Page 9 - HaMizrachi #28 Pesach USA 2021

MIZRACHI EDUCATORS TORAT MIZRACHI

Rabbanit Shani Taragin

Eliyahu at the

Petach on Pesach

here are numerous customs of straddle/waver between two opinions” Eliyahu consistently reminds us of the
inviting Eliyahu to our Pesach (i.e., G-d or Ba’al worship). He waits timeless ambiguities, “twilights’’ and
Thome. One common custom is until bein haShmashot, twilight, a time pesachim, straddling between extremes.
to take a large, decorative cup as the kos of ambiguity, to resolve their dialectic, Yet he also comes to clarify and resolve
shel Eliyahu, and leave it on the Seder as G-d’s dominance is manifest through our confusions, to take us to the “other
table in the hope he will come to herald heavenly fire. side” – from the inside of the Churva
the arrival of Mashiach. Another custom and caves of despair and destruction, to
is to open the door for Eliyahu after the In Chapter 19, we find Eliyahu seeking the derech – the pathway to prayer and
third cup is drunk, as an introduction refuge and affirmation by the entrance redemption.
to the second half of Hallel, which cele- of the cave at Har Chorev. Lastly, as he
brates the Final Redemption. Some even departs from his disciple Elisha (Mela- As such, he is the prophet who must
have the custom of standing when the chim 2, 2), on the Jordanian border come to catalyze redemption through
door is open and saying “baruch haba,” of the Land, he is taken heavenward turning the heart of the fathers to the
as if to welcome Eliyahu and Mashiach. in “chariots and horses of fire,” while children, and the heart of the children
his cloak falls to the ground. Eliyahu to their fathers (Malachi 3:24). While he
The Midrash explains (Pirkei deRebbi remains suspended between Heaven awaits at the “doorposts,” he encourages
Eliezer, chap. 29) that when Eliyahu us to engage in conversation with our
(Melachim 1, 19) appears on Har Chorev, and Earth. parents and with our children, teaching
accusing Am Yisrael of undermining Brit In Talmudic sources as well, Eliyahu is us the art of listening and learning from
Sinai, G-d responds and tells him that conventionally situated at doorposts. one another.
he will witness all britot, testifying to the He awaits for Rabbi Yossi to finish his
Jewish people’s fulfillment of this com- prayer in the Churva to teach him the On Seder Night, we engage intergen-
mandment. Based on this, the Rabbis lessons he learned from Har Chorev: erationally as no other time in the year.
instituted the kisei shel Eliyahu placed don’t enter a state or place of ruin, don’t We have a unique opportunity to bridge
at nearly every brit mila. Perhaps this focus on the past, pray “along the road,” gaps and to stop straddling in twilight.
idea contributes to his witnessing Brit as part of a process of progress for the We pour the kos shel Eliyahu and open
Pesach as well. future, accompanied by others instead our doors, as we want Eliyahu to see
Perhaps there is another reason for of praying in isolation, and recite an that we are ready – not to invite him in,
but to accompany him out on a path of
opening our doors for Eliyahu. abbreviated prayer along the road, to
maintain focus, recognizing it may not prayer and final redemption.
Eliyahu is consistently “found” by door- be an ideal state. As G-d told Eliyahu
ָ
posts and openings in time and space, at Chorev, ך ְּ כ ְ ר ַ ד ְ ל בּו ׁש ך ֵ ל – “go upon your
ְ
straddling between the inside and out. way.” It is preferable to work and pray
This phenomenon begins in Melachim with the nation even at the cost of one’s
1, 18, when he calls the king, the proph- own prayer, as a means of facilitating
ets of Ba’al and the people to come to redemption (Berachot 3a).
Har HaCarmel, on the border between
Israel and Phoenicia. “Carmel” rep- Eliyahu is also found at the entrance of
resents wheat in an intermediary state, the cave in which Rabbi Shimon Bar
when not too hard or soft, neither here Yochai and his son were hiding, herald-
nor there. As such, the “carmelit” is ing for them to exit (Shabbat 33b). He Rabbanit Shani Taragin is Educational
qualified by Chazal as neither a public is found by the doorpost of the home of Director of Mizrachi and the Director of the
nor private domain, but rather some- Rabbi Yehoshua HaGarsi, Rabbi Akiva’s Mizrachi Matan Lapidot Educators' Program.
place “in-between.” Once assembled, devoted attendant, to bring Rabbi Aki-
Eliyahu questions the nation, ם ֶּ ת ַ א י ַ ת ָ מ ד ַ ע va’s tortured corpse to rest in a cave in A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
םי ִּ פ ִ ע ְּ ס ַ ה י ֵּ ת ְ ׁש ל ַ ע םי ִ ח ְ סֹ ּ פ, “How long shall you Gan Eden (Midrash Mishlei, 9). mizrachi.org/speakers

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