Some drank it on behalf of Soviet Jewry, others imbibe it in memory of the six million Jews eradicated in the Holocaust, still others drink it in thankfulness for the State of Israel - and this year some will consume it as a form of prayerful protest against a withdrawal from Jewish Gaza. The reference is to the Fifth Cup at the Passover Seder meal this coming Monday night, in accordance with a recommendation by Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, the dean of Yeshivat Ateret Cohanim in Jerusalem.
The Passover holiday is marked by a festive and liturgical Seder meal, a self-contained educational lesson in Jewish faith and history. Among the elements of the symbolic meal - which remembers specifically our Exodus from Egypt 3,316 years ago - is the drinking of four cups of wine. These correspond to the Four Biblical Promises of Redemption, as written in Exodus 6,6-7. We also place a Cup of Elijah on the table, though it is not drunk, as it corresponds to a promise in the next verse that is not yet fully realized: "I will bring you into the Land... and I will give it to you for a heritage."
Throughout the years, a custom arose of drinking a fifth cup (immediately after the fourth one, in keeping with a ruling by the saintly Maharal of Prague) on behalf of a noble cause, such as those mentioned above. In a lecture in his Jerusalem yeshiva this week, Rabbi Aviner stated that a prayer that "not one Jewish community be uprooted, and not one Jew be expelled from his home" should be added. He explained that the promise to "bring [Jews] to the Land" can be interpreted on this night - when we discuss at length on matters of Redemption - to refer to "the Land, and not to desolation: to build communities and cities and settlements." The rabbi further said that G-d's "giving" it means that we should preserve and maintain it, and certainly not to give it to foreigners. The closing words of the verse, "I am G-d," can be explained, "I am He Who conquered this Land for you and fought your wars, and I will stand before you and preserve Gush Katif, Judea, Samaria, and the Golan."
The Passover holiday is marked by a festive and liturgical Seder meal, a self-contained educational lesson in Jewish faith and history. Among the elements of the symbolic meal - which remembers specifically our Exodus from Egypt 3,316 years ago - is the drinking of four cups of wine. These correspond to the Four Biblical Promises of Redemption, as written in Exodus 6,6-7. We also place a Cup of Elijah on the table, though it is not drunk, as it corresponds to a promise in the next verse that is not yet fully realized: "I will bring you into the Land... and I will give it to you for a heritage."
Throughout the years, a custom arose of drinking a fifth cup (immediately after the fourth one, in keeping with a ruling by the saintly Maharal of Prague) on behalf of a noble cause, such as those mentioned above. In a lecture in his Jerusalem yeshiva this week, Rabbi Aviner stated that a prayer that "not one Jewish community be uprooted, and not one Jew be expelled from his home" should be added. He explained that the promise to "bring [Jews] to the Land" can be interpreted on this night - when we discuss at length on matters of Redemption - to refer to "the Land, and not to desolation: to build communities and cities and settlements." The rabbi further said that G-d's "giving" it means that we should preserve and maintain it, and certainly not to give it to foreigners. The closing words of the verse, "I am G-d," can be explained, "I am He Who conquered this Land for you and fought your wars, and I will stand before you and preserve Gush Katif, Judea, Samaria, and the Golan."