(כב) זִכְר֕וּ תּוֹרַ֖ת מֹשֶׁ֣ה עַבְדִּ֑י אֲשֶׁר֩ צִוִּ֨יתִי אוֹת֤וֹ בְחֹרֵב֙ עַל־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל חֻקִּ֖ים וּמִשְׁפָּטִֽים׃ (כג) הִנֵּ֤ה אָנֹכִי֙ שֹׁלֵ֣חַ לָכֶ֔ם אֵ֖ת אֵלִיָּ֣ה הַנָּבִ֑יא לִפְנֵ֗י בּ֚וֹא י֣וֹם יְהֹוָ֔ה הַגָּד֖וֹל וְהַנּוֹרָֽא׃ (כד) וְהֵשִׁ֤יב לֵב־אָבוֹת֙ עַל־בָּנִ֔ים וְלֵ֥ב בָּנִ֖ים עַל־אֲבוֹתָ֑ם פֶּן־אָב֕וֹא וְהִכֵּיתִ֥י אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ חֵֽרֶם׃
הנה אנכי שולח לכם את אליה הנביא לפני בוא יום יהוה הגדול והנורא
(22) Be mindful of the Teaching of My servant Moses, whom I charged at Horeb with laws and rules for all Israel. (23) Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the Eternal. (24) [God] shall reconcile parents with children and children with their parents, so that, when I come, I do not strike the whole land with utter destruction.
Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the Eternal.
THE TALMUD is the textual record of generations of rabbinic debate about law, philosophy, and biblical interpretation, compiled between the 3rd and 8th centuries and structured as commentary on the Mishnah with stories interwoven. The Talmud exists in two versions: the more commonly studied Babylonian Talmud was compiled in present-day Iraq, while the Jerusalem Talmud was compiled in Israel. Our talmudic selections today come from the more commonly studied Babylonian Talmud.
If a man made an oven out of separate coils [of clay, placing one upon another], then put sand between each of the coils — such an oven, R. Eliezer declared, is not susceptible to defilement, while the sages declared it susceptible. It is taught: On that day R. Eliezer brought forward every imaginable argument, but the Sages did not accept any of them. Finally he said to them: "If the Halakhah (religious law) is in accordance with me, let this carob tree prove it!" Sure enough the carob tree immediately uprooted itself and moved one hundred cubits, and some say 400 cubits, from its place. "No proof can be brought from a carob tree," they retorted. And again he said to them "If the Halakhah agrees with me, let the channel of water prove it!" Sure enough, the channel of water flowed backward. "No proof can be brought from a channel of water," they rejoined. Again he urged, "If the Halakhah agrees with me, let the walls of the house of study prove it!" Sure enough, the walls tilted as if to fall. But R. Joshua, rebuked the walls, saying, "When disciples of the wise are engaged in a halakhic dispute, what right have you to interfere?" Hence in deference to R. Joshua they did not fall and in deference to R. Eliezer they did not resume their upright position; they are still standing aslant. Again R. Eliezer then said to the Sages, "If the Halakhah agrees with me, let it be proved from heaven." Sure enough, a divine voice cried out, "Why do you dispute with R. Eliezer, with whom the Halakhah always agrees?" R. Joshua stood up and protested: "The Torah is not in heaven!" (Deut. 30:12). We pay no attention to a divine voice because long ago at Mount Sinai You wrote in your Torah at Mount Sinai, `After the majority must one incline'. (Ex. 23:2)"
R. Nathan met [the prophet] Elijah and asked him, "What did the Holy One do at that moment?" Elijah: "God laughed [with joy], saying, 'My children have defeated Me, My children have defeated Me.'"
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi met Elijah while the prophet was standing at the entrance to the cave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai. Rabbi Yehoshua asked him, “Do I have a place in the world to come?” Elijah replied, “If the Master [God] desires it.” [https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-world-to-come/]
As Elijah spoke, Rabbi Yehoshua looked about in wonderment. Perhaps it was only the echo from the cave before which he stood, but later on when he would speak of this meeting with Elijah, he would say, “I saw two of us but I heard the voice of a third.”
Rabbi Yehoshua asked Elijah another question about the future time: “When will the Messiah come? Elijah answered, “Go and ask him, himself.” Rabbi Yehoshua was amazed: “You mean I could find him, talk to him—now? Where is he?” Elijah said, “You can find him at the gates of Rome.” “How will I recognize him at the gates of Rome?” asked Rabbi Yehoshua. Elijah told him, “There he sits among the lepers whom you will find unwinding all of their bandages at the same time and then covering their sores with clean bandages. The Messiah is the only one who unwinds and rewinds his bandages one at a time, thinking, ‘I want to be ready at a moment’s notice if I am called’.”
Rabbi Yehoshua traveled from the cave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai all the way to Rome—a journey that seemed to take him only a few steps. He was not frightened by the strong gates of the enemy nor the pitiful condition of the lepers. Keeping in mind Elijah’s advice of how to identify the Messiah in the most unlikely of places among the most wretched of people, he quickly spotted the one poor sufferer who was unwrapping and rewrapping only one sore at a time.
Rabbi Yehoshua approached him and said, “Peace be upon you, my master and teacher.” The leper looked knowingly at him and replied, “Peace be upon you, son of Levi.” Rabbi Yehoshua asked him, “When will the Master come?” “Today,” said the leper.
Rabbi Yehoshua returned to Elijah in the blink of an eye. Elijah said to him, “What did the Messiah say to you?” Rabbi Yehoshua replied, “He said, ‘Peace be upon you, son of Levi’.” Elijah said, “Ah! As to your first question of me, he assured you that both you and your father have a place in the world to come.” Rabbi Yehoshua said, “But he lied to me, saying, ‘Today I will come.’ But he has not come.” Elijah said, “No, [God] did not say that he would come ‘today’. This is what[God] said to you: [God] said will come “today, if you will listen to [God's] voice” (Psalm 95:7).
-- Translation adapted from Rabbi Steve Sager z"l, from the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98a
Rabbi Yehoshua b. Levi
Amoraim - First Generation
c.220 - c.250 CE
R. Yehoshua b. Levi was known for his piety as well as his scholarship, and is frequently quoted in the Talmud. He was a contemporary of R. Chiyya and was the head of an academy in Lud. Among other things, he was known for his access to Elijah and his ability to negotiate with the angel of death.
A story of Elijah our prophet, from our midrash, inviting us to view our scarcity as abundance, and to share it will all:
Once, a rich man fell upon hard times and lost all his wealth. To support his family, he took a job as a laborer. One day, Elijah appeared to him in disguise and said to him, "You are destined to enjoy seven good years of prosperity. Do you want them now or at the end of your life?"
"You are a devil!" cried the man, and chased Elijah away.
Again Elijah appeared and repeated his offer.
"You are a wizard!" cried the man, and chased him away.
A third time Elijah appeared, and this time the man said, "I will ask my wife for advice.”
His wife said to him, "Ask for the good years now. For if we ask for them at the end of our lives, we will know our days are numbered as soon as good fortune comes to us."
So he went back and told Elijah what his wife had said.
When he returned home that day, his children greeted him trembling with excitement and said,
"Father, see what we found while we were digging under the large stone in our yard! A treasure!”
His wife said to him, "Let us use this gift wisely. If we share what we have with those less fortunate, perhaps God may grant us more good years.”
And so for the next seven years, they opened their hands generously to the poor and performed many acts of tzedakah.
At the end of seven years, Elijah once again appeared to the man. “I have come to make good on my pledge," he said.
“Your seven years of wealth are coming to an end."
“Wait,” said the man. “I asked my wife's advice the first time you appeared. Let me consult with her again.”
So he ran home and told his wife that the messenger had come to reclaim their fortune.
"Tell him," said his wife, "that if he can find two people who have used such a gift more wisely than we, then he can have it back.”
Elijah searched the world over, but nowhere did he find two people with more generous hearts. So he never returned to reclaim the wealth, and they enjoyed prosperity and good health until a ripe old age.
As told by Rabbi Elizabeth Dunsker, c.f. (Midrash Zuta Ruth 4:11; Yalkut Shimoni II #607; English language sources: Bin Gurion III 1220-1223, retold in The Classic Tales: 4,000 Years of Jewish Lore, ed. Ellen Frankel [Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1989], pp. 585-586). C.f. Rabbi Liz's Yom Kippur Morning sermon, Tzedakah - Three Stories of Choosing Abundance, 10/5/22
Tannaim - Fifth Generationתנאים - דור חמישי
c.135 - c.170 CE 135 - 170 לספירה בקירוב
R. Meir was an unusual but prolific scholar who studied under Elisha b. Abuya, R. Ishmael and R. Akiva. He later became the head of the court in Usha, until he quarreled with R. Shimon ben Gamliel. At that point, he left Palestine altogether. He was also known to have experienced many miracles.
Tannaim - Fifth Generationתנאים - דור חמישי
c.135 - c.170 CE 135 - 170 לספירה בקירוב
R. Yose b. Chalafta learned from many teachers but was a disciple of R. Akiva. Preserving many traditions from his father, he served as an authority in transmitting them to his younger contemporaries. He is credited with the compilation of Seder Olam, the classical compendium of traditional history.
How does Elijah become associated with Passover?
There’s never a mention of Elijah at the Seder described in the Torah or in the Talmud and nothing in those texts about pouring a cup of wine for him or opening the door. But there is an early folk tradition to open the door based on the line near the beginning of the Haggadah: “Let all who are hungry come and eat.” Then in the 11th century, a rabbi says, “Passover is a time of redemption, and the messiah is the ultimate redemption, so we’re leaving the door open because we hope Elijah will come, and we want to make sure we go out to meet him right away.” So the tradition begins not with opening the door so Elijah can come in. It's opening the door, so we'll go out and greet him. Then the next stage is, "Okay, if he shows up, he'll come in, and if he's coming in, he's going to need a cup of wine!" That's basically the origin of it.
--Who was Elijah and Why Do Jews Open the Door for Him on Passover?
https://www.brandeis.edu/jewish-experience/holidays-religious-traditions/2022/march/elijah-passover-matt.html