Note 72 — II. OUR DUTIES. (continued 4)

The four cups of wine are not taken at once; but one serves for Kiddush, as on Sabbath and Holy-days; the second is taken at the conclusion of the first part of the Seder; the third after Grace, it being customary also on ordinary days to take a cup of wine after Grace; the fourth at the conclusion of the second part of the Seder. The four cups are also said to indicate our joy in reference to four elements constituting the redemption, and implied in the four terms: ‏והוצאתי‎, ‏וגאלתי‎, ‏והצלתי‎, and ‏ולקחתי‎, (Exod. vi. 6, 7), liberation from bondage, deliverance from service, redemption from all dependence on Egypt, and appointment as “the people of the Lord.”—These four cups were considered of such importance for the Seder-evening that the poor were provided as of right with wine for the arba kosoth (Mishnah, Pesachim x. 1).—Although the number of the four cups of wine is sanctioned by the reference to the above four expressions of redemption, a fifth cup may, if needed, be interpolated before singing Ps. cxxxvi. (Tosaphoth, Pesachim 117b).

It is customary to pour in an extra cup and keep it ready for any new-comer that might join the company. The cup is called ‏כוס של אליהו‎ “the cup of Elijah,” because his advent may be looked for at any time. Comp. Mal. iii. 23. ↑