Every Jew Can See Eliyahu HaNavi - But How?

00:00 Let’s talk today about Eliyahu Hanavi. Who is Eliyahu Hanavi? The verse says: “Behold, I am sending you Eliyahu the prophet, of blessed memory, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Hashem.” In other words, we know that before Moshiach comes, Eliyahu Hanavi will appear and bring us the news of the Geulah. We say this in bentching too: “May the Merciful One send us Eliyahu the prophet, of blessed memory, and may he bring us good news, salvation, and comfort.” What is the story of Eliyahu Hanavi? Today we’ll learn about him and understand a little about who he is, and why he in particular is connected with the time before the great and awesome day of Hashem, before Moshiach comes. What does a revelation of Eliyahu mean? It’s something we hear and read about a lot in stories of tzaddikim: great tzaddikim merited a revelation of Eliyahu Hanavi. What does that mean? Who can merit such a revelation? Is it something that applies to us too, or is it reserved for great tzaddikim? Today we’ll hear some very interesting, surprising explanations from the teachings of Chassidus and the students of the Baal Shem Tov. They give us a window into what a revelation of Eliyahu Hanavi means in the life of each of us. First of all, in this week’s parsha, Parshas Pinchas, we first encounter the subject of Eliyahu Hanavi. That’s no coincidence. As we know, the haftarah reflects the parsha, and the haftarah of Parshas Pinchas tells a story about Eliyahu Hanavi. As the sefarim explain, this is because Eliyahu is Pinchas; they are the same soul. The Gemara in Bava Basra is also cited by the commentators in connection with the link between Eliyahu and Pinchas. Eliyahu Hanavi appears in the Book of Kings, while Pinchas appears in this week’s parsha. The explanation is that it was actually the same soul, who lived for a very long time. In other words, when it

02:25 comes to Pinchas, there were periods when he appeared and periods when he was hidden. That is how many commentators on Tanach explain it. We find Pinchas in this week’s parsha, then again in several places in the Book of Yehoshua, and suddenly in the Book of Shoftim. One of the rewards Pinchas received for putting his life on the line when it was necessary to stand up for Hashem, in the story we learn in the parsha concerning Moav and Midian, was that he remained a soul in a body and never actually departed from this world. He returned at certain times when he was needed. That is why we find him in various periods when the Jewish people needed to be rebuked and brought back to the right path, until the time when he became Eliyahu Hanavi, who appears in Tanach in the days of the kings, in the time of Achav. In that well-known story in Tanach, he again stood up for Hashem and said to them, “How long will you waver between two opinions?” He brought the Jewish people to do teshuvah at that time. Later, he ascended bodily to heaven in a whirlwind, and since then we find Eliyahu Hanavi appearing in all kinds of circumstances. We know that Eliyahu Hanavi is present at every bris milah, though not in his body—only a spark of his soul is present. Eliyahu Hanavi also appears on Seder night. As we know, when we say “Pour out Your wrath,” we open the door, and Eliyahu Hanavi appears to bring us good news. And, as we said, the verse at the end of Trei Asar tells us that a day will come when Eliyahu Hanavi will bring the news of the Geulah. Eliyahu Hanavi is a special soul with a special role. As we see in the story of Parshas Pinchas, his special role is to show self-sacrifice in preserving the character of the Jewish people.

04:55 What happened in that story? As we see, before entering Eretz Yisroel, the Jewish people stumbled in the sin of Baal Peor—idolatry—and in forbidden relations with the daughters of Midian. It was a moment of anger, G-d forbid, a time of plague, a very, very difficult moment. And Eliyahu—Pinchas—as the Midrash says, the youngest of the group, stood up for Hashem. He did what he did, and through his self-sacrifice in standing up to protect the flame of the Jewish people, their character and their covenant, he caused the plague to stop and brought peace between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and the Jewish people. That is why he merited the kehunah, the priesthood, and all the great reward he received. Pinchas is Eliyahu. So if we identify Eliyahu with Pinchas, Eliyahu Hanavi’s role in every era is to reveal the bond between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is why he comes at these special times. At a bris milah, we see that every Jew has a bris. A bris symbolizes a Jew’s readiness to sacrifice himself for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. It isn’t easy. It isn’t pleasant to take a baby and do what is done. Nevertheless, Jews from every walk of life do it joyfully and celebrate the bris milah. It expresses the first, most fundamental, and deepest bond between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The same is true on Pesach, the day the Jewish people were born. Eliyahu Hanavi comes then too, and we see Jews from every walk of life, of every kind and from every community—even Jews who may not be so strong in their observance of Torah and mitzvos during the year—celebrating Seder night. Eliyahu Hanavi comes to reveal

06:58 that connection, that “covenant of peace,” the special bond between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The sefarim say that one reason Eliyahu comes specifically at these times is that he saw the Jewish people at moments of weakness. In the story in this week’s parsha, he saw them when they were weak in matters of idolatry and forbidden relations, and he was the one who stood up for Hashem. He stood with courage and defended Hashem’s honor. So precisely because Eliyahu Hanavi saw the negative side—and we see this again later in his story in Tanach: in Achav’s time, the Jewish people stumbled in the sin of idolatry. It was a very difficult period for the spiritual life of the Jewish people. Eliyahu Hanavi was a prophet then, and he rebuked them at their moments of weakness. Precisely for that reason, one of the things Hakadosh Boruch Hu granted him was the opportunity to be present at a bris milah and on Seder night, to see the good side of the Jewish people, to see what a Jew is. Even at moments that involve something unpleasant, Jews of every kind—when a baby is born, the first thing they do is bring him into the covenant of Avraham Avinu. On Seder night, a Jew celebrates the Seder joyfully with the family, and so on. So the whole story of Eliyahu Hanavi serves to strengthen the covenant, the bond, the connection between the Jewish people and Hakadosh Boruch Hu. We also find—and we’ll come to this—what is said about Eliyahu Hanavi as the one who brings the news of the Geulah: “Behold, I am sending you Eliyahu the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Hashem.” This is really the same idea. When the end approaches, just as before the Jewish people entered Eretz Yisroel—in the story of this week’s parsha, they were at the end of their time in the wilderness, preparing to enter the Land

09:02 Israel, and precisely then there was a moment of great weakness. That is why Eliyahu Hanavi came and stood in the breach. He stood firm, and through his zealousness he turned the situation around. He awakened in the Jewish people the strength of mesirus nefesh to stand firm and do teshuvah, and so the plague that was taking place then came to an end. This prepared the Jewish people to enter the Land of Israel. As we see, already in Parshas Pinchas the Torah begins preparing them for their entry into the Land: the lottery, as we read in the weekly parsha; all the offerings to be brought on the festivals; and afterward, how the Jewish people divide the Land of Israel, and the tribes of Gad and Reuven, and so on. The stories throughout the following parshiyos tell us how the Jewish people prepare to enter the Land of Israel. In other words, Pinchas had a key role in preparing them at that moment of transition, from the end of their time in the wilderness to their entry into the Land of Israel. The same is true on the broader scale of Jewish history, in the Jewish people’s transition from exile to Geulah: from the great wilderness, the wilderness of the nations—the long and terrible exile whose end we are now approaching. When we are in that wilderness of the nations, at the end of this time in the wilderness, when the Jewish people are in the final generation, ikvesa d’Meshicha, on the heels of Moshiach, at the moment when we are preparing for the Geulah—the Tanach tells us that history repeats itself. That same Pinchas, who is Eliyahu, will return in this period to prepare the Jewish people to make the transition from exile to Geulah. And here Eliyahu Hanavi has the role of “turning the hearts of fathers toward their children and the hearts of children toward their fathers.” That means creating a connection, just as happened then. On the one hand, it was a time of weakness, but Eliyahu Hanavi transformed it into a time of resolve and strength, to strengthen

11:11 the Jewish people and bring about a covenant, “My covenant of peace,” between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu. We see this now as well: before the coming of Moshiach, Eliyahu Hanavi’s role is to bring peace to the world, to lift up and strengthen the Jewish people, to strengthen the bond between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu—“turning the hearts of fathers toward their children and the hearts of children toward their fathers.” The Rebbe spoke a great deal about this in recent years in connection with our time, our generation. We see that our generation is a generation of teshuvah. Despite all the darkness, all the difficulties, all the suffering and pain the previous generation endured, especially after the terrible Holocaust—may such suffering never happen again—nevertheless, we saw that after the generation of the Holocaust, the Jewish people managed once again to rise up, to lift themselves from the dust. “Turning the hearts of fathers toward their children” can mean turning the hearts of fathers through their children. Often, in our generation, we see that it is the children who bring their fathers back. The younger generation breaks with convention and decides specifically to draw closer to Judaism, accept the yoke of mitzvos, and connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Sometimes it is the young people, the children, who bring their parents back as well. We see these things happening in daily life in our time. And this is, in fact, Eliyahu Hanavi, who is with us now, in our time, carrying out his role of preparing the Jewish people for the Geulah. And here we come to a teaching of the Baal Shem Tov and his students. There is a sefer called Meor Einayim, written by the tzaddik Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl. Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl was among the great disciples of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid of Mezritch. Chassidim even relate that the Baal Shem Tov drew him especially close, and there are many, many stories about Rabbi Nachum

13:24 of Chernobyl in connection with the Geulah as well. So, in Parshas Pinchas, he writes something in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, and it is a remarkable idea: how to understand who Melech HaMoshiach is, and what it means that Eliyahu heralds the Geulah and prepares the world for the Geulah of Moshiach. He says something remarkable. This is what he says: the Baal Shem Tov said that every single person has within them a spark of Moshiach’s spiritual stature. That is, when we speak of Moshiach, there is the era of Moshiach, there is Melech HaMoshiach, and there is the soul of Moshiach. The soul of Moshiach is a collective soul. It is a soul that encompasses the entire Jewish people, and, as explained extensively in Chabad Chassidus, it is the yechidah of the soul. It is known, as brought in the works of Kabbalah, that there were great leaders of the Jewish people who had collective souls. In other words, tzaddikim such as Moshe Rabbeinu had a collective soul: the entire Jewish people were included in Moshe Rabbeinu’s soul. That is why Moshe is called Raya Mehemna, the faithful shepherd, and all Jewish souls receive from him; they have a spark of Moshe Rabbeinu. The works of Kabbalah say that throughout Jewish history there were tzaddikim, among the greatest leaders of the Jewish people, who had a collective soul of the Jewish people. The soul has five names, which are also five levels: nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah, and yechidah. At each level there is a tzaddik who merited to possess that level in a collective way, and through him the entire Jewish people received a connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu at that level, as explained in the sefarim. King David embodied the level of nefesh, and so on. When we come to Melech HaMoshiach, we say that he embodies the level of yechidah. That is, the highest level of the soul, its deepest level, the part of the soul called yechidah, “to unite with You”—the part

15:49 that is connected with Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the deepest way—that yechidah is the soul of Moshiach. Every Jew has this yechidah. It is the Divine spark, the deepest connection between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Revealing the yechidah is, in fact, the inner Geulah. When a Jew succeeds, through serving Hashem, in revealing and awakening the yechidah, their essential connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, that is called an inner Geulah. And in our generation, specifically in our time, this happens whenever... In fact, every time a Jew fulfills a mitzvah, every time a Jew feels an awakening to connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, that inner connection between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu is revealed. Especially in moments of darkness, especially when things are difficult, especially in these moments at the end of exile, when the darkness grows still greater and yet a Jew fulfills a mitzvah—the fulfillment of that mitzvah, that connection between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu, is the revelation of Moshiach within the soul. It is leaving the inner exile and connecting with the inner Geulah. Eliyahu Hanavi, we are told, heralds the Geulah. “Before the coming of the day of Hashem,” says Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl, means that before this connection comes an awakening—the desire, the longing, the eagerness. That is Eliyahu Hanavi heralding the Geulah. In other words, it happens to a Jew, to each one of us, that suddenly we awaken with a thirst, a longing, an eagerness, a yearning to grow stronger, to do teshuvah, to fulfill a mitzvah. That enthusiasm, that desire, that longing is the inner Eliyahu Hanavi. It is a spark of Eliyahu Hanavi revealed in each and every one of us. And that is what the verse in the weekly parsha is telling us: “He turned My wrath away from the Children of Israel.” “My wrath,” he says, can also be read as “My warmth.” The warmth a Jew has, the enthusiasm a Jew has, is the preparation for the Geulah. Before a Jew comes to fulfill a mitzvah, before a Jew comes to connect through prayer, through a mitzvah, through putting on tefillin, through lighting Shabbos candles,

18:15 In every commandment, every connection, every bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, what comes first is that a Jew does it with eagerness, with thirst, with desire. That longing is Eliyahu heralding the Geulah. That is Eliyahu Hanavi’s role. Then comes the Geulah—the connection itself, the revelation of the soul. When a Jew fulfills a mitzvah, he has, at any given moment, the ability to experience a revelation of Eliyahu Hanavi. When people speak of a revelation of Eliyahu Hanavi, they imagine an angel descending from heaven, dressed in special clothing, with great lights all around him. No. That enthusiasm, that longing and thirst to fulfill Hashem’s will—that is Eliyahu Hanavi revealing himself within the soul. And when I fulfill the mitzvah and make that connection, the soul of Moshiach within each and every one of us is revealed. Every one of us has the power to do that. What’s more, Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl says that Eliyahu Hanavi is a bearer of good tidings. “Good tidings, salvation, and consolation,” as we say in Birkat Hamazon. He says that whenever a Jew wants to share good news—we see it in a Jew’s nature: he hears good news and runs to tell someone. Sometimes you hear that something good happened, a special miracle or some special event. You heard good news: your friend told you a baby boy or girl was born; something happened, there was a celebration in town. It is human nature that when there is good news, people run to tell one person and then another. Rabbi Nachum says: that is Eliyahu Hanavi within the soul. It is a spark of Eliyahu entering our souls. The impulse to share all good news comes from Eliyahu Hanavi. He awakens a Jew’s soul to want to share good news, and from that good news comes the Geulah.

20:15 And as we said, there is an inner Geulah, a personal Geulah, and of course we are all waiting for the universal Geulah. This is the message the Baal Shem Tov taught us: each and every one of us needs to reveal our inner Moshiach, to reveal the spark of Moshiach within our souls. The Rebbe spoke about this a great deal. It’s very interesting: the Rebbe would often point out that in the festival prayers, when the Aron Kodesh is opened, many communities add a special prayer. When the Aron Kodesh is opened on Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukkos, the text includes a request that Hakadosh Boruch Hu help us fulfill the verse: “The spirit of Hashem shall rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and fear of Hashem.” This is a prayer every Jew says when the Aron Kodesh is opened in shul. The question is: You are standing before the open Aron Kodesh. It is a moment of truth, a holy moment, an auspicious time, and you make all kinds of beautiful requests. But what is this request? “May the verse written about Moshiach the King be fulfilled in us: ‘The spirit of Hashem shall rest upon him, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit—’” This verse is about Moshiach the King. What does it mean to say, “May this verse be fulfilled in us”? But according to the Baal Shem Tov’s teaching, it makes sense, because each and every one of us has a spark of Moshiach. May we merit to reveal that spark, that connection, that yechidah—“my yechidah, to unite with You.” Hashem’s oneness and the soul’s yechidah form a connection. And as we said, that connection is present in every mitzvah. We just need to look for it. We need to want it. We need the longing, the thirst, to seek out that connection. That is Eliyahu Hanavi, the herald of the Geulah, awakening in us that warmth, that fervor, the enthusiasm to want to fulfill

22:19 it. And through that connection, we build our inner Moshiach. Together, as each and every one of us builds our inner Moshiach, we experience the revelation of Eliyahu Hanavi and our inner Moshiach. And together we will merit the coming of the great Eliyahu to announce the good news of the Geulah. Then we will merit to see the great and awesome day of Hashem, with the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu. These days are especially auspicious—the days of Bein Hametzarim. May these days be transformed into days of joy and celebration. As it is written in the teachings of the Arizal, when Moshiach comes, these very three weeks will be days of greater joy than any other celebration of the year, because light has a special advantage when it emerges from darkness. May we already merit the complete Geulah and the building of the third Beis Hamikdash, speedily in our days, amen.