FOUR CUPS. ANY QUESTION?

Four Cups. Any Questions?

A man once came to the Beis HaLevi to ask a halachic question.  “Is one permitted to use milk for the arba kosos (four cups) on Pesach instead of wine?”

R’ Soloveitchik asked if there was some medical reason the man could not drink wine. As he questioned the man, it came out that he could not afford wine.  The Rav told him, “No, one may not use milk instead of wine,” and gave him a “loan” of twenty rubles for wine.

The Beis HaLevi’s family questioned him after the fellow left.  “Wine doesn’t cost so much money.  Why did you give him twenty rubles?!”

“Didn’t you hear what he said?” asked the Rav.  “He asked if he could use milk.  Since we don’t mix meat and milk, that means he couldn’t afford meat for the Seder either! That is why I gave him so much, so he had enough money for his true needs.”

What the Rav understood was that what people say isn’t necessarily what they mean.  Often there is more beneath the surface.

On Pesach we read about the four sons.  If you compare their questions, it’s hard to see why one is considered a chacham, or wise son, one a rasha, or wicked son, and one simple.  Perhaps the simpleton is truly wise and is using brevity as Chazal suggest.  The wicked son is asking the question exactly like the Torah says he will.  Could it not be that he’s trying to do the right thing?

However, what people say doesn’t tell us the whole story.  We need to take into account body language, prior history, and even life experiences.  By getting to know the person, by thinking about what they say and how they say it, we come to a better understanding of what answers we need to give.

In essence, the lesson of the four sons is that we should not take things at face value.  Eliyahu Hanavi declared to Hashem, “The Jews have abandoned Your service, and only a handful are left.”  Hashem replied, “Perhaps it seems that way to you, but you are wrong.”  He therefore made Eliyahu go to every Seder on Pesach night, and there he sees Jews of all stripes coming together to celebrate the redemption of our nation from Egypt.

People who may not look like they care, show that they do.  People who seem to be distant are suddenly close on Pesach.  We invite anyone who has no place to go to join us at the Seder.  Why?  To remind ourselves that everyone should have a seat at the table.

The redemption of Pesach came when the Jewish People were at the 49th level of impurity, almost the point of no return.  However, Hashem stepped in and saved us all.  It wasn’t just the “tzaddikim” who were saved, because there were no tzaddikim.  Rather, it was all the Jews because Hashem saw the future that lay buried deep inside of us.

Hashem had made a promise to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov that He would give Eretz Yisrael to their descendants.  But how could He do that if we were destined to sink so low that we would not be able to become purified?

It’s because Hashem knew that He would never give up on us.  He would not let us get to that point where we were too far gone and would find the good in us so we could merit the redemption.

We drink wine as a sign of freedom.  Wine has the power to change us.  It emboldens us, mellows us, gladdens us, and makes us see possibilities we didn’t know existed.  With each cup we raise, we find new aspects to the redemption, and new aspects of ourselves and others.

On Pesach we celebrate our freedom; freedom from physical slavery as well as freedom from emotional slavery.  We are not tied to our previous perceptions and in an instant we can see things go from the lowest depths to the greatest heights.

That potential exists not only within our people as a nation, but within each and every one of us.  We can turn the rasha within us into the wise chacham who recognizes the blessing of Torah and serving Hashem.  In fact, during the special time of the Pesach Seder we can witness the miraculous transformation of people we never imagined could change.  We start to see the potential in every Jew, and view them in a different light.  You see, it just might be that the fellow we thought “had all the answers,” was just looking for the right questions to ask.