passover
Will Elijah Be at Your Seder?
Daniel Matt
M Ezume Images / AdobeStock
ost Jews are not familiar with the biblical Elijah
nor with his Talmudic portrayal. They know of him
because of childhood memories of the seder —
when the Cup of Elijah adorned the table, or when the door
was opened in the expectation that he would appear.

Neither custom has a precise beginning or a clear expla-
nation. Rather, they evolved over centuries; only later, did
rabbis attempt to explain them.

Both customs are associated with the belief that Elijah will
herald the Messiah, and that Israel’s fi nal redemption will
take place on the anniversary of the original redemption
from Egyptian slavery on the fi rst night of Passover. That
anniversary is instituted in the Torah: It is a night of watch for
YHVH, for bringing them out of the land of Egypt; this night
is YHVH’s, a watch for all the Israelites through their gener-
ations (Exodus 12:42). Commenting on this verse, a midrash
predicts: “On that night they were redeemed, and on that
night they are destined to be redeemed.”
The verse in Exodus mentions shimmurim, “watch (or
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