At our seders we open the door when we recite “Pour out Your wrath-שְׁפֹךְ חֲמָתְךָ.” This is the time we poured the 5th cup of wine into Elisha’s cup. The Vilna Gaon suggests that the rabbis ordained this cup to be poured but not drunk because were waiting for Elijah to come and answer the following question. We know that we drink a cup of wine for the four languages of redemption found in Exodus 6:6-7. “Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am the LORD. I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements. And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God. And you shall know that I, the LORD, am your God who freed you from the labors of the Egyptians.” (My emphasis) The Torah continues to say in verse eight “I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession, I the LORD.” The rabbis argued whether bringing the already freed Israelites into the land of Israel was a language of redemption or not. We opened up the door for Elijah with the hope that he will join our Seder and tell us whether we should drink his cup of wine or not.
Today we finish the seventh chapter of our massekhet with daf TB Pesakhim 86 which might give us another reason why we open up the door at the above time of the Seder. On the previous daf with the sugiyah continuing on today’s daf, Rav teaches that the sanctity of Jerusalem is only at ground level. Consequently, this means that the registered community of a korban Pesakh must eat it on the ground floor and not on top of any roof. The Gemara questions the veracity of this teaching by citing a popular aphorism.
“The mishna states that the windows and the thickness of the wall are considered to be on the inside. Rav said: Roofs and upper stories were not sanctified. Therefore, the roofs of the chambers in the Temple courtyard did not have the sanctity of the courtyard, and the roofs of buildings in Jerusalem did not have the sanctity of Jerusalem. The Gemara asks: Is that so? Didn't Rav say the following aphorism in the name of Rabbi Hiyya: The Paschal lamb is the size of an olive-bulk, as it was common for so many people to register for a single Paschal lamb that each one would receive only an olive-bulk of its meat. And the hallel that is said during its consumption breaks the roof; there were so many people who said hallel together, it seemed as though the roofs were breaking due to all the commotion and noise.
"What, is it not the case that they eat the Paschal lamb on the roof and say hallel on the roof, which would mean that roofs have the sanctity of Jerusalem? The Gemara responds: No, there is no proof from here, as it is possible that they eat on the ground and say hallel on the roof.
“The Gemara asks: Is that so? But didn’t we learn in a mishna: We do not conclude after eating the Paschal lamb with afikoman, and Rav said that this means that after eating the Paschal lamb one may not say: Afikoman, which refers to removing the utensils in order to go eat somewhere else, because they may not uproot themselves from one group to another group. This would indicate that one must complete the entire Passover seder in one place. The Gemara answers: It is not difficult. Here, where it says that one may not change places, it is during the time of eating. There, where it says they would say hallel on the roof, it is not during the time of eating." (Sefaria.org translation)
It has been suggested that another explanation why we open up the door at the conclusion of grace after meals is based on our daf. The meal is over and we remember the custom of adjourning to the roof to sing the Great Hallel by opening up the door at “Pour out Your wrath.”
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