotzai Shabbat.
12.
See Elya Rabbah 295:7; see also Kaf Hachaim 295:20 and Ketzot Hashulchan 100, fn. 3.
13.
See Tur, Orach Chaim 299.
14.
Ibid.

Pennina Schram writes:9

Many years ago, it happened that there was a good couple who lived in Baghdad. The husband
studied Torah and performed mitzvot, giving charity to the poor and helping whoever needed work.
The wife, too, was a good woman, distributing charity and offering hospitality to anyone who
knocked on their door. They had one son, and the parents taught him the ways of God and to follow
the Commandments, as they did.

When the son grew old enough to marry, his parent arranged a marriage with a good family who
had a beautiful and learned daughter. At the wedding, everyone, the rich and the poor, were invited
to celebrate in the simchah.

However, as time went on, the couple still had no child. It was hard for them to see other young
couples with their babies. At night they wept bitter tears because they had no child to hold in their
arms. During the day they saw the looks of pity in the faces of the people, and they would go out
into the marketplace or synagogue only when it was necessary.

It was soon to be Pesach. They prepared everything according to the tradition. On the night of the
first seder, they read the Haggadah. As she heard the words of the Exodus from Egypt, the wife
began to cry. Her husband looked up and saw her tears, and he understood why she was weeping.
He spoke gentle words to her and, as he had said to her often before, he once again repeated, "My
wife, do not worry. HaKadosh Barukhu, the Holy One Blessed Be He, will not forget us. We will
have a child."

Suddenly they heard a tapping at the door. When the husband opened the door, they saw a weary
traveler. Without hesitation, the couple invited this old man to enter and to join them for the seder.
They sat and recited the Haggadah together and ate together, enjoying a lively discussion about
the story of the Exodus.

When the old man got up to leave, the couple invited him to stay the night. But he insisted that he
had to leave. And as he rose from his place, he did not thank the couple but spoke these words

9
"A Blessing in Disguise" from 'Tales of Elijah the Prophet' by Peninnah Schram, pages 133-135

16
instead: "I asked HaKadosh Barukhu that I may merit to visit you next Pesach at the seder and that
your table will be filled with disorder at the time."

The couple was astonished at this and even somewhat angry that this traveler would say such an
ungracious "thank you." However, they did not want to offend him, since he was their guest and
they had offered him hospitality with their whole hearts, without a thought for a reward or a "thank
you."

Soon after Pesach, the wife knew that she was expecting a child. A beautiful child was born three
months before the next Pesach, and they knew great joy.

When Pesach arrived, the couple once again sat down to begin the seder and the reading of the
Haggadah. This time they held a baby on their laps, and the child behaved like all children do. He
wiggled and laughed, he reached for the glass of wine, and he pulled at the tablecloth, he tore a
page from the Haggadah, and he squealed when he threw a plate down. And what did the parents
do? They behaved like all new parents. They laughed with joy, and watched with laughter, and
spoke with delight at their child's "work." And the seder was in disorder and certainly not b'seder.

Suddenly there was again a tapping on the door. And when they opened the door, the couple saw
the same traveler who had come the year before. They recognized him and again invited him in.
But suddenly, as they stared at the man and also at the table, they recalled his words, his "thank
you," and understood for the first time that those words had really been a blessing.

The couple began to talk at the same time, thanking the old man for his blessing, which had come
true, and asking for forgiveness because they had regarded his words in a different light.

And the old man smiled with a beautiful smile and said, "There is no need to ask my forgiveness.
How could you have understood my words at the time? May you be worthy to bring your child to
study Torah and do good deeds and to bring your child to the chuppah."

And the old man disappeared.

Then the couple understood that the traveler had been the Prophet Elijah, may his name be
remembered for good.

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 “Eli Eliyahu:” The Havdalah Piyyut and its Melodies

Adi Koren, Or Dotan, Avigail Harel, Nave Klil Hachoresh, Clement Robert,
Courtney Blue, Yaniv Dery, Noam Peleg, Sonja Wiedemann write:10
The piyyut “Eli Eliyahu” is attributed to Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra, considered one of the last great
poets of the Spanish “Golden Age” of Hebrew poetry. Ibn Ezra was born in Tudela, Spain in 1089
and died around 1164. During these years there were wars and vicissitudes in Spain which greatly
affected the Jewish communities there. In 1140 Ibn Ezra immigrated to Italy, and from there to
France and to other parts of Christian Europe. Toward the end of his life he wandered to England,
and most likely passed away there. Throughout his traveling years in various locales, Ibn Ezra
wrote Biblical commentary, poetry, research on Hebrew grammar, writings concerning Jewish
thought (including philosophy and various scientific fields) and also translated important books of
the time into Hebrew.[1]
Performance Context
“Eli Eliyahu” is sung on Saturday night as part of the havdalah (separation) ceremony. Havdalah
is a liturgical event which includes four consecutive blessings, the final one being the central
blessing officially ending the Sabbath. The ceremony symbolically “separates” between the
Sabbath and the following weekdays, “separating between sacred and mundane (ha-mavdil bein
kodesh le-hol),” (a formula that also appears as an addition to the fourth blessing in the Amidah
prayer of the Arvit (evening) service following the Sabbath). The nusah (prayer style) of the
blessing, as it is printed today in siddurim (prayer books), was formulated among the Babylonian
sages during the Talmudic period.[2] Before the Havdalah blessings it is customary to add a
sequence of verses, and to occasionally add free and impromptu baqqashot (requests) for the
success of household members.
Like other Jewish liturgical rituals, the havdalah ceremony is embellished by piyyutim
(religiously-themed poems) that are sung after the recitation of the blessings. These piyyutim often
contain themes such as the yearning for redemption, which sharpens with the coming of the
Sabbath and with the departure of the additional “soul at rest,” which is traditionally granted to
believers during the Sabbath. Therefore, a prominent motif in these songs is the figure of Elijah
the Prophet (Eliyahu), whose arrival symbolizes the coming of the Messiah.[3] Here it is also
possible to interpret the requests for redemption on Saturday night (Motzaei Shabbat) as a reward
for observance of the Sabbath. As Rabbi David Abudraham writes, “Therefore we say to the Lord,
we have observed the Sabbath, now send us Elijah the Prophet.” In addition, it is accepted that
Elijah will not arrive on the evening of the Sabbath; therefore, Saturday night is a time for renewed
expectations. These piyyutim also soften the transition from the Sabbath to the six days of the
week, an aid in extending the special atmosphere of the Sabbath through to the beginning of the
“secular” weekdays.
Like most havdalah piyyutim, “Eli Eliyahu” is concerned with the coming of Elijah the Prophet
and the redemption of Israel from its enemies. The paytan (poet) pictorially describes the suffering
of his people, Elijah the Prophet among them, in contrast to the success of those who despise the

10
https://www.jewish-music.huji.ac.il/content/%E2%80%9Celi-eliyahu%E2%80%9D-havdalah-piyyut-and-its-melodies

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people of Israel, and includes a prayer for revenge and salvation. Through artistic means, the author
integrates Biblical references within the piyyut:
“Beautiful fat-fleshed / and graze” (v.5) -- “[...] and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven
cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass.” (Genesis 41:2); “Our Rock, give them
poisonous water” (v. 6) -- “See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water.”
(Jeremiah 9:14); “they raise / their voices and weep” (v.9) -- “Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept
aloud.” (Genesis 29:11); among others.
Thus, this piyyut suits the atmosphere of a baqqasha for Motzei Shabbat. It is performed by
Sephardic and Eastern (Oriental) Jews in a variety of melodies and textual variations.
Text Sources
The text is ancient and appears in a Cairo Geniza manuscript (T-S 8H.15), beginning: Eli Eliyahu
ha-navi havenah.[4] It is worth noting that these ancient sources do not explicitly attribute the
piyyut to R. Abraham Ibn Ezra.

Geniza manuscript (T-S 8H.15)

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A testimony to the wide dispersion of Eli Eliyahu is its assiduous printing in prayer books and
piyyut collections published in many diverse locations and periods. Among the early printings that
should be emphasized is “Seder Tefillah” (Amsterdam, 1661). Another proof of the piyyut's wide
dispersion is its appearance in “Ne’imot be-Yeminkha Netzah” (Jerusalem 1902), a collection
compiled according to the custom of the Jews of Crimea[5]

[1] Abraham Ibn Ezra, Shirim. Ed. Israel Levin. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 2011, 29-35.
[2] Naphtali Weider, The Formulation of Jewish Liturgy in the East and West. Vol. 1. Jerusalem, Yad Itzhak Ben Zvi, 1998, 114-
115. (in Hebrew)
[3] Rappel, Yoel. The Jewish Holidays. 210; Greenberg, Irving (Yitzhak). The Jewish Way. (Reuven Mass 2010), 148.
[4] We would like to thank Ms. Sarah Cohen of the Ezra Fleischer Geniza Research Institute of Poetry for the help in locating the
text in its earliest source.
[5] For references to additional sources see, Israel Davidson, Otsar ha-Shira veha-Piyut (Thesaurus of Medieval Hebrew Poetry)
from the time of the signing of the Holy Writ until the beginning of the Enlightenment, (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication
Society Press, 1933), 256.

Elijah in the Time of Corona – A Passover Poem

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Rick Lupert writes:11

I
In the age of closed doors and mandated distance
I tried ordering Matzah online.
The only single boxes, (because with only two of us
eating matzah with gluten in it, we don’t need the five-pack)
were labeled not kosher for Passover.
Who in their right mind wants to eat matzah
when it’s not Passover? We barely want to eat it
when it is Passover.
I don’t think we worried about this when we ran out of Egypt.
We took what we could and kept our eye on freedom.
We’re doing what we can in this nouveau Goshen.
Even if the rabbis didn’t have their eyes on it
there will be Matzah on my plate tonight.

II
An Instacartress is bringing
Manischewitz wine to our house.
She wants to see my ID.
I want to tell her Manischewitz wine
is awful,
shouldn’t count as actual alcohol
and
is tradition!
I show her my ID and now have the raw materials
I need to make harosetz,
as well as have a little drop for Elijah
when the time comes.
I wonder if Elijah will be wearing
an N95 mask this year?
They’re saying the rest of us should wear cloth masks
and leave the N95s for first responders…
but Elijah has to go to a lot of houses
so maybe he has special dispensation.
This year, FOR SURE, no tongue kissing Elijah.
I’m not even sure about opening the door.
A plague has come to Van Nuys and I’ve got
nothing to slather on the doorway.

11
https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/blogs/from-the-lupertverse/313912/elijah-in-the-time-of-corona-a-passover-poem/

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