Eliyahu HaNavi

Elijah the Prophet (Eliyahu HaTishbi) was a towering figure of the Northern Kingdom during the 9th century BCE, remembered as a fierce defender of monotheism against the spread of Baal worship under the Judean royal court. Active during the reign of Ahab and Jezebel, he performed miracles—including the resurrection of a widow's son and the famous contest on Mount Carmel where divine fire consumed his altar—and boldly confronted kings and false prophets. According to biblical and rabbinic tradition, he did not experience death but was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, a unique distinction that made him central to Jewish eschatology. In Talmudic literature, Elijah became a symbol of divine justice and the herald of redemption, appearing in midrashic discussions and as a guest at every Passover seder.