Haggadah:Four Cups/2

Four Cups

Exegetical Approaches

This topic is still being developed and updated

Expression of Freedom

Drinking four cups of wine proclaims our status as free people and is a fulfillment of "חַיָּב אָדָם לְהַרְאוֹת אֶת עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם".

Sources:Perhaps RashiPesachim 108bAbout R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, R. David BonafedPesachim 108b, Maharal Gevurot Hashem48About R. Judah Loew of Prague

Relationship to recitations of Kiddush, Maggid, Bareikh, and Hallel – According to R. David and the Maharal, the basic primary obligation to drink four cups of wine is not dependent on reciting any particular liturgical passages.  Only a secondary or more complete fulfillment of the mitzvah links the cups to particular sections of the Seder.¹

Why four? According to this approach, wine must be drunken in abundance as an expression of freedom or happiness.  The Yerushalmi PesachimPesachim 10:1About the Yerushalmi records various opinions as to why the number four was chosen:²

• Four expressions of redemption – R. Yochanan connects the four cups to the four verbs (ארבע לשונות גאולה) in Shemot 6 which speak of Hashem's salvation.
• Four cups of Paroh – R. Yehoshua b. Levi relates them to the four references to Paroh's cup in the butler's dream in Bereshit 40.³
• Four kingdoms – According to R. Levi, they symbolize the four kingdoms that have oppressed the Children of Israel.⁴
• Four cups of wrath and consolation – The Rabbis in the Yerushalmi suggest that the four cups correspond to the four cups of calamity that are to be given to the enemies of Israel in the future and the four cups of consolation that Hashem will give Israel to drink.⁵

"שתאן בבת אחת" – Can one drink all four at once? According to this position, even if one drank all four cups consecutively, rather than in their proper places in the Haggadah, one should still fulfill one's obligation, and R. David cites the YerushalmiPesachim 10:1About the Yerushalmi which maintains this.  This approach must therefore reinterpret the BavliPesachim 108a-109aAbout the Bavli's statement:  "שתאן בבת אחת – ידי יין יצא, ידי ארבעה כוסות לא יצא" which at face value appears to imply that in such circumstances one did not fulfill the obligation of "ארבעה כוסות".  This can be done in two different ways:

• Rashi limits the application of the Bavli's ruling to a case in which one drank from a single cup four cups worth of wine.  According to this interpretation, even the Bavli agrees that the obligation is fulfilled if one drinks the wine from four separate cups.
• Alternatively, R. David suggests that even the Bavli concurs that the basic obligation was realized, and it only means that the action was not performed in the preferred way.

One obligation or four? This approach would likely maintain that it is only the cumulative effect of all four cups together which fulfills the obligation.  A single cup alone does not suffice to demonstrate freedom or happiness.

Who needs to drink? Each individual at the Seder must drink their own four cups of wine, as eating or drinking is not an action which can be performed by one person on behalf of another.

Necessary shiur (רוב כוס)? This position would likely posit that the gemara refers to drinking a full cup (but allows that a majority suffices since "רובו ככולו") rather than a "cheekful", since the emphasis is on the drinking itself, and specifically, on drinking in abundance.

Status of undiluted wine – This position might maintain, like Rava in the Bavli, that one does not fulfill one's obligation of four cups by drinking undiluted wine since this is no longer an expression of freedom.⁶ It is not clear how this approach would understand Rava's declaration that one nonetheless fulfills one's obligation of "wine".

Women's obligation

How does this relate to reclining? It is logical that the cups are drunk while reclining since both action are meant to represent freedom.

Cups of Blessings

The four cups of wine serve as an accompaniment to the four sections of the Haggadah (Kaddesh, Maggid, Birkat HaMazon, and Hallel) in which we sing Hashem's praises.  They do not, however, constitute their own independent obligation.

Sources:Perhaps RashbamPesachim 108bAbout R. Shemuel b. Meir, TosafotPesachim 99bSukkah 38aAbout Ba'alei HaTosafot

Why four? According to this approach, there is no special significance to the number four.  It so happens that there are four places where we "toast" Hashem's miracles and thus there are four cups of wine.

One obligation or four? This approach would view each cup as its own individual obligation, unconnected to the other three.

Can you drink all four at once? Since the liturgy is what is important, drinking all four at once defeats the purpose and so one does not fulfill his obligation of "four cups."  The gemara states that he does nonetheless fulfill the obligation of "wine" which this position would probably understand to mean the mitzvah of "שמחת יום טוב", being happy on the holiday.⁷

Who needs to drink? Ba'alei HaTosafot suggests that the head of the household can fulfill the obligation for all those around him,⁸ just as he does during kiddush on Shabbat. R. Y"Z  Soloveitchik explains that according to Ba'alei HaTosafot, since the primary obligation is the recital of words of praise rather than the actual drinking, only one person must drink. This is no different than kiddush on Shabbat where there is a similar obligation of "אמירה על הכוס" and the drinking is secondary.⁹

Necessary shiur (רוב כוס)? The gemara rules that one must drink "the majority of a cup" to fulfill one's obligation.  It is not clear, though, if this is simply a way of saying that one must drink a "cheekful" (מלא לוגמיו) as one does in Kiddush,¹⁰ or if it is emphasizing the concept of drinking a cup of wine.¹¹ Ba'alei HaTosafot maintain the former, in line with their understanding that the 4 cups are parallel to kiddush, where a "taste" is important to establish "saying over wine" but a full cup is not.

Status of undiluted wine – Undiluted wine does not affect the fulfillment of the basic obligation of four cups since the taste of the wine is not crucial for saying the praise.¹²  Ba'alei HaToafot might suggest, as does Rashbam, that Rava's statement that one does not fulfill the obligation of "expressing freedom" in so doing, is only a secondary level of obligation, a מצוה מן המובחר.

Women's obligation – Since women also participated in the miracle, they must also sing Hashem's praises, and are thus obligated to drink the Four Cups.

How does this relate to reclining? If the four cups are not related to freedom, it is not clear why they ned to be drunk while reclining.

Combination

The obligation to drink four cups of wine relates both to their being an accompaniment to statements of praise and to their being an expression of freedom.

Sources:RambamChametz uMatzah 7:6-10Megillah VeChanukah 4:12About R. Moshe b. Maimon

Why four? As there are four points in the Seder where one sings Hashem's praises, these are each accompanied by a cup of wine.

One obligation or four?

Who needs to drink? As the obligation is not only to praise but also to drink as an expression of freedom, everyone must drink.

Necessary shiur (רוב כוס)? Rambam mentions a "רוב כוס"  rather than just a "cheekful" since part of the mitzvah is to drink in abundance.

Status of undiluted wine

Women's obligation

How does this relate to reclining?

¹ See also the MeiriPesachim 117bAbout R. Menachem HaMeiri who, in interpreting the BavliPesachim 117bAbout the Bavli, explains that the obligation of the Four Cups preceded that of the Seder liturgy.  According to him, the liturgy was established to accompany the drinking of the cups, rather than the other way around.

² None of the opinions cited in the Yerushalmi suggest that there needed to be four cups because of the four sections of the Haggadah in which one drinks the cups, and it would appear that according to the Yerushalmi this was only a later development.

³ It is difficult to find any fundamental connection between the four cups of wine and the four "cups" of Paroh.

⁴ R. Levy might suggest that it is appropriate to recall all our enemies on Pesach, in keeping with the idea that Pesach is a prototype for all future oppressions, and thus all salvations.  This is expressed in the words of the Haggadah: "וְהִיא שֶׁעָמְדָה לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְלָנוּ שֶׁלֹּא אֶחָד בִּלְבָד עָמַד עָלֵינוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵנוּ, אֶלָּא שֶׁבְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר עוֹמְדִים עָלֵינוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵנוּ, וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַצִּילֵנוּ מִיָּדָם."

⁵ This position might be the opposite of R. Levi's.  While R. Levi focuses on the oppression, the Rabbis focus on our future salvation from them, a major theme of Pesach.

⁶ If drinking wine is meant to be an expression of freedom or happiness, it should taste good.

⁷ See Rashbam who explains the gemara in this manner.

⁸ They do, though, recommend that one be strict and provide four cups of wine to all who are present.

⁹ On Shabbat, in fact, one has no wine one is even able to fulfill the mitzvah over bread.  The wine itself is thus obviously not essential.

¹⁰ To be considered a "cup" it must measure at least a "רביעית", or a fourth of a "לוג".  Since a majority of a "רביעית" is identical to the measurement of a "cheekful", it is possible that this is the meaning of the gemara.

¹¹ The gemara's mention of drinking a majority of the cup is another way of saying to drink a cup's worth, but we maintain that "רובו ככולו", the majority is comparable to the whole.

¹² Ba'alei HaTosafot nonetheless agree that drinking undiluted wine is preferable in all cases.