Passover is a popular Jewish festival, which has many significant customs and traditional symbols associated with it. One of the main traditions of the festival is the Seder meal, which is organized at every Jewish household and follows a customary pattern. It begins with 'Haggadah' (which means 'telling', 'portraying'), a religious textbook, to guide the proceedings, based on four 'Cups'. Passover cup is one of the essential symbols of Seder, also known as the Feast of Redemption. However, in the original Passover story, there is no mention of the whatsoever of a cup. In fact, the only biblical mention of a cup in connection with Passover is found in the New Testament.
New Testament has mentioned the 'Pesach Cup' at the time when Jesus celebrated feast with his disciples. He raised a cup at least twice during the meal, to make important statements about Himself. Jewish tradition has a very little story to tell about these cups. They believe that, during Seder, it should be filled with red wine to remind us of the blood of the Passover lamb. Every year, during the Pesach, it is necessary to consume four "cups" of wine during the Seder meal. There is difference of opinion as to what these cups actually symbolize.
People hold different beliefs in relation to the 'Passover cups', but the most prevalent one is that the first cup, which the Passover Seder is started, is the "Kiddush", which means sanctification. The second cup is called the "Cup of Plagues". The third cup is referred to as either the "Cup of Redemption" or the "Cup of Blessing". The fourth cup is often called "Hallel", which means praise. Some people call it the "Cup of Acceptance", while others have named it "Cup of Elijah". The "Cup of Elijah" combines the second cup (plagues) with Hallel -because Jews praise God for the plagues, He used to bring them out of Egypt.
