Parshat Va'era

‘…And I will bring you out from the burdens of Egypt, and deliver you from their servitude; I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgements. And I will take you to me as a people, and I will be G-d for you, and you will know that I am the L-rd your G-d who brought you out from the Egyptian oppression.’ (Shemot 6,6-7)

Both Rashi and Rashbam (Talmud Pesachim 99b), both major Talmudic commentators, cite the opinion of the Midrash (Homiletical teachings), that these 4 highlighted verbs, known as the ‘four expressions of redemption’ and familiar from the Seder, are the basis for the four cups at the Seder. Another Talmudic commentary, that of Tosafot, recommends that everybody, even children should drink these cups (grape juice is an appropriate substitute for wine). The cups must be drunk ‘al haseder’- at the designated times during the Seder – and not in one go!

Rabbi Naftali Zvi Berlin, 1817-93, (known by the acronym ‘Netziv’), headed the influential Volozhin Yeshiva in Lithuania, which was one of the ‘Oxbridges’ of the Jewish world. He explains that each expression signifies another stage in the redemption, and in our appreciation of that redemption. He lauds the Jews for being able to acknowledge G-d and His concern for them despite their slavery, as well as their desire to ‘go with G-d’ rather than simply rebel against the Egyptians. In contemporary times, prisoners in the Gulag wrote how this inspired them in their amazing defiance and defeat of the Soviet regime.

At the Seder we retell the story of the Yetziat Mitzrayim (Exodus from Egypt) and aim to feel as if we ourselves had been saved from Egypt, so that we can enjoy Pesach and the freedom not to be a slave. This awareness heightens through the Seder, perhaps parallel to how our ancestors’ awareness in Egypt heightened through the stages of redemption. It is celebrated, amongst other things, with wine.

This also can explain why Tosafot recommends that children too should drink the 4 cups, as the cups represent an experience of the whole of the Jewish people. Since each cup represents another stage of this appreciation, we only drink the cups once we have been through the appropriate parts of the Seder.