Four Cups Plus One
Why not a Fifth cup of Wine?
This week’s Torah portion features the four expressions of Redemption: “I will take you out…rescue you…redeem you…take you… bring you to the land, and give it to you as a heritage.” The four cups we drink Passover night at the Seder were instituted by our sages as a means to express these four expressions/dimensions of liberation.
The question has been raised. Closer scrutiny of the text will show that there are actually five expressions of Redemption. The fifth expression might even be regarded as the most important stage because it represents the climax of all the others. “Ve’heiveiti, And I shall bring you to the land,” is G-d’s promise to the Jewish people that their freedom will ultimately take root in their own land.
Why then don’t we drink a fifth cup for the fifth expression, “Ve’heiveiti—“will bring you”?
Non-inclusive is Incomplete Freedom
One answer given is that the first four expressions of redemption are addressed to the entire Jewish community. However, the fifth expression, “I will bring you,” refers to the giving of the Land of Israel to the Jewish people and does not apply to the tribe of Levi, because they did not have their own portion of the Land of Israel. They only had forty two cities plus the six cities of refuge, which were given to them by the other tribes (Numbers 35).
Since “I will bring you” does not apply to everyone equally, we do not drink a fifth cup. The idea of drinking a cup of wine is an expression of joy. And while we can rejoice somewhat for the good that we experience ourselves—thus we have the fifth cup on the seder table—nevertheless we cannot fully enjoy our blessing since it is not shared by all. Thus we do not drink the fifth cup.
Yet a fifth cup is placed on the table and called “Elijah’s cup” because he is the prophet who will announce the coming of Moshiach and that will remedy the exclusion of the Tribe of Levi from an inheritance in the Land.
When Moshiach comes, the Talmud tells us, Eretz Yisrael will be divided into 13 portions (Bava Batra 122a), and also the tribe of Levi will receive its own portion. The tribes of Ephraim and Menasheh, who previously were given two sections of the land, will share the one portion allotted to the tribe of Joseph, and the 13th portion will be for Moshiach. Hence, it is most appropriate to associate Elijah with the fifth cup, for through him all the Jews will be given a heritage in the land. And then our joy will be complete.
Liberating the Four Levels of the Soul
On a deeper level, one can answer the question as to why we don’t drink a fifth cup that corresponds to the fifth expression, Ve’heiveiti, based on the assertion that the four expressions of Redemption represent the four names/levels of the soul—enumerated in the Midrash and discussed at length in Jewish Mysticism—which are liberated on Passover night.
Passover, as we discussed in the preceding essays is more than just a physical liberation. The four expressions of redemption are expressions of liberation for all of the four levels of the soul, referred to in the Midrash and Kabbalah as nefesh, ruach, neshama, and chaya. They correspond to the faculties of the soul that generate our power of action, emotion, intellect and will, respectively.
The fifth expression, which corresponds to the fifth level, the very essence of the soul, known as Yechidah (unique), will only be fully expressed in the Messianic age.
Only on Yom Kippur
Presently, we can only hope to experience our soul’s essence at appointed intervals, such as Yom Kippur at the concluding Ne’ilah service. There are references in Chassidic literature to the Yechidah being revealed at times of spiritual crises, such as when Jews are forcibly given a choice to embrace another religion or die. At that point the Jew’s essence explodes and energizes the Jew to sustain even the most cruel torture.
These incidents are rare and certainly not something that we look for. Most of the time, most of the people, will experience the opening up of the four more conventional levels of the soul.
Yom Kippur All-Year Round
When Moshiach comes, however, we will all discover that our Yechidah is a part of our soul’s consciousness. One will not have to wait for Yom Kippur or a threat to one’s life, to be jolted into realizing one’s Yechidah. Indeed, we won’t have to be jolted into the realization of our soul’s essence. Rather, we will all be “in-touch” with the entire spectrum of our soul’s faculties, from Nefesh through Yechidah.
Hence the fifth cup is the one that corresponds to the future. As long as we are in exile we can just gaze upon the fifth cup as a way of whetting our appetite for that time when even the essence of our souls will be fully manifested.
From the book Light from the Future: Haggadah Shel Pesach by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
