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blessed as the bringer of good news in Jewish liturgy, preeminently in the grace after meals and the blessings over the Haftarah. He appears in other Jewish liturgy as well. The circumcision chair in a synagogue is known as the chair of Elijah. In the New Testament, Jesus is frequently compared with Elijah, where he is usually understood as a precursor, so as not to cast a shadow on Jesus’ role, though the Hebrew Bible outlines an individual, eschatological role for Elijah. Jesus is acclaimed as Elijah (who is still alive because of his assumption alive into heaven preserved him from death) in Mark 8:27-33, Matthew 16:13-23, and Luke 9:18-22. Jesus also proclaimed John the Baptist as Elijah (Matt 11:10ff.; 17:10ff.; Mark 9:11ff.), so both prophetic figures in early Judaism were identified with this already legendary figure. Elijah was evidently a Messianic figure in his own right.

In the famous story of the oven of Akhnai (b. Mesi’a 59a), Elijah appears at the end to tell us that God is pleased with the ruling that we always incline towards the majority and do not heed miracles as legal proof.28 In the equally famous story of Rabbi Shim’on bar Yohai living in a cave for ten years after the destruction of the Second Temple (Sabb. 33 b), Elijah tells the great sage and mystic that he should leave the cave. Elijah reports in Midrash (Pirked Rabbi Eliezer 43, end) that the Messiah is to be found as a beggar at the gate of Rome, and he becomes the herald of the Messianic age (Sanh. 98a). Yet, he can also rescue people from danger, as he rescues Nahum Ish Gamzu from the Romans (Sanh. 108b-109a; Ta ’an. 21a). In the Midrash he announces that “the emperor” has died (Sabb. 33b), a very hopeful piece of news in a time of persecution.

Elijah’s role was quite unlike the saints of the church and even unlike angelic presences elsewhere. He serves a basically Rabbinic function in these stories, demonstrating that Rabbinic takkanot (“corrections,” really “innovations”) are desired and wanted by God. In Rabbinic literature, angels do not, as a rule, serve as interpretive authorities, as they do in apocalyptic traditions. That job is squarely given to humans and to their exemplars, as Elijah surely serves here. Elijah has some of the formal characteristics of Hermes, in bringing messages back and forth between heaven and earth and also in occasionally leading souls to paradise, both in mystical ascent and after death, as in Baba Metzia 114a-b, where he leads Rabba bar Abuha to the garden of Eden, the standard Rabbinic word for the heaven of redeemed human souls.29

The most interesting of all the passages concerning Elijah for our purposes is one in which the secret of resurrection is revealed to human beings by Elijah, for which he is punished by means of sixty fiery lashes (Baba Metzia 85b). This punishment is otherwise known only as a punishment for angels, so Elijah is viewed as an angel in this legend. No mere human could have stood up to such a punishment. Since they viewed the doctrine as one of the most important in Rabbinic Judaism, they explained it as a heavenly secret that Elijah revealed, in much the same way that Prometheus was punished for his having stolen fire for humanity in the classical tradition. In this case, the punishment was not eternal; Elijah is always available as a savior figure and consoler, as well as a messenger between Israel and God.

Rabbinic Multi-culturalism as a Social Necessity on Earth

TO SEE THE complete and more optimistic Rabbinic design, we must also look at the Rabbinic discussion for the final disposition of the gentiles. There is not a single answer to the question “What was the Rabbinic view of the place of the gentiles in God’s scheme?”

Rabbinic writings debate the issue of the salvation of the gentiles, as they debate most every issue.

Rabbi Eliezer said: “All the nations will have no share in the world to come, even as it is said, ‘the wicked shall go into Sheol, and all the nations that forget God’ (Ps 9:17). The wicked shall go into Sheol-these are the wicked among Israel.” Rabbi Joshua