The Strive for Five 

The number four features prominently in the Haggadah: There are four cups of wine, four questions, four sons, and four leshonos of geulah. But curiously, for each of these sets of four, there seems to be a hidden fifth component. In his Haggadah, released in 2023, Rabbi Daniel Glatstein uncovers the mystery of the “missing fifth.”

1

In the early versions of the Gemara (Pesachim 118a), there was a text that read “Rabi Tarfon omer, al hachamishi omer Hallel Hagadol — Rabi Tarfon says, ‘On the fifth [cup of wine] we say Hallel Hagadol.”

The Rishonim are baffled by this line. Fifth cup? There are only four cups! The Rishonim diverge on how to address this problem. Rashi and the Rashbam amend the girsa to read “fourth cup” instead of “fifth cup.” The Rambam and the Raavad, however, maintain the original text. In their view, there is, in fact, a “fifth cup.”

According to the Rambam, this cup is discretionary; according to the Raavad, it is a mitzvah, but not obligatory. In terms of practical halachah, we pour a cup of wine in deference to the Rambam and the Raavad; however, we do not drink it, as per the opinion of Rashi and the Rashbam. We call this cup the “Kos shel Eliyahu.” This is because when Mashiach comes, Eliyahu Hanavi will answer all questions and resolve all difficulties.

2

The idea of a “fifth cup” sparks a question. The Yerushalmi teaches that the four cups of wine correspond with the four leshonos of geulah: v’hotzeisi, v’hitzalti, v’gaalti, v’lakachti. If there is a fifth cup, which lashon would it correspond to? The answer is that there is actually a fifth lashon as well: “v’heiveisi es’chem mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim — and I will bring you from under the burdens of Mitzrayim.” The fifth cup corresponds with the fifth lashon.