JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

elijah, cup of
cessive zeal for Me you have brought charges against Israel that
they have forsaken My covenant; therefore you shall have to
be present at every circumcision ceremony” (PdRE 29; Zohar,
Gen. 93a). Since “the messenger [angel] of the Covenant,”
spoken of in Malachi 3:1, was identified with the prophet Elijah,
it was only proper that the Angel of the Covenant should
be present whenever a Jewish child entered the Covenant of
Abraham (i.e., circumcision). Scholars have suggested that the
custom is rooted in the belief in guardian angels for the newborn;
Elijah is identified as the guardian angel of the Jewish
child. Most probably, the biblical story (I Kings 17:17–24) in
which Elijah revived the child of the widow was instrumental
in creating this concept. Elijah is also the child protector in
the inscription on *amulets against *Lilith. These were placed
above the bed of the mother and the newborn child.
Bibliography: H. Schauss, The Lifetime of a Jew (1950),
34–37; Eisenstein, Dinim, 182.
ELIJAH, CUP OF (Heb. ּוהָ ּיִלֵ א לֶׁ ש ֹוס ֹו, ּכ koso shel Eliyyahu),
term designating the cup of wine which is placed on the table
of the *Passover eve ceremonial (seder), but which is not
drunk. There was controversy among the rabbis whether the
seder ritual required four or five cups. Since, according to traditional
belief, all doubtful cases of tradition will be resolved
“when Elijah comes,” custom decreed that the fifth cup should
be filled but not partaken of (cf. Pes. 118a; Maim., Yad, Ḥameẓ
u-Maẓẓah 8:10). Later this custom became associated with the
belief that Elijah had not died but had ascended to heaven in
a fiery chariot (II Kings 2:11), and that he would return as the
forerunner of the Messiah (Mal. 3:23). The festival of redemption
from Egyptian bondage was naturally associated with the
forerunner of the Messiah, who was expected in this “season
of redemption” to herald the coming deliverance (cf. RH 11b).
Hence the popular notion arose that the “cup of Elijah” was
prepared to welcome the prophet who visited every Jewish
home on the Passover night.
Bibliography: H. Schauss, Jewish Festivals (1938), 80–82;
J.L. Avida, Koso shel Eliyahu ha-Navi… (1958); Hoffer, in: HḥY, 11
(1927), 211–3.
ELIJAH BEN AARON BEN MOSES (also referred to as
Ibn-’Abd-al-Wālī or ha-dayyan, “the judge”), Karaite author
in Jerusalem; according to A. *Firkovich, he lived in the 15th
century, and according to P.F. Fraenkel (see bibliography) in
the 16th. He wrote the following works in Arabic: Shurūṭ al-
Dhabaḥāt, on the laws of ritual slaughter; a key (fihrist) to
Judah *Hadassi’s Eshkol ha-Kofer; collectanea (manuscript
in Jewish Theological Seminary, N.Y., presumably the same
as Sefer le-Eliyahu ha-Dayyan, referred to in S. Pinsker, Likkutei
Kadmoniyyot (1860), 192 no. 14); and a commentary on
the weekly portion Ha’azinu. He also composed Shevaḥ fı̄ al-
Torah, a prayer on opening the Ark.
Bibliography: Fraenkel, in: MGWJ, 32 (1883), 400–15; Mann,
Texts, index, S.V. Elijah Haddayan.
[Jakob Naphtali Hertz Simchoni]
ELIJAH BEN ABRAHAM (first half of 12th century), Karaite
scholar who may have lived in Ereẓ Israel. He wrote a polemical
tract Ḥilluk ha-Kara’im ve-ha-Rabbanim (“The Controversy
between the Karaites and the Rabbanites”). In this
Elijah lists 14 Jewish sects of which there remained in his time
only four: the *Rabbanites, the *Karaites, the Tiflisites, and the
followers of the faith (i.e., sect) of *Meshwi al-Ukbari. Following
*Kirkisānī and other Karaite writers, Elijah considers that
the breach between Karaism and Rabbanite Judaism is traceable
as early as the time of *Jeroboam I. Elijah was the first
Karaite author to relate the questionable Karaite tradition according
to which *Anan b. David and other Karaites were the
first Avelei Zion (“Mourners of Zion”) in Jerusalem. The list
of Karaite sages in Elijah’s work includes authors not known
from other sources and also Rabbanite scholars such as *Judah
b. Eli of Tiberias and Judah ibn Quraysh. The author states in
conclusion that “although the Rabbanim go astray in most of
the mitzvot, they are our brothers and our coreligionists. And
our soul grieves for their errors.”
Bibliography: S. Pinsker, Likkutei Kadmoniyyot (1860), 19,
225 (first pagination); S. Poznański, Karaite Literary Opponents of
Saadiah Gaon (1908), 72–74; Mann, Texts, 2 (1935), index; L. Nemoy,
Karaite Anthology (1952), 4–8; Z. Ankori, Karaites in Byzantium
(1959), index.
[Simha Katz]
ELIJAH BEN BARUCH (ben Solomon ben Abraham) THE
ELDER (d. before 1712), Karaite author. Elijah lived at first in
Constantinople but is included by Simḥah Isaac *Luẓki among
the Karaite writers of the Crimea. Elijah subsequently visited
Ereẓ Israel, and is therefore referred to as “Yerushalmi.” While
in Jerusalem he copied the polemic by Salmon b. Jeroham
against *Saadiah Gaon, as well as the polemical tract of Sahl
b. Maẓliaḥ. Elijah inserted his own comments, strongly critical
of the *Rabbanites in general and Saadiah Gaon in particular.
Elijah’s writings, mainly polemical, include (1) Asarah
Ma’amarot, his major work, on the differences between the
Rabbanites and the Karaites; (2) Iggeret ha-Vikku’aḥ, in four
parts, not extant (mentioned in Luẓki’s Oraḥ Ẓaddikim);
(3) Yalkut, a collection of 61 essays by Karaite and Rabbanite
scholars, with commentary; (4) Sippurei Massa’ot, a description
of his journey from the Crimea to Ereẓ Israel; (5) Ẓeror
ha-Mor, a commentary on Judah Gibbor’s Minḥat Yehudah.
None of his works was published.
Bibliography: A. Geiger, in: Oẓar Neḥmad, 4 (1863), 18;
A.B. Gottlober, Bikkoret le-Toledot ha-Kara’im (1865), 159; S. Pinsker,
in: Likkutei Kadmoniyyot (1860), 25, 27, 43; S. Poznański, Karaite Literary
Opponents of Sa’adiah Gaon (1908), 86, no. 45; Mann, Texts, 2
(1935), 1426–27.
ELIJAH BEN BENJAMIN HA-LEVI (d. after 1540), rabbi
and paytan of Constantinople. He belonged to an indigenous
Turkish Jewish family. He studied under Moses *Capsali, to
whose aid he came in his dispute with Joseph *Colon, and afterward
under Elijah *Mizraḥi, whom he succeeded as chief
rabbi of Constantinople in 1525. Elijah wrote a book of re-
338 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6