Four Reasons for Four Cups

MISHNA: On the eve of Passover, adjacent to minḥa time, a person may not eat until dark, so that he will be able to eat matza that night with a hearty appetite. Even the poorest of Jews should not eat the meal on Passover night until she reclines on her left side, as free and wealthy people recline when they eat. And the distributors of charity should not give a poor person less than four cups of wine for the Festival meal of Passover night. And this halakha applies even if the poor person is one of the poorest members of society and receives his food from the charity plate.

From where [do we know the requirement to drink] four cups? Rabbi Yochanan [said] in the name of Rav, "Rabbi Banniah said, 'Corresponding to the four [expressions of] salvations: "Therefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out, etc. And I will take you to Me for a people, etc."(Exodus 6:6-7). "And I will bring you out, and I will rescue you, and I will save you, And I will take you."'

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, 'Corresponding to the four cups of Pharaoh: "And the cup of Pharaoh was in my hand and I squeezed them into the cup of Pharaoh and I placed the cup onto the palm of Pharaoh... and you will place the cup of Pharaoh, etc." (Genesis 40:11-13).'

Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am the LORD. I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements. And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God. And you shall know that I, the LORD, am your God who freed you from the labors of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession, I the LORD.”

Rabbi Levi said, 'Corresponding to the four kingdoms' and the rabbis said, 'Corresponding to the four punishments that the Holy One, blessed be He, will pour upon the nations of the world in the future: "For so said the Lord, the God of Israel to me, 'Take the cup of wine of anger, etc.'" (Jeremiah 25:15); "A golden cup is Babylonia in the hand of the Lord" (Jeremiah 51:7); "As it is a cup in the hand of the Lord" (Psalms 75:9); "Upon the wicked He will cause to rain coals; fire and brimstone and burning wind shall be the portion of their cup" (Psalms 11:6).'" What is 'the portion of their cup'? Rabi Avin said the vial of Poterion wine that is given after the bath [in the bath house]. And in the future the Holy One of Blessing will give to Israel four cups of consolation to drink: 'God is my portion my cup' (Psalms 16:5); 'You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows' (Psalms 23:5); and also 'I will lift up the cups of salvation' (Psalms 116:13)

In all of the decisors and commentators and books of legends that bring this saying, it is brought using the language, "It corresponds to the four languages of redemption." But if we look in the Palestinian Talmud from which the phrase is quoted, the word "languages" is missing. Rather it says, "four redemptions." In my view, this is a very significant distinction. For if we understand it according to its plain meaning, the notion of four languages of redemption is not a reason to establish four cups of thanksgiving, since there is but one redemption, whether we speak of it using one word or four. But if there are four redemptions, then that explains the matter much better, for when we examine it well we find that there are four different ideas expressed in these four terms, and each one is its own complete idea unto itself and deserving of its own thanksgiving. In the first statement ("I will take you out"), we see that the Holy Blessed One took them out from under the labors of the Egyptians, which is to say that God lightened their labors--but they were not freed completely. Then God added to this, "And I will save you from their servitude," which means that they did not serve them at all. But even after these two promises, they were still servants to Pharaoh and had not achieved full redemption. Thus God added, "And I will redeem you," but even so they were not yet made a special acquisition of the Holy Blessed One, and so God added "And I will take you to me to be a people, and I will be a god to you." We see that within these sayings are included separate notions of redemption. The verses continue in a "not only this, but also this" fashion--that is to say, not only will I do this, but I will also do this, and not only that, but also this, etc. As such, the simple meaning is revealed: We are obligated to give thanks for each individual act that increased the redemption. And that is why [the Sages] established the four cups of thanksgiving.

And why did they not establish a cup for the phrase "and I will bring you to the land?" We cannot say that it is because that language is not related to the redemption, since they established a cup for "and I will take you to me to be a people," which is likewise not specifically an aspect of redemption. Rather, the simple answer is that since we are still in exile, and the land is in the hands of non-Jews, it is impossible to raise a glass of wine for this. And perhaps, in recognition of this, they established a special cup in the name of Elijah, as a remembrance and hint that we hope for his coming and for the resurrection of the nation and the land speedily in our days.