The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (724 page)

(9th cent. BCE).
Israelite
prophet
. After choosing
Elisha
as his successor, he was taken up to
Heaven
in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2. 1–18). According to the book of Malachi, he will return to earth ‘before the great and terrible
day of the Lord’
(4. 5). In
aggadic
literature, Elijah was recognized as the forerunner of the
messiah
. Consequently, the
gospels
record speculation that John the Baptist, who wore the same clothes as Elijah (Mark 1. 6; 2 Kings 1. 8) was a reincarnation of the prophet. Subsequently Elijah was believed to be a partner of the messiah who will overthrow the foundations of the heathen (
Gen.R
71. 9) and bring about the
resurrection
of the dead. He most frequently was said to appear on the eve of
Passover
to help the poor prepare for the
seder
. It is customary to place a cup for Elijah in the middle of the table, and the door is opened during the seder for the prophet to come in and herald the days of the messiah. At
circumcision
ceremonies, an unoccupied chair is placed for Elijah.

 
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(1720–97).
The Vilna Gaon, known as Ha-Gra, a Lithuanian Jewish spiritual leader. He was famous for his great learning and produced more than seventy works and commentaries on the
Bible
, the
Talmud
, the
midrashim
, the
Zohar
,
Shul
n Arukh
, on Hebrew grammar, and on scientific subjects. He was a brilliant
halakhist
, and was also devoted to the study of
Kabbalah
. Philosophy he regarded as ‘accursed’, and he opposed all changes in customs and liturgy.
asidism was rejected because he believed its emphasis on the love of God undermined the value of the Torah.

 
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(1897–1975).
Leader of the Nation of Islam, the American Black Muslim movement, called more fully ‘The Lost-Found Nation of Islam’, or, from 1976, ‘The World Community of Islam in the West’. He was born in Georgia with the name Elijah Poole. Moving to Detroit, he became a follower of Wallace D. Fard (Wali Farad, known as Prophet Fard) who had founded the Temple of Islam to affirm ‘the deceptive character of the white man and the glorious history of the black race’. He advocated self-help, especially through education, and he produced two manuals which guided the movement,
The Secret Ritual of the Nation of Islam
and
Teaching for the Lost Found Nation of Islam
… He became the chief aide of Fard, who gave him his new name, and when Fard disappeared in 1934, Elijah Muhammad took control. The original goals of the Nation of Islam were continued in what was originally a splinter group, but which rapidly grew in size, led by Louis Farrakhan (b. 1933). A fiery and inspiring orator, Farrakhan has often been dismissed as a racist and anti-Semitic orator, but he speaks from great intelligence and culture. His political ambitions on behalf of the movement came to an end with the failure of Jesse Jackson (in the presidential nominations) in 1984, but the march of a million men in 1995 re-established Farrakhan and the nation of Islam as a political force.

 
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(1717–87).
Jewish
asidic
leader. Elimelech was the pupil of
Dov Baer
, and after some wanderings, settled in Lyzhansk in Galacia. He formulated the doctrine of the
Zaddik
and taught that he should lead his community in all spheres of life, not merely the religious. He believed that the Zaddik had a direct connection with the higher world, and that ‘every utterance of the Zaddik creates an
angel
and influences higher spheres’. His main work was a commentary on
Torah
,
No’am Elimelekh
(1787), but it is in effect an exposition of
asidic ideology, and has remained an important guide for subsequent generations.