1

Elijah the Prophet: Guard Dog of Israel

Elijah, the biblical prophet1 is a well know figure in Jewish tradition and commonly believed

to be Herald of the Messiah at the end of days2. He is the guest of honor at every Jewish

circumcision ceremony (Brit Milah) and at the annual Passover night meal (Seder). Elijah’s

prescribed role in eschatological events is particularly highlighted in the Passover Seder ritual.

Religious tensions flared especially during the corresponding seasons of Passover and Easter and

during the Jewish holiday hopes increased tenfold that redemption may be imminent. The rituals of

Passover were embedded with redemptive symbolism, and the Egyptian exodus was understood by

many as a prelude and a template for the final redemption.3 For example, in Exodus Rabbah, a

Jewish homiletic text popular among Jews in Europe during the middle ages4, one homily lists

several incidences of redemption that occurred on the night of the fourteenth of the Hebrew

month of Nissan, the first night of the Passover. The passage concludes by stating that on this night

“the Messiah and Elijah grow in strength”.5

1 Kings I, chapter 17- Kings II, chapter 2

2 There is some debate whether this concept originated in Jewish or Christian circles. On this subject see:

Chaim Joseph Milikowsky, “Trajectories of Return, Restoration and Redemption in Rabbinic Judaism: Elijah, the Messiah, the War of Gog and the World to Come,” in Restoration: Old Testament, Jewish and Christian Perspectives, ed. James M. Scott (Leiden, 2001), 265-280.

Rivka Nir, “John the Baptist in the Image of Elijah – Aspects of a Christian Tradition,” Cathedra 139 (2011), 55-78. However, leaving aside the discussion of how and through what agency the concept of “Elijah as Herald” came into

being, in medieval Ashkenaz it was wide spread and acknowledged as a common truth: Example 1: Midrash Proverbs 19:21- “Rav Hunah said: The Messiah is called by seven names: … and Elijah”

Example 2: Rashi’s eleventh century commentary on Leviticus 26:42: “And I will remember My covenant with Jacob: Jacob took a letter from the name of Elijah the Prophet as security-that he will come and herald the redemption of his *Jacob’s+ children.”

Example 3: Grace After Meals, one of the most familiar liturgical texts recited at least once daily: “May the Merciful One send us Elijah the prophet, may he be remembered for good, and let him bring us good tidings,

deliverance, and consolation.” 3 Marc M. Epstein, The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative and Religious Imagination (New Haven, 2010), 285-286 no. 3.

4 Rashi, the eleventh century northern French scholar, includes quotes from Exodus Rabbah in his popular biblical exegesis. On Rashi’s use of Midrash in his biblical commentary see: Abraham Grossman, Ha-Hamei Sarfat Ha-Rishonim (Jerusalem, 1995) 193-201. [Hebrew]

5 Exodus Rabbah, Section 18

2

The Passover Seder in medieval Ashkenaz was probably held in the private sphere of the

familial home and the “textbook” used to guide the ceremony was the Haggadah.6 Medieval

Haggadot (pl.) that survived to be studied are incredibly telling, especially through the iconographic

programs that appear in some of them, accompanying the text read throughout the ceremony.

Katrin Kogman-Appel has recently described how the producers of illuminated manuscript

Haggadot during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries “developed a visual language *…+ aimed at

relatively wide audiences”- learned, semi-learned and illiterate alike. Fundamental concepts could

be conveyed through this mixture of textual and pictorial media and viewing the “biblical scenes as

contemporary dramas, pregnant with an abundance of detail taken from the viewers’ environment

and their experiences of daily life” facilitated the experience.7

Important work has been done revealing the intricate connections between the textual

content of the Hebrew manuscripts, the identity of the patrons and the illustrations chosen to

accompany the text, and has revealed many layers of meaning in Haggadah illustrations.8 A strong

connection between the historical redemption from Egyptian captivity and the future

6 Of course, not every Jewish family in medieval Europe owned a Haggadah. Even those who did might not have

necessarily owned one that was properly scribed, let alone illuminated manuscript. 7 Katrin Kogman-Appel, “The Audiences of the Late Medieval Haggadah”, in Patronage, Production, and Transmission of Texts in Medieval and Early Modern Jewish Cultures, ed. Esperanza Alfonso and Jonathan Decter, MCS 34 (Brepols, 2014), 99–143.

8 to name only a few:

Joseph Gutmann, “When the Kingdom Comes, Messianic Themes in Medieval Jewish Art,” Art Journal 27:2 (Winter, 1967-1968): 168-175.

Joseph Gutmann, ”The Messiah at the Seder: A Fifteenth-Century Motif in Jewish Art”, in Studies in Jewish History, ed. Shmuel Yeivin (Tel Aviv, 1974), 29-38.

Mendel Metzger, La Haggada Enluminée, (Leiden 1973). David Joshua Malkiel, “Infanticide in Passover Iconography,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 50 (1993):

85-99. Katrin Kogman-Appel, Die zweite Nurnberger und die Jehuda Haggada: Judische Illustratoren zwischen Tradition und

Fortschritt. (Frankfurt am Main, 1999). Justine Isserles, “De la Sortie d’Égypte à la Rédemption finale: analyse de cinq folios tirés du manuscrit Hébreu 1333 de

la Bibliothèque nationale de France à Paris”, Cahiers Archéologiques 52 (2005-2008): 145-160. Marc M. Epstein, The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative and Religious Imagination (New Haven, 2011). David Stern and Katrin Kogman-Appel, The Washington Haggadah: A Fifteenth-Century Manuscript from the Library of

Congress (Cambridge, MA, 2010). Zsofia Buda, Sacrifice and Redemption in the Hamburg Miscellany: The Illustrations of a Fifteenth-century Ashkenazi

Manuscript (PhD diss., Central European University, 2012).

3

eschatological redemption was conveyed through the images that adorned the text of the

Haggadah. The iconography of the arrival of the Messiah at the end of day in many Ashkenazi

Haggadot features various combinations of several motifs: A princely figure riding a white horse, a

procession behind the rider, a walled city with citadels, youths opening the door of the house, the

family seated at the Seder table, and the dead rising from their graves.9 The illustrations are varied

in their details, but it is quite clear they all depict the same longed-for events. Our current focus,

Elijah, appears in several Haggadot, written and illustrated in Ashkenazi communities in Southern

Germany and Northern Italy during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.10 I will exhibit how

illustrations of Elijah showcase central themes of Jewish eschatological anticipation as developed in

medieval Ashkenaz.

Illustrations of redemption scenes depicting both the Messiah and Elijah are found in two

closely related Haggadot from Germany, produced around 1465, in the same workshop by a team

of artists, the "Second Nuremberg Haggadah” and "Yahudah Haggadah”.11 On the last pages of

both manuscripts (images A and B), the Messiah is shown riding a white horse and leading a

procession of Jews. In the top right corner, Elijah is blowing a golden Shofar (ram's horn) and is

identified with the epithet:

9 For example:

Washington Haggadah, Washington, Library of Congress, Cod. Heb. 1, fol. 19v. 1478

First NY Haggadah, New York, JTS, MS. 4481, fol. 14v. c. 1450

Hamburg Miscellany, ‘Miscellany, Rhineland (Mainz?)’, Hamburg, Staats- und Universi täts bibliothek, Cod. Heb. 37, fol. 35v. c. 1425

Munich Haggadah, Munich, BSB-Hss Cod.hebr. 200, fol. 24v, c. 1475 10

While some researchers tended to identify the central figure as Elijah, I am inclined to agree with the opinion that he should be identified as the Messiah. A positive identification of Elijah is possible when he is named in the caption, or as a second figure in the scene. See: Anat Kutner, Hamoro Shel Mashiah (MA thesis, Hebrew University Jerusalem, 2003) 17. [Hebrew]

11 The Second Nuremberg Haggadah, London, COLLECTION OF CINDY AND DAVID SOFER, fol. 41v. c. 1465.

Yahudah Haggadah, Jerusalem, The Israel Museum, MS 180/50, fol. 40v. c. 1465. For a detailed analysis and comparison of these two manuscripts see: Katrin Kogman-Appel, “Second Nuremberg Haggadah“ (PhD diss., Hebrew University, 1993) [Hebrew] Kogman-Appel, Die zweite Nurnberger und die Jehuda Haggada.

4

Elijah the Prophet herald of the redemption / so will be soon Amen Sela12

In these similar illustrations, Elijah is portrayed performing his duty as Herald of the Messiah. This

role stems from the exegetical tradition on the final verses of the biblical prophecy of Malachi:

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet

before the advent of the great and terrible day of the LORD.” (3, 23)

From the phrase “before the advent” it was understood that Elijah was to announce the coming of

the redemption, as is found in various apocryphal texts and traditions.13

Elijah's inclusion in the Passover Seder ceremony was introduced and gained momentum

specifically in Ashkenaz during the high Middle Ages until its fully developed appearance in the

seventeenth century.14 Though Elijah was introduced as a “supporting actor” to the theme of

messianic redemption, his figure became increasingly dominant. By the end of the middle ages,

Elijah seems to have eclipsed the Messiah himself (for whom he was a forerunner) and become the

ultimate guest of honor at the Seder. I propose that Elijah’s figure and the characteristics and roles

attributed to him suited anticipations that Ashkenazi Jews expressed during Passover. More

specifically, the inclusion of Elijah in the Seder ritual is strongly connected to his role as the “Guard

Dog of Israel”.

The connection between Elijah and canines is historically first established in a Talmudic

passage: (Bavli, B.Kama 60b)

Our Rabbis taught: When dogs howl, it is a sign that the Angel of Death has come to a town.

But when dogs frolic, it is a sign that Elijah the prophet has come to a town.

12 אליהו הנביא מבשר הגאולה / כן יהיה בקרוב אמן סלה

“Eliyahu Ha-Navi Mevaser Ha-Geula / Ken Yihiye Be-Karov Amen Sela” 13 See note 2 above. As well as:

Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts (Detroit, 1979). Elijah: 131-144 Shimon of Frankfurt, Yalkut Shimoni, Genesis: VaYishlach. (First printing: Salonika, 1521-26), 104

(quoting the Midrash Abqir) 14

Judah Avida, The Cup of Elijah the Prophet (Jerusalem, 1958), 20-21. [Hebrew] (quoting: Sefer Yosif Ometz (seventeenth century), no. 788)

5

However, a classical exegetical tradition did not seem to have developed about this statement

among Ashkenazi Jewry during the middle ages. Therefore, exploring the connection between Elijah

and dogs in the eyes of medieval Ashkenazi Jewry should concentrate on more immediate and

contemporary imagery associations. To accomplish this we will briefly turn our attention from Elijah

to the appearance of dogs more generally in medieval European thought and art.

Canines were a familiar part of the domestic environment in both rural and urban settings

and medieval people must have had common perceptions of them as animals. Bestiaries, works

describing real and fabulous creatures, saw the height of their production during the twelfth and

thirteenth centuries. Bestiaries were used for elementary lay education to teach both literacy and

the Christian allegorical significance of God’s creations.15 The entries about dogs were usually

among the longest, and contain similar, traditional themes.16 The entry De natura canum in the

Aberdeen Bestiary describes how some dogs “track down the wild beasts of the forests to catch

them; others by their vigilance guard flocks of sheep from the attacks of wolves; others as watch-

dogs in the home guard the property of their masters… and sacrifice their lives for their master;

they willingly go after game with their master; they guard his body even when he is dead and do

not leave it…”17 A medieval example of a loyal dog who sacrificed himself to save his master (or

more specifically, his master’s son) is St. Guinefort.18 This holy canine, while never officially

recognized by the Church, enjoyed a popular cult during the middle ages, mainly in France.

The intelligence and loyalty of the species were key elements in the construction of the

theological symbolism of dogs, and a comparison is drawn between them and preachers of the

Church. The preachers most associated with the image of dogs are the Dominican friars. The literal

15

Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages, ed. Robert E. Bjork, 4 vols. (Oxford, 2010), 1: 253-254. 16 M.R. James, “The Bestiary,” Eton College Natural History Society Annual Report (1930-31): 12-16. 17 Aberdeen Bestiary, England, Aberdeen University Library MS 24, fol. 18r-20v. c. 1200 http://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary 18

Jean-Claude Schmitt, The Holy Greyhound, trans. Martin Thom (Cambridge, 1983).

6

meaning of the order’s name is “Hounds of the Lord” (Domini-Canes), and they are portrayed often

in Christian art as white, black or spotted dogs, reminiscent of the colors of their cloaks. An

extraordinary example of the Dominican’s self-conception as the “Dogs of God” is found in the wall

frescos adorning the Spanish Basilica in Santa Maria Novella in Florence (Image C). Nirit Ben-Aryeh

Debby described the frescos in detail and demonstrated how the visual representation was used as

a backdrop for preaching to members of the Dominican order and contributed to constructing their

self-identity as responsible for the conversion of non-Christians, especially the Jews.19

Dogs were not seen solely as positive beings in Christian culture, however. Another

commonly known attribute is that a dog returns to its vomit, based on the verse from Proverbs.20

As Kenneth Stow has extensively shown, the image of the Jews as dogs was central in Christian

theology and ubiquitous in its dispersion. The image of the “Jewish Dog” highlighted how Jews

defile the corpus Christi like dogs defile food, as well as how the Jews remain loyal to the Old

Testament as dogs returning to their vomit.21 Placing the loyal hunting dogs on one hand and the

Jewish dogs on the other, a pattern emerges. As a medieval western Christian theological symbol,

the dog served a positive purpose inwardly, while at the same time filling a negative role

outwardly. We shall keep this duality in mind as we turn our attention to the iconographic use of

canines in Ashkenazi Jewish literary and visual culture.

19

Nirit Ben-Aryeh Debby, “Art and Sermons: Dominicans and the Jews in Florence’s Santa Maria Novella,” Church History and Religious Culture 92 (2012): 171-200.

20 Proverbs 26:11- “As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly”

21 Kenneth Stow, Jewish Dogs: An Image and Its Interpreters Continuity in the Catholic-Jewish Encounter (Stanford Calif., 2006), 5-7.

On the image of the dog as tormentors of Christ, especially in representations of the Passion, see: James Marrow, “Circumdederunt me canes multi: Christ’s Tormentors in Northern European Art of the Late Middle

Ages and Early Renaissance,” The Art Bulletin 69:2 (1977): 167-181.

7

In Jewish manuscript illuminations, dogs were usually depicted in a negative context and

served as a “symbol of the rapacious nations that seek to destroy Israel”22. In both the Second

Nuremberg Haggadah and Yehudah Haggadah there is an illustration depicting Esau hunting.

Holding a bow and a horn, Esau stands by a grove where hunting dogs are chasing a doe.23 Hunting

scenes in Jewish manuscripts are usually interpreted as alluding to the persecuted state of the Jews

in exile. The hunted animal symbolizes the Jews, while the hunter and the dogs represent the

gentiles seeking to harm them.24 This understanding of the scene is reinforced by the connection

between Esau (Edom), Rome and Christendom.25 Medieval Jews were also familiar with the canine

image of the Dominicans and incorporated it in their artwork. In a few illuminated Passover

Haggadot scenes depicting Pharaoh include a dog near him, as well. Kurt Schubert identified these

dogs as the ecclesiastical authorities advising European monarchs to harm the Jews.26 Stow has

shown various literary sources where Jews, being fully aware of the “Jewish Dog” image used to

describe them, inverted its meaning to portray a “Christian Dog”.27

However, similar to the Christian use of dogs as symbols, Jews also utilized the double sided

canine image for their own needs. On occasion, Jews incorporated positive attributes associated

with dogs into their literary and visual culture. For example, in a liturgical manuscript produced in

mid-fifteenth century Germany, an illustration of a dog symbolizes Moses’ loyalty in the

22

Marc Michael Epstein, Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink: Jewish Illuminated Manuscripts (Princeton and Oxford, 2015), 186. 23

Second Nuremberg Haggadah fol. 33v Yahudah Haggadah fol. 32r 24

Kogman-Appel, Second Nuremberg Haggadah, 104-105 25

For a more detailed analysis of the portrayal of Christians as dogs and Edomites in Jewish art see: Sara Offenberg, “Expressions of Meeting the Challenges of the Christian Millieu in Medieval Jewish Art and Literature”

(PhD diss., Ben Gurion University, 2008), 105-112. [Hebrew] 26

Kurt Schubert, “Wikkuach-Thematik in den Illustationen Habräischer Handschriften”, Jewish Art 12-13 (1986-1987): 247-256 (quoted by Offenberg, Expressions of Meeting the Challenges of the Christian Millieu, 111)

For further reference see: Jeremy Cohen, The Friars and the Jews: The Evolution of Medieval Anti-Judaism (Ithaca, 1982). Steven J. McMichael and Susan E. Myers, eds., Friars and Jews in the Middle Ages and Renaissance

(Leiden; Boston, 2004). 27

Stow, Jewish Dogs, 137-144.

8

transmission of God’s word to Israel.28 The “casting” of Elijah the Prophet in the role of the “Guard

Dog of Israel” reflects a sophisticated manipulation of both positive and negative canine symbolism.

During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, illuminations of redemption scenes in

Passover Haggadot experienced some changes and their location shifted from the end of the

manuscripts to accompanying the paragraph of Shefokh Hamatcha.29 The paragraph of Shefokh

Hamatcha- “Pour out Your fury on the nations that have not known You”, is a selection of verses

from scripture petitioning God to exact vengeance on the Gentiles who persecute the Jews.30 This

section was a relative newcomer to the Passover ritual text and was probably introduced into the

Haggadah in the early twelfth century following the 1096 wave of anti-Jewish riots.31 The addition

of “Pour out Your fury” is an example of the characteristically Ashkenazi eschatological narrative,

described by Israel Yuval as a “vengeful redemption”. Furthermore, the proximity between the

imagery in Ashkenazi Haggadot and the verses of "Pour out Your fury" led Israel Yuval to the

conclusion that the illustrations chosen are also an expression of Ashkenazi perception of the

messianic era.32 Just as the verses were probably added after the First Crusade to express such

emotions as frustration, anger and apocalyptic-messianic hopes, so the imagery added a few

hundred years later may reflect similar contemporary needs expressed through visual

embellishment of the literary theme. It was already Joseph Gutmann who pointed out that this

28

Epstein, Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink. 185-186. Illustration found in: The Siddur of the Rebbe of Ruzhin, Germany, ca. 1460. Jerusalem, the Israel Museum, MS 180/53, fol. 190v 29

In the so called "Birds’ Head Haggadah" (Jerusalem, The Israel Museum, MS 180/57, South Germany (Mainz?), c. 1300) fol. 47r, the closing illumination depicts a returning to Jerusalem. However, in later manuscripts, the focus shifts from the return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple, to the coming of the Messiah to the Jews still in exile. 30

“Pour out Your wrath upon the nations who do not know you and upon the kingdoms that have not called Your name, for they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitations. Pour out your rage upon them, and let your anger overtake them. Pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of Adonai.”

31 Kogman-Appel, Washington Haggadah, 81.

The verses first appear in Mahzor Vitri and consequently in almost every Haggadah after. Daniel Goldschmidt, The Passover Haggadah: Its Sources and History (Jerusalem, 1960), 62. [Hebrew]

Israel Ta-Shema concludes that the editing of Mahzor Vitri was completed in the 1130’s and was already in wide circulation by the 1150’s. Israel Ta-Shema, Early Ashkenazi Prayer (Jerusalem, 2003), 17 [Hebrew]

32 Israel Jacob Yuval, Two Nations in Your Womb: Perceptions of Jews and Christians (Tel Aviv, 2000), 142. [Hebrew]

9

characteristic Ashkenazi messianic imagery developed after a marked shift and deterioration in the

status of German Jews.33 Manuscript decoration was a medium through which they expressed their

perception of the end of days and the justice that God would execute a vengeful retaliation against

the Gentiles who had persecuted them while in exile.34 It is in the context of these messianic hopes

that the image of Elijah as the “Guard Dog of Israel” was formed.

The Second Nuremberg Haggadah and the Yahudah Haggadah allow us to compare the two

redemption compositions because they preserve both scenes, as well as naming Elijah explicitly in

the epithets. Discussed above are the concluding illuminations at the end of both the Second

Nuremberg Haggadah (image A) and the Yahudah Haggadah (image B). There is a discernable

difference between redemption illustrations at the end of these Haggadot and the scenes near

“Pour out Your fury” (image D and image E). The illustrations following the conclusion of the

Haggadah text showcase the hope of the coming of the Messiah and the physical redemption from

Exile, leading Jews away from their homes and toward redemption while Elijah blows the Shofar.

However, in the illustrations below “Pour out Your fury” the Messiah appears to be coming to the

Jews in their exile. The Messiah appearing in exile among the Gentiles further validates the

connection to the text and its connotations of vengeance.

The scenes under the passage “Pour out Your fury”, which are titled with the same caption

in both manuscripts:

33

Gutmann, “When the Kingdom Comes”, 173 Following this theory, perhaps the continued development of Elijah’s role in the Passover Seder can be put in the

context of contemporary anti-Jewish violence. Judah Rosenthal suggests that the fifth cup at the Seder became exclusively associated with Elijah as a reaction to the Chmielnicki uprising of 1648. Another element that became popular in the seventeenth century was the Elijah Spiel where a participant of the Seder dressed up and acted as Elijah when the door is opened for him. See: Judah Rosenthal, Studies and Sources (Jerusalem, 1967), 651. [Hebrew]

34 Yuval, Two Nations in Your Womb, 109-124

Sara Offenberg, "A Jewish Knight in Shining Armor: Messianic Narrative and Imagination in Ashkenazic Illuminated Manuscripts," The University of Toronto Journal of Jewish Thought 4 (2014): 1-14.

10

A youth opens the doors of the house to bring / Messiah and Elijah the Prophet35

Looking beyond the similarity, there are some key differences between the two illustrations.

In the Second Nuremberg Haggadah (image D) a bearded figure dressed in red is coming through an

open door riding a donkey. A young boy greets him. Elijah, who is named in the epithet, is missing

from the scene. In the Yahudah Haggadah (image E) the youth opens the door to a donkey without

a rider. Behind the boy is a barking dog. The title is the same, but both the Messiah and Elijah are

absent. The Parma Haggadah, a late fourteenth century Haggadah from North Italy, features all

the elements. The youth opens the door to the bearded figure riding the donkey dressed in a blue

cloak and a red hat and the dog behind him is wearing a thick red collar (image F).36 In a liturgical

manuscript, produced in Ulm, Germany in the middle of the fifteenth century, that includes a

Haggadah, a dog is peeking through a doorway being opened from the outside (image G).37

I propose two interpretations for the inclusion of a dog in the “Pour out Your fury”

illustrations. Initially they may seem to oppose one another, but they actually serve as mirror

reflections of the same theme. On one hand, the dog could be an embodiment of the persecutors

of the Jews in Exile, standing at the heels of the youth opening the door and barking. The arrival of

the Messiah will silence its howling, just as occurred during the Exodus from Egypt.38 On the other

hand, the presence of the dog at the scene may have a positive function. The caption of the “Pour

35

הנער פותח דלתי הבית להביא / משיח ואליהו הנביא “Ha-Na’ar Poteah Daltei Ha-Bayit Le-Havi / Mashiah Ve-Eliyahu Ha-Navi”

Second Nuremberg Haggadah fol. 29v Yahudah Haggadah fol. 29r 36

Parma Haggadah, Parma, BP, MS 3143, fol. 17v 37

Parma Siddur, Parma, BP, MS 2895, fol. 254v

For more about this image see: Tal Goitein, "Elijah’s Cup: An Unknown Fifteenth-Century Depiction of the Custom in the Erna Michael Haggadah,"

Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Folklore 29 (2015), 79-102. 38

Exodus 11:7 “But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog whet his tongue, against man or beast; that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel”

In the Yehudah Haggadah fol. 2r a dog is included in an illustration of preparing the dough for the Matzah, with a caption quoting this verse. Perhaps this dog also symbolizes the gentiles and hints to the libel that Jews mix Christian blood into the Matzah dough.

11

out Your fury” illustrations describes both the Messiah and Elijah’s arrival. However, Elijah does not

appear to be included in the composition. In the Yahudah Haggadah, the Messiah figure is missing

as well, and the donkey enters the doorway without a rider. The iconic white horse or donkey

functions as an artistic metonymy for the Messiah, even when the rider is missing in various scenes

and compositions.39 Following this premise, I propose the dog in the illustrations functions as a

metonymic symbol for Elijah.

As described above, the symbolism of the canine can be positive or negative, while both

preserve the motifs of loyalty to a master and willingness to diligently (and even violently) protect

the master’s assets and interests. The entry about canines in the Bestiary includes another attribute

worth mentioning: the dog can point to those responsible for harming its master.40 Elijah the

Prophet is particularly suited for the role of an inverted “Jewish Dog”, as well as aptly embodying

the traditional traits of canines. The central features of Elijah’s character since his first appearance

in the Books of Kings are loyalty to God and his zealousness in defending God’s name and law. In

post-biblical traditions, Elijah also protects Jews, the sheep of God’s flock, from those who wish to

harm them.41 In addition, Elijah’s role as herald of the redemption reflects yet another aspect of the

canine symbol. Scholars have noted the influence of hunting scenes on illustrations of the

Messianic procession. Such as the hunter is seated on a horse with the dog running before him, so

the Messiah is portrayed riding a white horse with Elijah blowing the Shofar before him.42 The

39

Kutner, Hamoro Shel Mashiah , 48. The Messiah’s steed is sometimes found in illustrations of the Binding of Isaac scene. For example: Second Nuremberg Haggadah, fol. 31v

40 Aberdeen Bestiary, fol. 19r-19v

41 Example: Elijah Rescues Rabbi Eleazar ben Perata. Talmud Bavli, Avodah Zarah 17b

Kirsten H. Lindbeck, Elijah and the Rabbis: Story and Theology (New Yor, 2010), 154-157. 42

Kutner, Hamoro Shel Mashiah, 17-18 n. 50. Kutner has also shown how the composition of the scene echoes, and is probably engaged in polemic conversation

with, the Christian theme of Jesus entering Jerusalem as described in the Gospels: Matthew 21:1-5, Mark 11:1, Luke

19:29, John 12:12 (Hamoro Shel Mashiah, 51-55)

12

redemption scenes concluding the Second Nuremberg and Yahudah Haggadot (images A and B)

follow this composition.

Conceptualizing Elijah as the “Guard Dog of Israel” is not limited to these Haggadah

illustrations. Relaying upon the Talmudic passage mentioned above, various Jewish writers in

medieval Ashkenaz elaborated on the nexus between the figure of Elijah and dogs. Judah Libes

reconstructed the introduction to a late twelfth or early thirteenth century mystical work titled

“Sefer Ha-Heshek” (the Book of Desire) or “The Seventy Names of Metatron”, presumably created

by Ashkenazi Pietists.43 The opening paragraph explains that אליהו (Eliyahu, Elijah) shares the same

numerical value as בן (Ben, son) and as כלב (Kelev, dog), each summing up to 52.44 Elijah is the

“Good Son” and the “Good Dog” who can overcome and cancel out the power of the “Bad Son” of

the Christians, namely Christ, and their “Bad Dog”.

Jewish culture was “suffused with both historical memory and eschatological hope”45 and

Elijah functioned as a thematic link between uncompromising loyalty to Jewish faith and practice,

on one hand, and anticipation of the final redemption and the arrival of the Messiah on the other.

“Attending” the Passover Seder, especially during a time of the year when Jews’ personal safety

was less stable, was an opportunity for Elijah to witness Ashkenazi Jews’ steadfast devotion to God

so he could report back in heaven and lobby for the redemption to commence. Elijah’s presence in

the ceremony adjacent to the paragraph of “Pour out Your fury” reminded the participants that at

the end of days there will be a vengeance of their persecutors, and Elijah will have a role in that

stage of the redemption.

43

Judah Libes, “Malahei Kol Ha-Shofar Ve-Yeshua Sar Ha-Panim,” Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 6 (1987), 175-177 [Hebrew]. For an example of this concept in later Kabbalistic literature see:

Naftali Hetrz Bachrach, Emeq Ha-Meleh (Amsterdam, 1648) 114-115: Same”l, the Devil, is the Bad Dog and Elijah is the angel Sandalpho”n and the Good Dog.

44 Elijah is compared to a dog because like a canine he is completely heart כולו לב) Kulo Lev) and he “barks” the Torah as a dog )מנבח בתורה ככלב, Menabeah Ba-Torah Ke-Kelev)

45 Epstein, Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink. 109

13

In conclusion, Jews developed their iconographic usage of dogs in their artwork while aware

of the duality of the Christian treatment of the canine image. Over all, the image functioned as

positive when projected inwards, but took on a negative use when turned outwards. The loyal dog

of the noble hunter became the bloodhounds of Esau, representing Christendom, chasing the doe,

who is Israel. The Dominican friars are depicted as Pharaoh’s lap dogs. In fact, the Jews invert the

“Good Dogs” of the Christians into their own “Bad Dogs”. Furthermore, they turned the Christian

“Bad Dog” into their own “Good Dog”. The attributes of the “Jewish Dog” became positive,

highlighting the Jews’ loyalty to God and stubbornness to remain in their “defiling” status. Elijah

served medieval Ashkenazi Jews as a model for the Jewish Domini Canem, the Lord's Dog, His loyal

messenger and protector of verus Israel. As such, Elijah was an equal match- owing to his

characteristics, his designated role in the redemption and even in the numerical value of his name-

to overcome the Evil Dog (and Son) of Edom.

Elijah is the herald of the final redemption, the dog running before the mounted Messiah.

However, before the arrival of the Messiah and the end of days, there is an immediate need to

contend with the dogs beleaguering the Jews in the present. It is Elijah the Prophet who is best

suited for the job. Elijah, who had never died, is believed to act in current reality and able to reveal

himself to assist those whom he wishes. Giluy Eliyahu (Elijah revelation) stories have a rich

tradition, from the Talmud to modern Jewish literature. By embodying the role of the “Guard Dog

of Israel”, Elijah is not confined to the end of days to rescue Jews and avenge their suffering.

Amplifying Elijah’s role in the Passover Seder ritual, at the expense of the Messiah, expresses the

desire that Elijah will appear (albeit in disguise) and stand up to the dogs barking at the Jews now,

in specific and local situations. Before the Messiah will arrive and turn the temporal power

structures on their head, medieval Ashkenazi Jewry needed Elijah the “Good/Guard Dog” to stand

on guard opposite the Dog of Esau, in every generation.