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The Cup of Hope

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks ל״צז

s a child, I used to be fascinated Hallel HaGadol (Tehillim 136, ‘Give thanks question, however, takes us back to
by the cup of Eliyahu at the to Hashem, His love endures forever’). the text at the beginning of Va’era. It is
Seder table. Would the prophet These are the words of Rabbi Tarfon.” then that we discover, to our surprise,
Acome when we opened the door Rashi is puzzled by these words. Thus far, that there is in fact a fifth expression of
after the meal? Would he be visible or deliverance:
invisible? Did the level of the wine go the discussion has been about four cups, “And I will bring you to the Land I swore
not five. He is therefore driven to the con-
down, however imperceptibly? The idea clusion that the text is a scribal error. It with an uplifted hand to give to Avraham,
of the prophet who did not die, but went should say, ‘the fourth cup.’ to Yitzchak and to Ya’akov. I will give it
to heaven in a chariot of fire (Melachim to you as a possession. I am Hashem”
II 2:11), and who would one day return Rambam, however, accepts the text as it
to bring the good news of redemption stands. After drinking the four cups and (Shemot 6:8)
was intensely dramatic. Only later did completing Hallel, he writes: “One may The drama of the fifth cup now becomes
I discover the real significance of Eliya- pour a fifth cup and say over it Hallel apparent. Pesach represents the start
hu’s cup, and found, as so often, that the HaGadol… This cup is not obligatory, of the great journey of Jewish history,
truth is no less moving than the stories unlike the four cups.” from slavery to freedom, Egypt to the
we learned as children. promised land. What then became of
Ra’avad (R. Avraham ibn Daud), con-
The Mishnah in Pesachim speaks of four temporary of Rambam, takes a slightly it after the destruction of the Second
Temple, the failure of the Bar Kochba
cups of wine. These are the basic require- different view. For him it is a mitzvah to rebellion, the Hadrianic persecutions and
ments of the Seder, and the community drink a fifth cup. There is a difference the long, tragic series of events that led
must ensure that even the poorest person between mitzvah and chovah. The latter to the greatest exile of Jewish history?
has sufficient wine to drink these cups. is an obligation, the former an act which,
According to the Talmud Yerushalmi, they though not obligatory, constitutes a posi- Could Jews celebrate freedom under such
circumstances?
represent the four stages of redemption tive religious deed.
listed at the beginning of Parashat Va’era. Two questions arise on the views of The pathos of this question is evident in
God assures Moshe that despite the fact Rambam and Ra’avad. The first is: why the opening words of the Seder: ‘This is
that his intervention with Pharaoh has the bread of affliction our ancestors ate
initially made things worse, liberation does the Mishnah speak about four cups if in the land of Egypt.’ The very festival
there are in fact five? To this the answer is
will indeed come: that spoke of liberty gained became – for
straightforward: The four cups are obliga-
“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am tory, unlike the fifth. That is why the com- almost 2,000 years – a poignant reminder
Hashem, and I will bring you out from munity must provide the poor with the of what the Jewish people had lost: free-
dom, a land, a home. A new phrase was
under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will means of fulfilling their obligation, but born: next year. ‘This year we are slaves;
free you from being slaves to them, and they do not have to make provision for
I will redeem you with an outstretched the fifth cup, which according to Rambam next year we will be free. This year we are
here; next year in Israel.’ The past became
arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I is optional, and according to Ra’avad is
will take you as My own people, and I will desirable but not absolutely necessary. the future. Memory was transfigured
into hope. It is not too much to call the
be your G-d’” (Shemot 6:6–7).
The second question seems stronger. Jewish people ‘the people of hope’. What
In the Babylonian Talmud, however, there When G-d speaks to Moshe, He uses had happened once would happen again.
is a strange statement: “The fifth cup: four expressions of deliverance, not As the prophets of exile – Yirmiyahu and
over this one completes Hallel and says five. Hence, the four cups. Asking this Yechezkel – said: there would be a second

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