Why:

Kiddush is recited on the eve of every Shabbat and every festival, customarily over a brimming cup of wine, a symbol of joy, as it is written, "wine gladdens the heart of man" (Psalms 104:15). Tonight, Kiddush is recited over the first of the Four Cups.

Why is wine used as a symbol of sanctification when it so readily brings to mind revelry and intoxication? How can it be a symbol of liberation when so many have become enslaved to it? The point is that, in Jewish tradition, no object is intrinsically good or instrinsically bad. Its nature is determined by the way we use—or misuse—it.


haggadah Section: Kadesh
Source: Passover Haggadah: The Feast of Freedom (The Rabbinical Assembly), edited by Rachel Anne Rabinowicz