Jews across the globe celebrate the festival of Passover with immense vigor and gusto. The festival marks the freedom of the Hebrews from the slavery of the Egyptians. The Passover season begins on the 15th of the first Hebrew month of Nisan which corresponds in the month of March or April in the Gregorian calendar. The weeklong Passover holiday includes family gatherings, feasting and merry-making. Wine forms one of the major rituals during the Seder meal. Various new varieties of wine are produced by the Israeli wine manufacturers every year, especially for the occasion of Passover. Read on further to know more about the kosher wine served at Passover supper.
Passover Holiday Wine
Passover, being an occasion of family gatherings, enables family and friends to spend some quality time by sharing a glass of wine. The most popular wine among the locals in Israel is the kosher wine that is prepared under the rules of “halacha”. For a wine to be kosher, the vines on which the grapes grow should be at least four years of age. Furthermore, they should be left un-harvested every seventh year. The process of making wine should match with the kosher rules and regulations. Only the Sabbath-observant Jewish males are allowed to touch the grapes right from crushing them to the ultimate bottling process.
These kosher wines not only allow the Jews to celebrate the festival of Passover in the most traditional way, but also give them a chance to taste some of the most authentic and unique wines found in Israel. Hence, the Israeli wine is the best wine that one can be obtained for commemorating the Passover holiday. Apart from being unique and genuine, these wines are capable of giving tough competition to some of the finest wine brands of the world. While serving wine at the Seder meal, four cups are drunk by both men and women symbolizing the four redemptions promised by God to the Jews.
The four promises as mentioned in the Shemot or the Exodus are
1. “I will take you out of Egypt”,
2. “I will deliver you from Egyptian slavery”,
3. “I will redeem you with a demonstration of my power”, and
4. “I will acquire you as a nation”.
To honor these four promises, four cups of wine are drunk at four different times during the Passover Seder meal. The first cup of wine signifies Kiddush, the second cup symbolizes the recounting of the Exodus, the third cup concludes Birkat Hamazon and the fourth cup associates with Hallel. Furthermore, there is a fifth cup which is reserved for Elijah the Prophet, known as the ‘Cup of Elijah’. The Jews believe that the Prophet visits every house which holds the Passover Seder.
