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TORAH PORTION I

GOLDENBERG
PHOTOGRAPHY'S

The Spirit Of Elijah
Enters Through Heart

RABBI IRWIN GRONER

Special to The Jewish News

he Sabbath before
Pesach has a special
designation. It is
known as Shabbat Hagadol,
the Great Sabbath, and some
scholars suggest that this
name is derived from the con-
cluding chapter of the book of
Malachi, which is always read
at this season. Malachi
declared in the climactic por-
tion of his statement "Behold,
I will send unto you Elijah,

T

Shabbat Hagadol,
Parashat Tzav:
Leviticus 6:1-8:36,
Malachi 3:4-24

the prophet, before the corn-
ing of the great and awesome
day of the Lord." Thus, the
association of "great" or
"gadol" with this Sabbath.
Elijah is a folk hero who
found his way into the Hag-
gada and into the warm em-
brace of the Jewish people. At
the Passover seder, he is given
a cup to drink, the fifth cup.
We open a door for him, we in-
vite him to our gathering, and
we offer songs and praises in
his honor.
We are told that at the
seder table of a great Chasidic
rabbi, one of his disciples was
asked to open the door for Eli-
jah. When he returned from
the open door, everyone notic-
ed that the Chasid's face was
quite pale. When asked why
he was so moved, the Chasid
responded, "When you open
the door in the rebbe's house,
the possibility is so strong
that Elijah will really come
in, and I was afraid."
The rabbi heard these
words and responded, "You
don't have to be afraid. When
Elijah will come in, he will
come not through the door,
but through your heart!'
Why, of all the great pro-
phets in Israel, was Elijah
chosen as our most impor-
tant, albeit invisible, seder
guest? What, in our tradition,
associates him with Passover
in coming not just through
our doors, but through our
hearts?
The most obvious answer is
a historical one. Elijah stak-
ed his life in the struggle
against idolatry in ancient
Israel. The king and queen of
Israel had betrayed the faith
of their fathers and had suc-

Irwin Groner is rabbi at Cong.
Shaarey Zedek.

ceeded in establishing the
worship of the Canaanite fer-
tility gods. Most of the true
prophets were slain by the
king. But Elijah demon-
strated a supreme courage
and zeal which designated
him forever as the forerunner
of the Messiah, as one would
herald the redemption of all
mankind.
Thus, Passover, the festival
of Jewish freedom, is con-
nected with Elijah, the pro-
phet of ultimate, universal
freedom.

There was another role
which the rabbis assigned to
Elijah. The prophet says of
Elijah that "He will turn the
hearts of the fathers to the
children, and the hearts of
the children to their fathers!'
Before the coming of
Passover, we read this verse as
we prepare for the celebration
of the seder, because the
greatest of the respon-
sibilities of Elijah will be the
reunion of families.
In Jewish legend, it is Eli-
jah who, under different
guises and always
unrecognized, appears to
reconcile those whom bit-
terness had split asunder. It
is in this role, even more so
than as harbinger of mes-
sianic times, that Elijah
"enters our hearts!'

Passover is uniquely a fami-
ly festival when grand-
parents, parents, children and
relatives re-enact ancient
rituals and "eat history!' The
first instructions given to the
people of Israel to observe the
Passover festival state: "It
shall come to pass when your
children shall say unto you,
`What mean you by this ser-
vice' and thou shalt tell the
story to your children."
If the head of the household
is the king of the seder, then
the star of the performance is
the child. The whole text of
the night, the Haggada, is in-
tended to build a pathway to
a child's heart.
In the midst of our concern
for personal success and
achievement, Judaism teach-
es us that there is a founda-
tion upon which human life
either becomes blessed or
loses its possibility for
regeneration; that foundation
is the family. We have the
obligation and privilege to
communicate our heritage to
our young, to respond to
them, to share with them the
values so precious to us.
Therefore, we hope for the
coming of Elijah because he is
a symbol of the reconciliation
of the generation.

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