A Soulful Journey

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi came upon Elijah the prophet while he was standing at the entrance of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai’s cave.   He asked Elijah, “When will the Messiah come?”  Elijah replied, “Go and ask him yourself.” “Where is he?” “Sitting at the gates of the city.” “How shall I know him?” “He is sitting among the poor covered with wounds.  The others unbind all their wounds at the same time and then bind them up again.  But he unbinds one at a time and binds it up again, saying to himself, ‘Perhaps I shall be needed: if so I must always be ready so as not to delay a moment.’   When Elijah had explained how we could find the Messiah sitting among the poor at the gates of the city, Rabbi Yehoshua, ben Levi went to the Messiah and said to him, ”Peace unto you my master and teacher.” The Messiah answered, “Peace and to you, son of Levi”. He asked, “When is the master coming?” “Today,” he answered.   Rabbi Yehoshua returned to Elijah who a...

A man wants to go to find Elijah the prophet. So he prepares himself, gather his food, set off, because he has heard that Elijah will be at one particular Seder in the small village, in the middle of nowhere.  And finally after a long journey, he approaches a house, old and ramshackle. He looks in through a cracked window as an extended family gathered to celebrate the Seder. They are wearing their finest for Yontif and yet he can see that they are poor because the clothes are patched, the walls are bare and even for this, the greatest meal of the year, there is barely any food on the table. And he wonders, can Elijah really be here? Sadly, he realizes he must have come to the wrong house. Elijah cannot possibly be here at this table. He starts to walk away. As he walks away he forgets about Elijah in the simply heartened by the warmth, the children smiling and singing and the lights of the candles. And then he thinks about the fact that he has so much food and they h...

There is a midrash on Ruth Rabbah (5:6). Rabbi Yitzhak the son of Merion said: Our text comes to teach us that if a person performs a mitzvah he should perform it with a perfect heart.  If Reuven had known that the Holy One delivered him from their hand he would have carried Joseph on his shoulders to his father.     And if Aaron had known that the Holy One blessed be He was recording of him “Behold he is coming to meet you,” he would have come to meet Moses with drums and with dancing.    If Boaz had known that the Holy One blessed be He  would record of him, “And they reached out to her parched corn and she ate and was satisfied and left thereof,” he would have fed her fatted calves.  In the distant past when a person performed a mitzvah the prophet would record it.   When a person performs a mitzvah nowadays who is there to record it? Elijah records it and the messiah – and the Holy One blessed be He se...

A tzaddik told that the Baal Shem Tov hoped that one day he would be carried away to heaven by a storm like Elijah.  When his wife died he said, “I hoped I would be taken to heaven as Elijah was, in a cloud of fire.  But this is not possible any more because now I am only one half of a body."

Rabbi Yossi once stopped to pray in a broken building in Israel. Elijah the prophet waited for him to finish and then asked, “What did you hear in this building?” The rabbi answered, “I heard a heavenly voice which chirps like a dove and chants: “Woe to Me ! Oh, My children.  For their sins I have destroyed My house, burned My holy Sanctum and exiled Israel among the nations.” Elijah replied: “I swear that this voice speaks not once but three times each day. Furthermore, when Jews in synagogue recite,  yehay shmay rabbah …”  God nods His head and says, “Happy is the king who is exalted in His house.” Why does the Father exile His children? ”Woe to those children exiled from the fathers table.” No parent wants to punish the child. In fact, when they send them to the room without dinner it is the parent that greatly suffers.

There were three kinds of prophets: Those that would honor the father and the son, Those that would honor the father but not the son, Those that would honor the son and not the father, -Jeremiah honored both -Elijah honored only God -Jonah honored only man.  - Max Kaddushin

Rabbi Baroka of Hoza met Elijah the prophet in the marketplace and asked him if any one of the vast numbers of people there would be admitted to the next world.  Elijah pointed to one stranger. Rabbi Baroka went to the man and asked what he did. The man replied that he made people laugh.  He gladdened their hearts. On that passage Rashi commented: when you see two people quarreling, you are to engage them playfully until their anger diminishes and they make peace.

"The greatest merit of the prophet Elijah," he said, "is that he fought the kings and crushed the idols, the people did not react to a miracle but instead cried: God is our God."   -unknown author The real test of faith is not believing what people do but in the invisible Hand that moves all things.  God.

"When Elijah went up to heaven he travelled by chariot.  When Mohammed did the same he travelled by horse - which is probably why Disraeli referred to Arabs as as "Jews on horseback." - Chaim Bermant We are all related.

During the holiday of Pesach, Rabbi Max Artz found himself in the heartland of America.  He was hungry but could not go to a restaurant.  It was Pesach.  But a rabbi lived somewhere in the area.  Artz went and knocked at the door.  No one answered.  No one was at home. He tried the door and it was unlocked so he went in.  Ravenously hungry, he ate one half of a chicken and other food he found in the refrigerator.  After cleaning up, he left a note, "Thank you. Prophet Elijah." Was it a joke?  Could it be that he was the famous prophet?  The answer is yes, depending upon how the note was received.  How would you react?

A Hasid lost his wealth and had to hire himself out. His wife was a good, sensible and pious woman. Elijah the prophet came to the man in disguise one day as he was working in the field and said, “You have six good years due to you.   When would you prefer them, now or at the end of your life?” The Hasid asked, "Why? Are you a magician? I have no money to give. Leave me." Twice the stranger returned. The Hasid then said, “Let me consult my wife.” He told his wife of the encounter and asked, “What shall I do?" She said, "Tell him we want the six years now." So he did. The stranger told him to go home and his wish would be fulfilled. No sooner had he caught sight of his house when he saw his children digging in the ground. And they found buried enough money to sustain them for six years. But his wife advised, "Since God was so gracious let us help others." As each day passed she would ask the youngest child to write down the sums disbur...

"After delivering a guilty man to the Roman authorities Elijah the prophet stopped visiting Rabbi Joshua ben Levi. Much later prophet came to see the Rabbi. The rabbi asked why the prophet had stopped coming. The rabbi continued and said, the man he turned over to the Romans was guilty. What did I do that was wrong? Elijah answered and said, the man was guilty but it wasn't the job of a rabbi to turn him over to the authorities."   - Aaron Kriegel    There are some words and actions a leader should not say or do.  

The story is told of Joshua ben Levi who approached the Messiah to find out when he was coming. "Today," the Messiah replied. After having waited the duration of the day Joshua ben Levi then went to Elijah and asked why the Messiah had lied to him. Elijah answered, "He meant today, if only you would listen." retold by Rabbi Albert Friedlander

Imagine a universe of joy. A world of satisfaction where no one covetously eyes their neighbor’s wife or husband, car or she-ass. Imagine a world where no wars or conflicts tear at the fabric of humanity. For millennium, Jews have harbored a vision of such a time and place. We call it the messianic era. Legends are rife about who will usher in that time, what needs to be done before the arrival of the anointed one, who will welcome him and where the seeds of peace will first be planted. At root with the many beliefs of the messiah is his precursor, Elijah, the prophet. Announcing the arrival of the son of David will be this great prophet who never died. Elijah will trumpet the pivotal moment inaugurating the coronation of the messiah. An underlying question still needs answering, though: What will precipitate Elijah coming? What will be the catalyst that forces Elijah from this heavenly chariot back to earth? Here is the answer: Behold, I will send Elijah the prophet before the...