Four Cups
Why do we drink four cups of wine on Passover?
Wine, which “cheers the hearts of men” (Psalm 104:15), is a significant component of many Jewish rituals. Judaism recognizes that wine brings great joy, and wine also replaces the sacrifice and thereby fulfills a religious obligation. And it’s not just people — G!d also appreciates wine! Wine is poured out as a libation offering in the holy Temple.
The reason for four cups is based by the rabbis upon the midrashic interpretation of Exodus 6:6–7, where four different terms of deliverance are employed: "I will bring you out … deliver you … redeem you … and will take you to Me for a people,"
(Exodus Rabbah 6:4).
Who drinks Four Cups of Wine on Passover?
The Sages taught in a baraita: All are obligated in these four cups, including men, women, and children.
(Pesachim 108b)
Even the poorest of Jews [must not be given] less than four cups of wine for the Festival meal of Passover night.
(Mishnah Pesachim 10:1)
When is each cup?
What do they represent?
There are many different meanings ascribed to each cup, the ones below are from A Night of Questions by Rabbi Joy Levitt and Rabbi Michael Strassfeld.
First Cup: The Kiddush at the start of the Seder
Tonight we will drink not one cup but four, as we recount the Journey from exodus to liberation, a journey that stops in many places along the way. We come first to the recognition of slav- ery, of degradation, of narrowness. Until we know the ways in which we are enslaved, we can never be free. We drink this first cup in honor of awareness.
Second Cup: The conclusion of the main part of the Haggadah which ends with the Ge'ullah.
We dedicated the first cup of wine to awareness-the first step taken in the journey toward liberation. We drank the second cup in celebration of the redemption from Egypt. We now drink this third cup in gratitude for all the gifts we have been given. The seder reminds us of the gifts of relationships-of friends and family; and of our material possessions-good food and drink. Yet most of all we offer thanks for the great- est gift the ability to challenge, to question, to choose, and therefore to strive for freedom.
Third Cup: The end of the Birkat HaMazon, the Grace after Meal.
We dedicated the first cup of wine to awareness-the first step taken in the journey toward liberation. We drank the second cup in celebration of the redemption from Egypt. We now drink this third cup in gratitude for all the gifts we have been given. The seder reminds us of the gifts of relationships-of friends and family; and of our material possessions-good food and drink. Yet most of all we offer thanks for the great- est gift the ability to challenge, to question, to choose, and therefore to strive for freedom.
Fourth Cup: Nirtzah - conclusion of the Seder.
Awareness, redemption, and gratitude accompanied our first three cups. This fourth cup is the cup of hope: Hope that next year we will all be free, that next year children and parents, neighbors and nations will turn their hearts to one another. Hope that next year Jerusalem will be a city of peace.
