Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Halakhah הֲלָכָה
Drinking four cups of wine (or grape juice) at the Pesah Seder is found in the Mishnah (Pesahim 10:1). But the Talmud Yerushalmi (Pesahim 10:1) traces it even earlier, to the beginning of our parashah. Here, God describes to Moshe how the Israelites will be freed:
לָכֵן אֱמֹר לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲנִי ה'
וְהוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מִתַּחַת סִבְלֹת מִצְרַיִם
וְהִצַּלְתִּי אֶתְכֶם מֵעֲבֹדָתָם
וְגָאַלְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בִּזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה וּבִשְׁפָטִים גְּדֹלִים:
וְלָקַחְתִּי אֶתְכֶם לִי לְעָם וְהָיִיתִי לָכֶם לֵאלֹקִים וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי אֲנִי ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶם הַמּוֹצִיא אֶתְכֶם מִתַּחַת סִבְלוֹת מִצְרָיִם:
Therefore, say to Benei Yisrael: I am God, and
I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt.
I will save you from slavery.
I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through great miracles.
I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God Who takes you out from under the burdens of Egypt.
The Talmud explains that the four cups of wine correspond to the four bolded words that God uses to describe the redemption from Egypt.
What’s the purpose of the four cups?
Rambam writes that the four cups help us feel that we were personally freed from Egypt. It is not enough to remember the event. We are aiming to truly experience it ourselves. Rambam explains that this is also the reason we should recline while eating and drinking at the Seder (Mishneh Torah, Hametz u-Matzah 7:6-7).
Details of the four cups:
- At the Seder, each cup should hold at least a רְבִיעִית (revi'it, about 3 to 3.3 ounces). When it’s time to drink, we are supposed to drink at least half of the cup’s contents.
- It’s usually better to use red wine/grape juice, but if you have white wine/grape juice that is fancier or that you like better, then that can be preferable.
- This mitzvah is so important that a person who is having money troubles is supposed to even take out a loan in order to be able to buy wine for the Seder. However, the Jewish community has to do everything possible to avoid this situation. We are all responsible to make sure that every person can drink four cups on Seder night.
