The second cup of wine is a mixture of white and red. For the kabbalists, the white represented the spark of Divine holiness; the red, the flame of life which has begun to burn within that spark. The red can also symbolize a tree’s growth as she is nourished in the spring. Beginning as a small sapling, she starts to gain her physical and spiritual strength from the four basic elements: earth, water, air, and fire. Her small trunk reaches toward the sun, her roots soak up water from the ground, her tiny leaves breathe in air, and the fire of life swells within her.

We add half a cup of red wine to the half cup of white wine that is already in our cups.  In doing so, we can ask: 

If white symbolizes the snows of winter and red the heat of summer, what does the merger of the two symbolize?

What are the social mixtures or blends we most need to build the communities we aspire to create?

The Blessing Over the Second Cup

We each fill our cup with a mix of white and red wine and say the blessing together:

Baruch ata Adonai, eloheinu melech ha olam, borei p’ri hagafen. 

Blessed are you Adonai, our God, ruler of the universe,  creator of fruit of the vine.


Service Section: Readings & Activities
Source: Hazon 2021 Tu B'Shvat Haggadah