Why must we open the door for Elijah, for if he can manage to visit each person's Seder in one night, he can surely come through a closed door? And further, what a strange greeting! As we welcome the forerunner of the Messiah, we pronounce what appears to be a malediction upon the nations of the world. 

In response to these questions, we must realize that the Haggadah reflects all of Jewish history. Because of its proximity to Easter, the Passover season was always a very difficult period for the Jews. Passover was the season for reviving the blood libel that accused Jews of killing gentile babies and using their blood to prepare the matzah and the wine for the Seder. On Seder night the gentiles often staged vicious pogroms against their Jewish neighbors, making it necessary to open the door and look out into the street, lest, G-d forbid, a dead baby had been placed near the house to provide the mob with a pretext to ravage and kill. It was not at all rare to see Jewish families driven from their homes and Jewish populations from their villages in the middle of Seder night to escape certain injury and even death. 

The spirit of active revenge is alien to Israel. The plea that "G-d pour out His wrath" is not directed to non-Jewish religions but to those people who destroy Jewish lives. 


haggadah Section: Bareich
Source: The Seder Night: An Exalted Evening: The Passover Haggadah by R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik