Haggadah:Four Cups/2

Four Cups

Exegetical Approaches

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Cups of Blessing to Accompany the Liturgy

The four cups of wine serve as an accompaniment to the four sections of the Haggadah (Kaddesh, Maggid, Birkat HaMazon, and Hallel) which 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

Relationship to recitations of Kiddush, Maggid, Bareikh, and Hallel – Bavli BerakhotBerakhot 35aAbout the Bavli brings down in the name of R. Yonatan that one should sing Hashem's praises over wine.  Thus, Kiddush and Birkat HaMazon are regularly recited over wine, while the unique Seder sections of Maggid and Hallel which glorify Hashem's redemption of the Children of Israel are similarly sung over a cup of wine.

Why four? According to this approach, there is no special significance to the number four.  It so happens that there are four parts of the Seder liturgy in which we "toast" Hashem's miracles, and thus there are four cups of wine.¹

"שתאן בבת אחת" – Can one drink all four at once? Since the liturgy is what is important, drinking all four cups at once defeats the purpose and does not fulfill the obligation of the Four Cups.  This corresponds to the literal reading of Bavli PesachimPesachim 108a-109aAbout the Bavli which says: "ידי ארבעה כוסות לא יצא".  Regarding the Bavli's additional statement that one who does so nonetheless fulfills the obligation of "wine" ("ידי יין יצא")‎,² Rashbam and Tosafot both contend that this refers only to the separate mitzvah of rejoicing on Yom Tov.³

Who needs to drink? Ba'alei HaTosafot suggests that the head of the household can discharge the obligation of the Four Cups for all those present,⁴ exactly as happens with Kiddush on Shabbat ("דמאי שנא ארבע כוסות מקידוש דכל השנה שאחד מוציא את כולם").‎⁵  This is possible only because, according to them, the primary obligation of the Four Cups is the recital of words of praise upon them, while the actual drinking is merely secondary.  It is this position of theirs which enables them to draw a parallel to Kiddush on Shabbat.⁶

One obligation or four? This approach views each cup as its own individual obligation, disconnected from the other three.

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,⁷ or if it is emphasizing the concept of drinking a cup of wine.⁸ Ba'alei HaTosafot maintain the former, in line with their understanding that the Four 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.⁹  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 – According to Tosafot, the Bavli PesachimPesachim 108a-109aAbout the Bavli which obligates women in the Four Cups ("because they too were part of the miracle" – "שאף הן היו באותו הנס") is referring to their obligation to participate in the four sections of the Seder which are recited over the wine.  Tosafot notes that even though women are generally exempt from saying Hallel, the Hallel on the night of Pesach is unique, as it is recited because of the miracle of the Exodus.¹⁰

Reclining while drinking – If the four cups are not related to freedom, it is unclear why they need to be drunk while reclining.

Demonstration 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.¹¹

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:¹²

• 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 40.¹³
• Four kingdoms – According to R. Levi, they symbolize the four kingdoms that have oppressed the Children of Israel.¹⁴
• 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.¹⁵

"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.¹⁶ It is not clear how this approach would understand Rava's declaration that one nonetheless fulfills one's obligation of "wine".

Reclining while drinking – It is logical that the cups are drunk while reclining since both actions are meant to symbolize freedom.

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 as explained by RY"Z SoloveitchikGriz Hilchot Chametz uMatzah 7:9

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?

"שתאן בבת אחת" – Can one drink all four at once?

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

How does this relate to reclining?

¹ See, however, Rashbam and Tosafot Pesachim 99b who cite the correlation of Bereshit Rabbah and Yerushalmi between the Four Cups and the four expressions of redemption.  For elaboration regarding the Yerushalmi, see below.

² The Rif and some manuscripts of the Bavli read:  "ידי חירות יצא".

³ See the Baalei HaTosafot who struggle to explain the need for this statement and how one could have entertained the possibility that one would not discharge one's obligation of rejoicing on Yom Tov.  It may be simpler to explain that the words "ידי יין יצא" appear simply as a contrast to the obligation which one does not fulfill.

⁴ Baalei HaTosafot do, though, recommend that one be strict and provide four cups of wine to each person present.

⁵ Tosafot notes that this is the implication of the Bavli PesachimPesachim 108a-109aAbout the Bavli which says "השקה מהן לבניו ולבני ביתו יצא", implying that each person did not have their own cup.  Cf. the Ittur who explains that the Bavli is speaking only of minors who do not yet have their own obligation.

⁶ 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.

⁷ 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.

⁸ 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.

⁹ Ba'alei HaTosafot nonetheless agree that drinking undiluted wine is preferable in all cases.

¹⁰ Thus, according to Tosafot, "שאף הן היו באותו הנס" is really explaining why women are obligated in Maggid and Hallel and, only by extension, in the cups of wine upon which they are recited.  Women are also obligated in Kaddesh and Bareikh, and hence in their cups of wine as well, but not for the reason of "שאף הן".

¹¹ 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.

¹² 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.

¹³ It is difficult to find any fundamental connection between the four cups of wine and the four "cups" of Paroh.

¹⁴ 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."

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ If drinking wine is meant to be an expression of freedom or happiness, it should taste good.