It is embarrassing how recently it is that I actually know where the second cup of wine goes in the seder. Of course when I am reading the haggadah I know where to pick it up and what to say. Until embarrassingly recently, though, I could not have recalled that information any other time. Sigh...
I can now, and that's when the problem started. A friend asked (in all innocence sort of) when I pick up the second cup. "At לפיכך/declaration of saying how much we owe to HaShem on the heels of
telling the story of leaving Egypt." "Do you hold it until גאל ישראל, or do you put it down during הלל?" I can tell where this is going... but I forge ahead. I actually don't remember that detail, so we grab closest haggadah (Maxwell House, of course) and it says to put the cup down before הלל and then pick it up again for the bracha of גאל ישראל. Of course, I know the next question: "Why? The Shulchan Aruch and Mishna Brura both say to pick it up at לפיכך and hold it all the way through to the end of גאל ישראל. Moreover, we both noted when looking again at the haggadah... הלל actually seems out of place; it looks like it should have come before לפיכך.
Now, you may say, "Pfff! Maxwell House against the Shulchan Aruch and Mishna Brura; what is there to talk about?!" I would agree, except that oodles (thousands? surely. millions? likely) have Jews have used that Maxwell House haggadah for generations. It can't be that they did something completely without basis. Not my idea; that concept is endemic in our halachic literature.
So I looked around at a few more haggados; ones with references. Ha! I found it... the Aruch HaShulchan quotes the Shulchan Aruch and Mishna Brura (and others between) who certainly say that one holds the cup the entire time; not like Maxwell House. Then, though, the Aruch HaShulchan says, "but the custom is to put it down before הלל and then pick it up again for the bracha of גאל ישראל! The Aruch HaShulchan then finds a source: the Rambam's text of the haggadah. Cool.
Then he said something magical: The words כוס/cup, הטבע/nature, and אל-קים/G-d all have the same numeric value. A Jew knows that there הטבע/nature is a facade and that really אל-קים/G-d is running the show down to the minutest detail; so we lift our כוס/cup at this point to exclaim that proudly. (My free translation and interpretation.) Let's break this down.
When I was diagnosed with cancer (22 years ago), my doctor told me that I had the best kind of cancer. Meaning that there was a cure. So I took the treatments and got cured. Of course, during the treatments I got very, very sick. I knew that would happen and I had/have a long history with my doctor; I have 100% confidence in his abilities the abilities of the team he chose to cure me. My children were not so confident... they saw me getting sicker and sicker, day after day, week after week. It was awful for them. Then I got better. The next year -- on the anniversary of my finishing treatment -- they gave me an award: Most Not Dead. They had experienced the worst fears and now wanted nothing more than to celebrate that it really was good all along!
We tell the story of Egypt: the horrible slavery and torture, followed by the miracles. We break down the miracles at the sea; 50 -- no 200 -- no 250! We examine the kindness and greatness of each and every step - dayeinu! לפיכך is not a response to singing HaShem's praises; לפיכך is a response to seeing how each and every step was orchestrated and managed by HaShem for our benefit -- down to the tiniest detail. How can we not sing הלל after that! And then we conclude with this renewed and deeper אמונה פשוטה/simple (hah!) faith and clarity in HaShem's השגחה פרטית/detailed management of every event with the bracha of גאל ישראל. We exalt that הטבע/nature in the Hand of אל-קים/G-d is nothing more than this כוס/cup in our own hands.
Praise ye the Lord!
I can now, and that's when the problem started. A friend asked (in all innocence sort of) when I pick up the second cup. "At לפיכך/declaration of saying how much we owe to HaShem on the heels of
telling the story of leaving Egypt." "Do you hold it until גאל ישראל, or do you put it down during הלל?" I can tell where this is going... but I forge ahead. I actually don't remember that detail, so we grab closest haggadah (Maxwell House, of course) and it says to put the cup down before הלל and then pick it up again for the bracha of גאל ישראל. Of course, I know the next question: "Why? The Shulchan Aruch and Mishna Brura both say to pick it up at לפיכך and hold it all the way through to the end of גאל ישראל. Moreover, we both noted when looking again at the haggadah... הלל actually seems out of place; it looks like it should have come before לפיכך.
Now, you may say, "Pfff! Maxwell House against the Shulchan Aruch and Mishna Brura; what is there to talk about?!" I would agree, except that oodles (thousands? surely. millions? likely) have Jews have used that Maxwell House haggadah for generations. It can't be that they did something completely without basis. Not my idea; that concept is endemic in our halachic literature.
So I looked around at a few more haggados; ones with references. Ha! I found it... the Aruch HaShulchan quotes the Shulchan Aruch and Mishna Brura (and others between) who certainly say that one holds the cup the entire time; not like Maxwell House. Then, though, the Aruch HaShulchan says, "but the custom is to put it down before הלל and then pick it up again for the bracha of גאל ישראל! The Aruch HaShulchan then finds a source: the Rambam's text of the haggadah. Cool.
Then he said something magical: The words כוס/cup, הטבע/nature, and אל-קים/G-d all have the same numeric value. A Jew knows that there הטבע/nature is a facade and that really אל-קים/G-d is running the show down to the minutest detail; so we lift our כוס/cup at this point to exclaim that proudly. (My free translation and interpretation.) Let's break this down.
When I was diagnosed with cancer (22 years ago), my doctor told me that I had the best kind of cancer. Meaning that there was a cure. So I took the treatments and got cured. Of course, during the treatments I got very, very sick. I knew that would happen and I had/have a long history with my doctor; I have 100% confidence in his abilities the abilities of the team he chose to cure me. My children were not so confident... they saw me getting sicker and sicker, day after day, week after week. It was awful for them. Then I got better. The next year -- on the anniversary of my finishing treatment -- they gave me an award: Most Not Dead. They had experienced the worst fears and now wanted nothing more than to celebrate that it really was good all along!
We tell the story of Egypt: the horrible slavery and torture, followed by the miracles. We break down the miracles at the sea; 50 -- no 200 -- no 250! We examine the kindness and greatness of each and every step - dayeinu! לפיכך is not a response to singing HaShem's praises; לפיכך is a response to seeing how each and every step was orchestrated and managed by HaShem for our benefit -- down to the tiniest detail. How can we not sing הלל after that! And then we conclude with this renewed and deeper אמונה פשוטה/simple (hah!) faith and clarity in HaShem's השגחה פרטית/detailed management of every event with the bracha of גאל ישראל. We exalt that הטבע/nature in the Hand of אל-קים/G-d is nothing more than this כוס/cup in our own hands.
Praise ye the Lord!
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