Why do we drink four cups of wine or grape juice at the
Passover Seder? Unlike some of the more
obvious and easy to remember symbols like the bitter herb for the bitterness of
slavery or the charoset for the sweetness of freedom and its resemblance
to mortar, the four cups are not one of the first symbols taught to children in
school. The most common explanation
given is that the four cups represent the four promises that God made to the
people of Israel in the
Torah when foretelling our redemption from Egypt . God says,
I will bring you out from
under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you from their
bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great
judgments, and I will take you to me for a people and I will be to you a
God. (Exodus 6:6-7)
There are, however, many other interpretations of why we
drink four cups. Having so many
interpretations to choose from makes our tradition rich and accessible to all
of us. This year I learned a new
interpretation when preparing grape-juice during a wine making activity for our
Religious School students. The
interpretation is that the four cups refer to the four times the word “cup” is
mentioned in the dream that Joseph interprets for Pharaoh. In the story leading up to the time of our
slavery in Egypt ,
Joseph, the favored son of Jacob, is sold into slavery to Egyptians by his
jealous brothers. Joseph rose to power
in Egypt
for many reasons, but one of those reasons was that he was a gifted dream
interpreter.
While Joseph was in Egypt he was falsely accused of a
crime and put in the dungeon where he met Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker. He interpreted a dream for each of them. Joseph interpreted the cup-bearer’s dream to
mean that he would be let out of the dungeon and restored to his former
post. This is indeed what happened, and
when the cup-bearer later heard that Pharaoh needed a dream interpreted, he
told Pharaoh that Joseph was a gifted dream interpreter and this led to
Joseph’s release from incarceration. Midrash
Rabbah teaches that Joseph really received a second interpretation of the cup bearer’s dream from
God, one that had nothing at all to do with the cup-bearer, but rather had to
do with Israel’s redemption from Egypt:
AND THE CUP-BEARER TOLD HIS
DREAM... BEHOLD, A VINE WAS BEFORE ME (XL, 9): this alludes to Israel , as it says, “You plucked up a vine out
of Egypt .”
(Ps. LXXX, 9). AND IN THE VINE WERE THREE BRANCHES-Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
ITS BLOSSOM SHOT FORTH-the redemption of Israel had blossomed AND ITS
CLUSTERS BROUGHT FORTH RIPE GRAPES: immediately the vine budded, it blossomed,
and immediately the grapes blossomed, its clusters became ripe. AND PHARAOHS CUP WAS IN MY HAND. On what
grounds did the Sages institute the four cups of Passover? . . . R. Samuel b.
Nahman said: In allusion to the four cups mentioned in our text: AND PHARAOH'S CUP
WAS IN MY HAND; AND I TOOK THE GRAPES, AND PRESSED THEM INTO PHARAOH'S CUP,
AND I GAVE THE CUP INTO PHARAOH'S HAND AND JOSEPH SAID TO HIM, THIS IS
THE INTERPRETATION OF IT;THE THREE BRANCHES ARE THREE DAYS;
AND WITHIN THREE DAYS PHARAOH WILL
LIFT UP YOUR HEAD, AND RESTORE YOU TO YOUR PLACE; AND YOU WILL DELIVER
PHARAOH’S CUP INTO HIS HAND AFTER THE FORMER MANNER WHEN YOU WERE HIS BUTLER . (XL, II, 13). . .
. He [Joseph] said to him: “You have given me good tidings, so will I too give
you good tidings”: WITHIN THREE DAYS, etc. (Midrash Rabbah - Genesis
LXXXVIII:5)
In this Midrash we see that the interpretation that Joseph
receives from God really is about the good things that are coming to Bnai
Yisrael, not about the good things that are coming for the cup-bearer. At the end of receiving his prophesy from
God, the midrash seems to suggest that Joseph decides to give a positive
interpretation to the cup-bearer too, in order to thank him for his kindness in
bringing good news to Joseph about the fate of the Israelites.
Does the dream interpreter have power over the meaning the
dream will have? Did Joseph really
“choose” to give a good interpretation to the cup-bearer because of his
gratitude to God for the good portent from the cup-bearer’s dream? Do we sometimes see signs and symbols around
us that can be interpreted as portents for good or for bad? Do we have the power to interpret these as we
wish or is fate fixed? I would suggest
that based on the midrash above that we do have a great deal of power to
influence our futures depending on what
kind of outlook we have. The Midrash
brings us some interesting beliefs about the way dreams work in this
selection. It is based on the concept of
Joseph’s interpretation being accurate.
The cup-bearer told Pharaoh regarding his (the cup-bearer’s dream) that
“as he [Joseph] interpreted to us, so it was.”
Does that mean that the dream has only one proper interpretation and
that Joseph was able to divine it? Or
does it mean that the dream follows the interpretation?
AND WE TOLD HIM... AND IT CAME TO
PASS, AS HE INTERPRETED TO US, SO IT WAS (XLI, 13). A certain woman went to R.
Eliezer and said to him: “I saw in a
dream how that the loft of the upper story of my house was split open.” “You will conceive a son,” he told her. She went
away and it happened just as he said. Again she dreamed the same and came and
told it to R. Eliezer, who gave her the same interpretation, and it happened
just as he said. She dreamed this a third time and returned to him but did not
find him, so she told his disciples, “I saw in a dream that the loft of the upper
storey of my house was split open.” “You
will bury your husband,” they told her, and this did happen. R. Eliezer,
hearing a cry of wailing, asked what was amiss.
They related to him what had occurred. “You have killed the man,” he
upbraided them; is it not written, AND IT CAME TO PASS, AS HE INTERPRETED TO
US, SO IT WAS?
It is a powerful idea to suggest that the signs and portents
we see, whether in real life or in dreams can influence our lives through our
thoughts about them. To a certain
degree, our attitudes and beliefs shape our experiences. The other morning, the first thing I saw on
my way to work was an ambulance rushing to the hospital. “Great,” I thought, this is not a good sign
to start the day with. I tend to see
things in patterns around me. For example I will have two people mention the
same book in a week’s time—a book that I haven’t thought about for years. Or I will have people enter my life around
the same time who are all left handed or all share the same birthday week. These things may be taken to be
coincidences. If you are superstitious
or spiritual, like me, you might think there is no such thing as coincidence.
If we insist on ascribing meaning to signs around us,
whether in our dreams or in our waking lives, we owe it to ourselves to
interpret for the good. Not every sign
or dream is going to be a good one, but there is usually some lesson that can
be learned which will help us on our journey.
Just as the word “cup” is mentioned four times in the Torah story about
the cup-bearer’s dream, we often come across things in our own lives that keep
hitting us in the face metaphorically until we pay attention to them. When we do, it is my hope that like Joseph we
can see the redemption hidden within and use the positive messages to celebrate
not only our own blessings but bring blessing to those around us as well.
Love the blogspot!
ReplyDeleteGiusep