THE SACRED CHAIR OF ELIJAH IN JEWISH TRADITION

I have a great fascination with this subject. An entire religious tradition built around the returning of Elijah - and then the subsequent return of Messiach. One inexorably tied to the other.

Here is a Jewish Rabbi's musings on the subject (an excerpt from a larger sermon on the topic):

Some of those names that I just mentioned, Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Joshua, Rabbi Elazar, Rabbi Akiba, Rabbi Tarfon, might sound familiar to you. They appear in the Haggadah. Their story is told at Passover. The Seder meal is also intended to invoke the memories of other Seders in other places and other times. Teachers, parents, family are not forgotten if they are still present at our sacred meals.

And there is always one additional guest at Passover. No matter how crowded the dining room might be, there is always an open door and a bit of wine for Elijah. Elijah has a special role. He is the one who will announce the messianic era of peace and well being, an end to exile and mourning. He enters our homes and drinks from the cup of Elijah.

We all know about the cup of Elijah, but Elijah also has a chair. It is the Kiseh Elijahu, the Chair of Elijah. It is a central religious symbol in many synagogues. It is usually a bench, often finely carved and ornate. It sits on the Bimah and has a special role in Jewish ritual and observance. In many synagogues throughout the world the Chair of Elijah is the most precious object other than the Torah.

In the synagogue, Elijah's chair is usually empty. No one sits in it except during the Torah service. One of the elders of the community is given the honor of holding the Torah following its reading. The Torah is dressed with its mantle and silver, and the person holding the Torah sits in the chair of Elijah. The Torah is of course the Tree of Life. It fills the Empty Chair and brings it life. The Empty Chair of Elijah now contains the torah, the source of wisdom, teaching, tradition.

The Kiseh Elijahu has an additional role to play. Whether the ornate community Chair of Elijah of the synagogue or the chair designated as Kiseh Elijahu in a home, this is the chair that a newborn child is placed in before a bris or a naming ceremony. The empty chair is filled with a young child. New life comes to replace the old.