First Cup

There is an obligation to drink four cups of wine during the Seder. The Mishnah says that even the poor are obliged to drink the four cups. Tradition says to fill the cup to the brim, but also says that you shouldn’t get drunk, so you only have to drink half the glass (which may be small). The four cups might also reflect the Roman custom of drinking as many cups as there are letters in the name of the chief guest at a meal, which in the case of the Seder is God Herself whose Hebrew name has four letters - YHWH.

Fill your cup with the first glass of wine or grape juice, lift the cup, say the Kiddush (sanctification over the fruit of the vine and over the special energies of the holiday), and drink, leaning to the left. 

Reclining on our left side demonstrates our freedom from slavery.
We hold our first cup of wine and we recite:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam, borei p'ri hagafen.

Blessed are You, Our God, Ruler of the world, Creator of the fruit of the vine.


haggadah Section: Kadesh