Community Magazine April 2019

M any commentators – most notably, the Vilna Gaon – have drawn attention to the significance of the number four in the Haggadah. There are four well-known sets of four associated with the seder: · The four questions · The four sons · The four cups of wine · The four expressions of redemption (Shemot 6:6-7): 1) I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians 2) and free you from their slavery. 3) I will deliver you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 4) I will take you for Me as a nation. In truth, however, the Haggadah features also a fifth set of four – the four verses from Parashat Ki Tavo (Devarim 26:5-8) which we read and explain as part of the maggid section of the seder: · An Aramean tried to destroy my father . . . · And the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us . . . · And we cried to the Hashem, the Gd of our fathers . . . · And Hashem brought us out of Egypt . . . Seemingly, then, there are five sets of four, and not just four. Additionally, the Gemara in one context (Pesahim 118a) makes mention of a fifth cup of wine at the seder: “Rabbi Tarfon says, over the fifth cup of wine one should recite Hallel Hagadol .” Many commentators wondered why Rabbi Tarfon is speaking of a fifth cup of wine, when, as we know, the requirement is to drink just four. Rashi and the Rashbam answer, simply, that the word “five” in Rabbi Tarfon’s remark is the result of a printer’s error, and should be amended accordingly. The Rambam ( Hilchot Hametz Umatzah 8:10), by contrast, writes that, indeed, there should be a fifth cup of wine at the seder , but, unlike the first four, this fifth cup is voluntary, and not mandatory. Several other commentators understood that there is a mitzvah to drink five cups. Often, when the Gemara leaves a halachic question unresolved, it states, “ Teyku ” – which literally means, “Let it stand,” but is also an acrostic for the words, “ Tishbi yetaretz kushyot ve’ibbayot” – “The Tishbi (Eliyahu Hanavi) will resolve difficulties and questions.” Therefore,giventheuncertaintysurroundingthepossiblerequirement of a fifth cup, it is customary to pour a fifth cup at the seder but not to drink it, and to refer to this cup as kos shel Eliyahu – “Eliyahu’s cup,” as we are waiting for Eliyahu to teach us whether this cup is required. However, there might be deeper significance to this custom – one which touches upon a mysterious pattern of five sets of five that lies beneath the surface of the Haggadah. The Missing Fifths Aside from the fifth cup, there are also a number of other “missing fifths.” The Fifth Expression of Redemption According to the Talmud Yerushalmi, the four cups of wine correspond to the four expressions of redemption which we cited above. Rabbi Tarfon, however, indicates that we drink five cups of wine – because, in truth, there is also a fifth expression: “ And I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov… ” The Fifth Son The opposite of the rasha – the wicked son – is the tzadik – the righteous son. However, this son is not mentioned in the Haggadah – because there is no child born a complete tzadik . One needs to spend years yearning and working to reach the stature of a tzadik . The Fifth Question Besides the questions in the Haggadah, the Mishnah states that a child should ask, “On all other nights, we eat meat that is cooked, boiled or roasted; but on this night, only roasted meat.” Yissachar Dror The Fours and the Fives of the Pesach Seder 60 Community Magazine