And if you see, in these days of ours, many righteous women who have pain of pregnancy and pain of childbirth, this is because of various sins found in them. And because their merits are greater, this is the reason for their salvation {from death}. And they undergo pain at the time of childbirth to demonstrate that they have to them some aspect of sins in their hands.
And if you see women who are not fit, who are saved from death at the time of childbirth, this is because of repentance which the contemplate at that specific time, and her sin is expunged with the pain of childbirth, and a person who repents {baal teshuva} is like a newly born person {J: heh}.
And I, the author, have seen many women make a table of Eliyahu which they vowed at the time of their childbirth, if the Holy One, Blessed Be He, saved them.
And since we have arrived at this matter, about how they are accustomed to make a "Table of Eljah," I will write to you what I have found from a manuscript {attacking the practice}. And I, the author, do not approve of his words, for the reason I will elaborate, with the help of Heaven. And this is the language recorded in the writing that I have found, but I do not know his name or the name of his son:
I, the youth, have seen that some Jews, both in our locale and in other places, that at a time that distress or accident comes upon them, they vow that if they are saved, they will make a feast for Eliyahu the Prophet, the memory of a righteous one for a blessing, thinking that via this they will be saved from their distress. And they think that he is the one who makes the dead live and who grants weath, because we find that he brought to life the son of the Tzarfatit {see I Kings 17:17} and the jar of grain and the cruse of oil {in 17:12-16} which did not decrease, etc. And all of this is fixed in their hearts -- for I have seen one who is accustomed to place, from time to time, a barrel of wine especially saved for this meal, and he has basically forbidden it upon all men until the time of the feast.
And I have always been pained by this custom, and it appears in my eyes like the prohibition of yayin nesech for another purpose (??) and like the offering to idols, chas veshalom. And in truth I asked my teachers, and to all the Sages with whom I corresponded, if they knew a reason to the matter, and none of them responded. And if it is only that the idolaters are accustomed to make it as a set practice for all their festivals, every year, it would be fitting for us to refrain from it. For it is known to all who understand and know the reason of wisdom and has seen the reason of the commandments, that the majority of the commandments which the Torah writes are only in order to distance from him the set practices of the pagans, as the great Rav z"l wrote in Moreh Nevuchim, part 3, in the known chapters of it. And upon this, Yitzchak our forefather came, of blessed memory, and said know, to our Father in Heaven, that I am not anything -- in order that they not make him into an idol, chas veshalom. And as we learn from the burial of Moshe Rabbenu, peace be upon him, that that which is stated "and no man knew the place of his burial" was so that the gentiles should not make him into an idol. For just as the worshipers are punished, so too the worshiped are punished, for it is stated "to make in them judgments, and in their gods." And so did Yaakov Avinu, of blessed memory, worry, and commanded to Yosef, "do not bury me in Egypt," so that they would not make him into an idol, for the land was blessed for his sake. And the gentiles say that the Holy One, Blessed Be He, requires an intermediary between them. And we, the congregation of Israel, do not say this, but rather Hashem is one and his Name is one.
End quote.
And I, the author, it appears to me that they are acting appropriately. And certainly since there many geonim, pillars of the world, did not protest the matter, there certainly is some basis {/support} to the matter. And what with that Chazal already said that a man needs to vow at a time of distress, to do charity and the like, and they learned this from Yaakov, etc.
And those who vow to make the feast of Eliyahu, their intent is to vow to feed and support paupers, and the feast is called the feast of Eliyahu because a miracle is done suddenly for the paupers, in that they are called to eat and to restore their soul. And Eliyahu is prepared and appears on the miracle, as Chazal say, and as we find in several place in the Talmud, etc.
And because of this it is called
the feast of Eliyahu, for it is as if Eliyahu appears to the paupers to make for them a miracle. And always, when one vows to make a feast of Eliyahu, their intent is to vow charity to paupers.
And it may also be stated that those who vow in the merit of Eliyahu are doing well, for we find in the gemara, in Bava Metzia {84b}, by the incident or Rabbi Eleazar bar Shimon, that "60 sailors came and brought to him 60 servants carrying 60 purses, and prepared for him 60 kinds of pap, and he ate it."
And Rashi z"l explains that "they brought him 60 servants because they had encountered a problem {e.g. a violent storm} at sea, and they prayed to be saved in the merit of Rabbi Eleazar, and they were saved in his merit. When they came out from the sea, they sent him a present."
Thus we learn that a man is able to vow at the time of his distress that Hashem should save him in the merit of whichever righteous person he wishes to mention. And so too those who vow in the merit of Eliyahu at the time of their distress.
And in a place where they are unable to give a gift, such as those sailors gave to Rabbi Eleazar, they make a feast for paupers or for Torah scholars, for the fact that Hashem saved them in the merit of Eliyahu.
And if you say that those sailors were gentiles, and they erred by praying to be saved in the merit of Rabbi Eleazar, if so, how did Rabbi Eleazar accept the gift, and eat of it? Rather, certainly it is permitted for someone to pray that the Holy One, Blessed Be He, save him in the merit of a specific righteous person who he wishes to mention. And what with that the sailors were Israelites, as is understandable, etc.
And furthermore, in the matter of the Golden Calf, where Moshe Rabbenu, peace be upon him, prayed that Hashem save them in the merit of the forefathers, for it is written "recall Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yisrael, etc."
And that which he writes that there is one who places a barrel of wine from one time to the next for this feast, etc., this is certainly good, for it is making the commandment dear to him, for since it is encumbent upon him to make this feast for paupers every year, he prepares this from the beginning of the year.
And further, those who vow do not say that they are making a table for Eliyahu, in which case it would appear like an offering, chas veshalom, but rather they say that it is a table of Eliyahu. The intent of this is that they vow to make a feast of Eliyahu, which is a feast of paupers, becayse they were saved in the merit of Eliyahu, z"l, and on this it is called the feast of Eliyahu.
And this that he says, "and if it were only that the idolaters are accustomed to do such a thing as a fixed practice for all their festivals, every year, we should have refrained from it," the appearance of this is not like the appearance of that. For there, the entire nations does this on a day known to them, and it is a fixed practice for them for idolatry. And in this, the Jew does not make the feast with them, at the day of their festival, but rather for another day, in order to praise the Great and Awesome Name, who performed wonderously with him, and to publicize his Blessed Godhood, before those partaking in that particular meal, and the power of His Great deeds, in that he performs wonders at all times. And thus, this one sanctifies, publicizes, praises and makes dear during every single year His Great Name during this feast. And with absolute certainty, Eliyahu and all the angels accompany in this feast, in order to hear the voice relating the greatness of our God. And blessings should come upon all who make this feast called the Feast of Eliyahu, z"l.
And also this that this one accepts upon him to make this feast every year at a certain known day of the miracle, the result of this is that the Good that Hashem, and so that it is known how much the value of the righteous is worth
before the Holy One, Blessed Be He, for behold, he was saved in the merit of Eliyahu, z"l.
And the reasons that they vow in the merit of Eliyahu is that he is found among the living and is prepared on each miracle, etc.
End translation. Perhaps some analysis in another post, perhaps not.
As an interesting note, in the Jewish Quarterly Review, in an article called "The Karaites in European Turkey," Abraham Danon notes that the Karaite scholar Calev Afendopolo recorded various Karaite customs, and makes mention of "The Table of Elijah." Thus the Karaites also apparently practiced it:
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