Jews & Chairs

If you've ever been to a Jewish celebration such as a wedding or b'mitzvah, you've probably watched a few strong and brave guests hoist whomever is being celebrated high above the crowd on chairs to the infectious sounds of "Hava Nagila."

This is part of the overwhelming joy that Jewish people are commanded to feel at weddings, and might be also related to chairs seen as thrones.

The Chair of Elijah is a special chair that is set aside for Elijah the Prophet, who is said to be preset at a brit milah (ritual circumcision) as well as at Havdalah and Pesach. 

The custom in many communities is for the chair to be positioned from east to west during a brit milah.

Some Jews have the minhag (custom) of also leaving a chair at their Passover Seder table, for Elijah and/or for any unanticipated guest.

On Sukkot we invite the Ushpizin, symbolic guests, to grace our Sukkah with their holy presence. 

The Sephardim (Jews of Spanish or Mediterranean ancestry) traditionally set aside a special chair laden with holy books for the ushpizin.

Tisha B'Av is the Jewish day of mourning, and during this day it is traditional to sit on low chairs or directly on the ground to indicate mourning.

This may come from Book of Job. When Job’s friends come to comfort him on his losses, the text says literally that they sat with him “towards the ground” (la'aretz) for seven days, implying that they were close to the ground (Job 2:13).

Tisha B'Av is the Jewish day of mourning, and during this day it is traditional to sit on low chairs or directly on the ground to indicate mourning.

This may come from Book of Job. When Job’s friends come to comfort him on his losses, the text says literally that they sat with him “towards the ground” (la'aretz) for seven days, implying that they were close to the ground (Job 2:13).

There are several Holocaust memorials in Europe which use empty chairs to represent those lost in the gas chambers and death marches during World War II.

Most famously, these memorials can be found in:

Krakow, Poland

Leipzig, Germany

Oslo, Norway

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/144123/jewish/The-Chair-of-Elijah-and-Welcoming-the-Baby.htm

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4613565/jewish/Why-Lift-the-Bride-and-Groom-on-Chairs-at-Jewish-Weddings.htm

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/elijah-chair-of

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/ushpizin-welcoming-guests/

https://ritualwell.org/ritual/tradition-empty-chair/

https://www.thejc.com/judaism/jewish-ways/sitting-on-low-chairs-on-tishah-b-av-1.46804

https://www.theknot.com/content/jewish-wedding-reception-rituals