What's with all the leaning?

There are two things of which there are a lot of at the Seder Table: Leaning in our chairs, and drinking wine (NOTE - Grape juice works just as well!). Just how much of each?
For wine, it is not enough to drink 1, 2, or even 3 cups - but in fact, we have not really completed the seder until we have had FOUR cups of wine!
And how about leaning?
If you read slowly through your Passover Haggadah and make a list, these are the moments you will come up with that someone has to lean while doing:

Eating the matzah
Eating the Hillel Sandwich
Eating the Afikomen
Drinking ALL of the cups of wine

But why so much???

To start, take a look at the passage of Mishna below. Read through it, and then try to answer the following question:
How, in your own words, does this Mishna emphasize the importance of drinking four cups of wine?
Hint - What's the significance of the soup kitchen?

A cryptic Mishna on both 4-cups and leaning

פסחים צ״ט ב:א׳

מתני׳ ערב פסחים סמוך למנחה לא יאכל אדם עד שתחשך

אפילו עני שבישראל לא יאכל עד שיסב

ולא יפחתו לו מארבע כוסות של יין ואפילו מן התמחוי:

Pesachim 99b:1

The eve of Pesach, close to the time of Mincha, one may not eat until it gets dark.

Even a poor Jew cannot eat until he is leaning at the seder table.

And they should not give him any less than 4 cups of wine, even from the soup kitchen.

This, along with the other four W-questions (who? what? where? when? why?) is one of the very first, and most important questions that is always at the forefront at the mind of an experienced reader of Jewish texts: Wait! But WHY???

Why four cups?
Why all the leaning?
Why "even" a poor Jew?
Who's the "they?"
Why mention the soup-kitchen?
Why is Minha the cut-off time?
What's Minha!
(can you think of any more?)

However, once you read enough Mishna, you start to pick up on the pattern: It is basically a series of laws, one right after the other. And very rarely does the Mishna ever bother to answer, or to even ask, such questions! For that we have to turn to a later, much more analytical work called the Talmud.
[Note that there are not one, but TWO works out there called Talmud: The earlier Jerusalem Talmud, and the later Babylonian Talmud. Whenever someone quotes just the Talmud, it is safe to assume he or she is referring to the Babylonian Talmud. This is the one that went through a much more rigorous editing process, is more expansive and thorough, and wins the day whenever they contradict each other (and this happens often!). Probably a good 99 percent of the time, when a Talmud is being studied or referenced, it is the Babylonian one.
None of this is to say that the Jerusalem Talmud is unimportant, however. In fact, that's the one we will turn to first in order to answer some of our questions above.
So with that, read the two brief sugyas, or passages below, then discuss your reactions to the questions underneath it.]

Leaning in the Jerusalem Talmud

תלמוד ירושלמי פסחים י׳:א׳:ד׳

אמר רב לוי ולפי שדרך עבדים להיות אוכלין מעומד וכאן להיות אוכלין מסובין להודיע שיצאו מעבדות לחירות.

Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim 10:1:4

Rav Levi said, "And because it is the way of slaves to eat standing up and here to eat reclining, [it is] made known that they went from slavery to freedom."

Four Cups in the Jerusalem Talmud

תלמוד ירושלמי פסחים י׳:א׳:ז׳

מניין לארבעה כוסות רבי

יוחנן בשם ר' ר' בנייה כנגד ארבע גאולות (שמות ו)

לכן אמור לבני ישראל

אני יקוק והוצאתי אתכם וגו' ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם וגומר והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי ולקחתי

Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim 10:1:7

Where in the Torah do we get the requirement for four cups of wine?

Rabbi Yochanan [said] in the name of Rav, "Rabbi Banniah said, "It corresponds to the four different expressions of redemption from Exodus 6:

"G-d spoke to Moses and said to him: ...

Say to the people of Israel: “I am G-d! I will remove you, etc. I shall take you for My own to be My people etc.

I shall remove.

I shall save.

I shall redeem.

I shall take.

(Exodus 6: 6-7)

As is indicated in the parentheses above, the verses that the passage quotes - or, its source text - is taken from Exodus 6. To see the full verse and context, just click on that section of the Mishna and you'll see it open up a Resources column on the right. Click on TaNaKh to see the verse quoted in full - and finally, click the verse to open up the very book of Exodus to that exact passage.
Read the verses from the beginning of the chapter, and you'll see that this is a conversation between Hashem and Moses Rabbeinu. Do you recognize the context of this conversation?

Once you've opened up Exodus, use the same clicking technique to take a look at what the Ramban, a brilliant commentator living in Spain during the 13 century, has to say about the same verse that our Mishna above is quoting. What important piece of information is he adding?

Our last source is a sugya from the Babylonian Talmud. For the purposes of "What and why do we actually do at the Seder?", you will find this source to be the most relevant.
But as you read, keep this question in mind: How much of the information we encountered above is likely at play, just beneath the surface, in this sugya? Or put slightly differently, how much is the sugya below relying on, or assuming?

To lean or not to lean? (That's the question!)

פסחים ק״ח א:ו׳-ח׳

יין איתמר משמיה דרב נחמן צריך הסיבה ואיתמר משמיה דרב נחמן אין צריך הסיבה

ולא פליגי הא בתרתי כסי קמאי הא בתרתי כסי בתראי

אמרי לה להאי גיסא ואמרי לה להאי גיסא

אמרי לה להאי גיסא תרי כסי קמאי בעו הסיבה דהשתא הוא דקא מתחלא לה חירות תרי כסי בתראי לא בעו הסיבה מאי דהוה הוה

ואמרי לה להאי גיסא אדרבה תרי כסי בתראי בעו הסיבה ההיא שעתא דקא הויא חירות תרי כסי קמאי לא בעו הסיבה דאכתי עבדים היינו

קאמר השתא דאיתמר הכי ואיתמר הכי אידי ואידי בעו הסיבה

Pesachim 108a:6-8

The Talmud points out the following contradiction:

With regard to wine, it was stated in the name of Rav Naḥman that wine requires reclining.

It was ALSO stated in the name of Rav Nahman that wine does NOT require leaning. How could he have so blatantly contradicted himself???

The Talmud answers - It is not in fact a contradiction. In one statement, he was referring to the first two cups of wine. And in the other statement, he was referring to the second two cups of wine!

Some explained this one way, and some explained this another way.

Some explained it this way: The first two cups of the meal require leaning. For once we begin the seder by celebrating our freedom, you do not have to keep on demonstrating this over and over. You've already done it!

And some explained it another way: The opposite is true! It is the second two cups which require leaning! For that is the moment, at the end of the seder, where we have actually achieved freedom. Whereas for the first two, we are not yet free, but still slaves, so it would not yet make sense to celebrate and demonstrate our freedom by leaning!

And now that one has said it this way and one has said it that way, we now say that both the first AND the second pairs (i.e., all four!) require leaning, in order to satisfy both requirements.

In your own words, what are the two different ways of reasoning which cups of wine we should lean for?
Imagine that you are a judge, and each of these positions are litigants making their case.
- Which of the two arguments would you find the most compelling?
- How would YOU decide?
- Are you satisfied with the Talmud's conclusion?

Throughout this sheet, we have seen a number of different sources, from a wide variety of texts. The list includes:

The Mishna
Two passages from the Jerusalem Talmud
The beginning of chapter six from Exodus
The Ramban's commentary on Exodus
The Babylonian Talmud

Think of each source like a unique puzzle piece. What important contribution does each make, and how can they all be made to fit together in order to shed light on some of our questions posed at the beginning? Which of the questions might we now be able to answer?
Final Reflection

How could your seder experience be enhanced by any of what you encountered above?
Did you find any of the sources or ideas discussed above to be particularly moving or compelling?

Have a wonderful Pesah!!!!

שמות ו׳

(ו) לָכֵ֞ן אֱמֹ֥ר לִבְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֘ל אֲנִ֣י יקוק וְהוֹצֵאתִ֣י אֶתְכֶ֗ם מִתַּ֙חַת֙ סִבְלֹ֣ת מִצְרַ֔יִם וְהִצַּלְתִּ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם מֵעֲבֹדָתָ֑ם וְגָאַלְתִּ֤י אֶתְכֶם֙ בִּזְר֣וֹעַ נְטוּיָ֔ה וּבִשְׁפָטִ֖ים גְּדֹלִֽים׃ (ז) וְלָקַחְתִּ֨י אֶתְכֶ֥ם לִי֙ לְעָ֔ם וְהָיִ֥יתִי לָכֶ֖ם לֵֽאלֹקִ֑ים וִֽידַעְתֶּ֗ם כִּ֣י אֲנִ֤י יקוק אֱלֹ֣קֵיכֶ֔ם הַמּוֹצִ֣יא אֶתְכֶ֔ם מִתַּ֖חַת סִבְל֥וֹת מִצְרָֽיִם׃

Exodus 6

G-d spoke to Moses and said to him: ...

Say to the people of Israel: “I am G-d! I will remove you, etc. I shall take you for My own to be My people etc.

I shall remove.

I shall save.

I shall redeem.

I shall take.