Kadesh | Passover haggadah by Neil Shapiro

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I like to begin the Kadesh with an explanation of why we have four cups of wine during the Seder. Over the years, I have found and used several different explanations. Here is the first:

“In the sixth chapter of Exodus (verses 6 and 7), G-d makes four promises to Israel which flow out of G-d’s covenant with us. Ve-ho-tzei-ti (I will bring you out from under the burdens of Mitzrayim), Ve-hi-tzal-ti (I will deliver you from their service), Ve-ga-al-ti (I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great judgements), Ve-la-kach-ti (I will take you to Me for a people and I will become G-d for you). Traditionally, each cup represents one of these promises.

But, in verse 8 of Chapter 6 there is a fifth promise: Ve-he-vei-ti (I shall bring you to the Land), which, by Seder night, had not been fulfilled. The debate over whether this fifth promise should be celebrated by a cup of its own led to the decision to leave the answer to Elijah, herald of the messianic coming. Hence the custom of the Cup for Elijah and the messianic ‘fifth cup.’” (Source – OWOF, page 12)

I really like this one! It allows us to refer back to each of these promises as we pour each of the four cups, and it provides an explanation for the tradition of Elijah’s cup.

At our Seders in 2012 and 2013, I used a couple of additional explanations:

“Why four cups? The Torah uses four expressions of freedom or deliverance in connection with our liberation from Egypt: ‘ Also, the Children of Israel had four great merits even while in exile: (1) They did not change their Hebrew names; (2) they continued to speak their own language, Hebrew; (3) they remained highly moral; (4) they remained loyal to one another (Exodus 6:6-7)’” (Source – chabad.org)

“Why four cups? One possible answer is that we were liberated from Pharoah’s four evil decrees:

1) Slavery

2) The ordered murder of all male progeny by the Hebrew midwives.

3) The drowning of all Hebrew boys in the Nile by Egyptian thugs.

4) The decree ordering the Israelites to collect their own straw for use in their brick production.

(Source – chabad.org)

One reflection I have used at this point deals with the question of why so much emphasis is placed at the Seder on drinking wine, when alcohol abuse causes such misery:

“A great teacher, Rav Moshe Poleyoff, once explained the difference between drinking for the sake of the mitzvah and drinking that leads to drunkenness. If one is empty inside and expects the wine to supply the happiness, the wine only leads to hopeless abandon and inebriation. But if one if filled with joy and wishes to express that joy through drink, then the wine represents a simchah shel mitzvah (the joy of the mitzvah) – and the consumption of the wine itself becomes a mitzvah. That is the kind of drinking that takes place at the Passover Seder.” (source – OWOF, page 12)

As we come to the time of pouring our first cup of wine, how do we do this? Normally, we just have several bottles of wine and grape juice on our Seder table, and each guest fills his or her own glass. However, in preparation for our Seders in 2007, I was skimming through a copy of “A Different Night – The Family Participation Haggadah (which is an AMAZING resource, full of ideas, and highly recommended by Rabbi Pressman) and I found the following text:

“On Pesach the Rabbis asked us to play a double role – remembering our slave status by eating the bread of poverty and bitter herbs, yet reiterating the freed status that we achieved on this very night in Egypt. How does one behave in a style befitting a free being? The Rabbis took their cues from Greco-Roman citizens, a privileged minority whose freedom and dignity were displayed in their participation in elegant symposia. Aristocratic dining meant reclining on cushioned couches, sipping excellent wines with hors d’oeuvres dipped in appetizing sauces, eaten from one’s finest silver and ceramic dishes, while conducting a leisurely intellectual exchange of views according to a well-known format set by the host.

On seder night the Rabbis require this format from even the poorest Jews. Practically speaking, this means that the community tzedakah fund must provide at least four cups of wine for needy men and women. All must be able to celebrate their freedom with the same basic material comforts, because “all Israel are regarded as children of kings.” For that reason, it is customary that someone else pour your wine for you (emphasis added), just as aristocrats are served while reclining.

However, we must note the vigorous dissent from this custom by Rabbi Y. M. Epstein (Poland, 19^th century). He feared it would lead to what a contemporary might call blatant sexism or the exploitation of women to pour wine for the men: “ It is haughty and arrogant to order one’s wife to serve him wine. After all he is no more obligated to drink wine than she. Therefore, we ask that everyone pour for him or herself.”

There is a simple solution to this problem. Participants may form pairs and each person pours for the other.”

Well, this was a problem that I didn’t know existed! I knew that the first Seders were modeled after Greek and Roman banquets of the first century (a fact we sometimes mention as we welcome people to our Seder table), but I didn’t know the simple matter of pouring cups of wine would engender such debate! What a great solution, though! We have incorporated this into our Seders. If we happen to have an odd number of people at the table; well, we just work it out!

The first cup is poured. We raise our cups and say together:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן.

Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam borei p'ri hagafen.

Praised are You, Adonai our G-d, Monarch of time and space, creator of this fruit of the vine.

haggadah Section: Kadesh

Source: Original