Tonight we drink four cups of wine. Why four?

Some say the cups represent our matriarchs—Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah—whose virtue caused God to liberate us from slavery. Some say they represent the four exiles Jews faced - Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek and current exile. Still a third interpretation is that the cups represent the four promises of liberation God makes in the Torah: I will bring you out, I will deliver you, I will redeem you, I will take you to be my people (Exodus 6:6-7.) The four promises, in turn, have been interpreted as four stages on the path of liberation: becoming aware of oppression, opposing oppression, imagining alternatives, and accepting responsibility to act.

The first cup of wine is to our ancestors, our history, the revolutionaries who allowed us to be here in the capacity that we are. As we raise our glasses, let’s share who we are drinking to. Also, some people recline to the left when they drink their wine, because apparently people who are free recline when they get drunk.

אֱלֹהֵינו†ּמֶלֶך†ְהָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא†פְּרִי†הַגָפֶּן. †¨ְָ בָּרוך†ְּאַתָּה†יי

KADESH

Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu melech ha’olam, borei p’ri hagafen.

Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.

[After the blessing, drink a sip or the whole glass, however you prefer, and then refill.]


haggadah Section: Kadesh