In addition to the four cups of wine that each participant drinks during the Pesach Seder, a fifth cup is placed on the Seder table. This cup, which is not drunk, is known as kos shel Eliyahu, Eliyahu's Cup.
Regarding this cup, the Alter Rebbe states in his Shulchan Aruch:[1] "It is customary in these countries to pour an additional cup - one more than for those seated. This cup is called kos shel Eliyahu."
What is the reason for this additional cup, and why is it so named?
There is a difference of opinion in the Gemara[2] regarding the necessity of pouring a fifth cup of wine. Since this matter was not clearly adjudicated, there are those who say[3] that a fifth cup is placed on the table. This cup, they say, is called kos shel Eliyahu, because, just as Eliyahu will clarify all doubtful Halachic matters, he will clarify the ruling about this cup as well.
However, from Chok Ya'akov[4] and the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch,[5] it is clear that the fifth cup and kos shel Eliyahu are two distinct entities, each involving different rulings as to whether it need be poured at all, whether the wine may be drunk, and whether it is poured for each individual in attendance, or only once for all those assembled.
The question thus remains: What is the reason for the custom - not mentioned at all in Gemara or the Rishonim - of placing an extra cup of wine on the table, a cup which is not drunk, and calling it kos shel Eliyahu?
The very fact that kos shel Eliyahu is merely placed on the table and not consumed indicates that it is bound up with a level of Divine service loftier than man's drinking of wine. This is so, for kos shel Eliyahu is bound up with the final Redemption, something that transcends man's service.
The fact that kos shel Eliyahu and the ultimate Redemption are intimately linked is to be deduced from the fact that the Alter Rebbe relates the custom of kos shel Eliyahu after first stating:
"In some places, it is the custom on the [first] night of Pesach to leave the bedroom doors unlocked, for it is a propitious night for the Jewish people unto all generations that they then be redeemed from this exile.
"For if Eliyahu (the individual who brings the tidings of Redemption) comes, he will find an open door, and we will go out and greet him speedily. We firmly believe this, and in believing so, there is great reward."
The Alter Rebbe then goes on to state: "And it is customary in these countries to pour... kos shel Eliyahu." Clearly then, the kos shel Eliyahu is bound up to the Jews' faith in the coming Redemption.
This belief is to be found within all Jews, for all are "believers and children of believers." And this is so, notwithstanding the individual's revealed level of service. For every Jew intrinsically believes in and awaits the coming of Moshiach - this belief and anticipation being a Divine command both in the written and oral Torah.[6] Moreover, these feelings grow ever stronger as we move closer to the Redemption.
This is why it is specifically in these later generations, when the time for the final Redemption draws closer and the passionate longing for its coming grows stronger, that the custom of pouring a kos shel Eliyahu has become widespread.
Also, the expression "to pour an additional cup - one more than for those seated," alludes to the fact that Eliyahu HaNavi becomes one of those who are seated at the Seder table.
For the belief of the Jewish people on this night - the night when G-d revealed Himself in His full glory, and which finds physical expression in the cup and the wine - is in itself sufficient to unite Eliyahu with the partakers of the Seder, to the degree that the prophet himself becomes a participant.
Based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXVII, pp. 52-55
Notes:
- (Back to text) Orach Chayim, 481:1.
- (Back to text) Pesachim 118a, according to the text of the Gaonim, Rif and Rambam. See Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXVII, p. 48 and footnotes and places cited there.
- (Back to text) Quoted in Taamei HaMinhagim I, Section 551.
- (Back to text) 480:5.
- (Back to text) Cited above.
- (Back to text) See Rambam, Hilchos Melachim, beginning of ch. 11, and ch. 12:2.
Every festival has its own unique aspects and Pesach is no exception. This is particularly so in a year such as this when the first day of Pesach falls on Shabbos, as shall be explained.
The Gemara teaches[1] that the reason we do not blow the shofar on Rosh HaShanah if it falls on Shabbos is because "All are obligated to blow the shofar, but not all know how.... It has [therefore] been prohibited, for he may take it [a shofar] in hand, bringing it to an expert in order to learn, and in doing so, will carry it four cubits within the public domain," thereby committing a Torah transgression.
The Rabbis ask:[2] According to the above reasoning, there should also be a decree prohibiting the eating of matzah and maror, drinking the four cups of wine, and reciting the Haggadah when the first day of Pesach falls on Shabbos! For, inasmuch as there are far more detailed laws regarding these mitzvos than apply to the mitzvah of shofar, we should surely worry that some ignorant person might carry these Pesach items to an expert through a public domain.
There are those[3] who answer that people who are well versed in the laws would go around on Pesach even to the houses of those unfamiliar with the laws, in order to conduct the Seder and recite the Haggadah for them. Accordingly, there is no need to worry about an unlettered person going to the house of an expert and inadvertently carrying in the public domain on Shabbos, for the expert would come to him.
This answer leaves much to be desired. Surely, there were people who were ashamed to admit they were not conversant with the laws - an expert would therefore not visit their homes. So, there is still a risk that these people would surreptitiously go to the houses of experts and "possibly carry."
In many chassidic discourses,[4] we find the following question: Why did our Sages set aside the positive Torah commandment of blowing the shofar merely because of a possibility that some individual might unwittingly transgress?
Chassidus concludes that when Rosh HaShanah falls on a Shabbos, it is not necessary for the shofar to be blown, for all those things that are accomplished by sounding the shofar (after the destruction of the first Beis HaMikdash) are accomplished on Shabbos as a result of the day itself.
But this must be understood: There is an established principle in Jewish law[5] that, in certain situations, our Sages may indeed set aside something from the Torah. Why then is the question asked: "Why did our Sages set aside...."?
The explanation is as follows: G-d constantly renews creation,[6] whose purpose is fulfilled by the Jewish people and Torah.[7] It is thus inconceivable for something to exist within creation that would make it impossible for a Jew to perform the Torah and mitzvos he desires to perform.
If, as originally thought, there is indeed an obligation to sound the shofar on Shabbos, then there can be no justification in nullifying the command because "possibly he will carry it." For that would be like saying that G-d created the world in a manner such that it is impossible to perform the mitzvah of shofar when Rosh HaShanah falls on Shabbos!
Since our Sages did, however, accept the possibility that "he will carry it" as justification for ruling that, when Rosh HaShanah falls on Shabbos, the shofar should not be blown, we must conclude, says chassidus, that when Rosh HaShanah falls on Shabbos, we do not need to sound the shofar, for whatever is accomplished by the sounding is accomplished by the Shabbos day itself.
We thus understand that the reason this type of decree does not apply to Pesach when it falls on Shabbos is because those things that are accomplished through eating matzah, etc., are unique, and thus cannot be accomplished through the day of Shabbos itself; they must be done even when Pesach falls on Shabbos.
This also points to yet another unique aspect of Pesach: Its sanctity is such that, during this holiday, we need not worry that a person will sin inadvertently and "carry"; the sanctity of the festival assures Shabbos observance.
Based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. VII, pp. 48-53
Notes:
- (Back to text) Rosh HaShanah 29b.
- (Back to text) Shoel U'Meishiv, MeHadurah 4, 1:5; HaEimek Shalah on She'iltos, She'ilta 67, sec. 21.
- (Back to text) HaEimek Shalah, ibid.
- (Back to text) See Likkutei Torah, Rosh HaShanah, p. 56a; Siddur Im Dach 240c; discourses titled Yom Tov Shel Rosh HaShanah of the years 5659, 5665, 5666, 5703, et al.
- (Back to text) Tosafos titled VeChosem, Berachos 16a, et al.
- (Back to text) Beginning of Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah.
- (Back to text) See places cited in Likkutei Sichos, Vol. V, p. 159, fn. 62.
Purim