With today's daf TB Pesakhim 99 we finished the ninth chapter of our massekhet and begin the 10th and final chapter. The 10th chapter discusses the actual Seder which you and I enjoy to this very day! You should know that the Seder is modeled with at least one important difference after a Greek symposium. If you're interested in understanding the origins of our Seder I highly recommend that you turn to these two books. The first book is The Origins of the Seder by Baruch M. Bokser and the second book is Aphrodite and the Rabbis by Burton L Visotzky.
The Mishna begins setting the stage by discussing the prerequisites of the Seder. " 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 he reclines on his 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.." (Sefaria.org translation)
The rabbis wanted us to have a hearty appetite to eat the matza with gusto; consequently, they ordained that we should stop eating before minkha ketana, or 2 1/2 hours after midday.Tosefot (ד"ה לא יכאל אדם) explains what is forbidden since we already know that we should not eat matza until the Seder and by that time we are forbidden to eat hametz. What is forbidden is matza ashira or what we call egg matza. This was the custom of Rebbeinu Tam to refrain from eating matza ashira. Perhaps the situation under discussion is one we are facing this year when the Seder night begins at the conclusion of Shabbat. How do we squeeze in a third meal on Shabbat, when both matza and hametz are forbidden? The answer is one eats matza ashira as part of your third meal befor minkha ketanah.
Nowhere in the Babylonian Talmud a reason is given why we drink 4 cups of wine. It just states that even the poorest of the poor must be given enough money to cover the 4 cups of wine. Tosefot ultimately comes to the conclusion that everybody around the Seder table needs 4 cups of wine and not just the master of the house.
The Jerusalem Talmud (Chapter 10, Halakha 1); however, provides many different explanations why we have 4 cups of wine. They are:
1. Each cup wine symbolizes one of the four languages of redemption, "I will free youוְהוֹצֵאתִ֣י-" "I will deliver you-וְהִצַּלְתִּ֥י" "I will redeem you -וְגָאַלְתִּ֤י" and "I will take you-וְלָקַחְתִּ֨י"
2. Each cup represents the four times the Butler says the word "pharaoh’s cup" while describing his dream to Joseph in prison.
3. Each cup represents one of the four evil kingdoms (Babylonian, Medea, Greece, and Rome) that have or will rule over Israel knowing that they will be defeated in the end and Israel will be redeemed.
4. Each cup represents the cup of the punishment that God is going to force the wicked nations to drink.
Each cup represents a cup of deliverance for Israel as described in the book of the prophets.
Midrash Shemot Rabbah 6:4 teaches that Pharaoh decreed four harsh decrees against Israel and we drink 4 cups of wine declaring "I will lift up the cup of deliverance and call upon the name of the Lord" because the decrees were nullified.
The Meiri (TB Pesakhim 89b ד"ה ולא ) teaches that each one of the four languages of redemption describes a different aspect of freedom. "I will free you" is the promise that God will free us from harsh labor. "I will deliver you" is the promise that God will free us from slavery. "I will redeem you" is the promise that God will redeem the Israelites with an outstretched arm removing their low self-image. "I will take you" is God's promise that he will take us as His holy nation and give us the Torah.
Because of the effects of the pandemic we haven't seen so much food insecurity in our midst since the Great Depression. No matter what the reason is, the 4 cups of wine calls us to action. We, who have been blessed by God with all the necessaries, need to help all the different Jewish soup kitchens like Masbiah in Brooklyn and Queens who provide on a daily basis and for holidays food for those who are in need without regard to race, religion, or creed. Only then can we truly enjoy our Seder!
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