לימוד פסח כיתה ט'- שפוך חמתך

We pour the cup of Eliyahu and open the door.

Pour your wrath [in Australia pronounced 'wroth', meaning extreme anger] upon the nations that did not know You and upon the kingdoms that did not call upon Your Name! Since they have consumed Ya'akov [Jacob] and laid waste his habitation [a house or home] (Psalms 79:6-7). Pour out Your fury [wild or violent anger] upon them and the fierceness of Your anger shall reach them (Psalms 69:25)! You shall pursue [follow or chase] them with anger and eradicate [destroy completely] them from under the skies of the Lord (Lamentations 3:66).

(1) Pour out your wrath on the nations (“Asher”) who/because they do not know you: ... Upon leaving Egypt and crossing the Red Sea, Israel was attacked by the members of Amalek in a series of raids aimed at Israel’s weakest members. Moses commanded Joshua to destroy Amalek. ... [But] how could the Torah condemn Amalek for not fearing God?! This would be like condemning someone for not being a saint. Not everyone is expected to be saintly. Yet the Torah assumes that a certain amount of fear of God is expected even of the other nations. While the nations are not expected to follow all of God’s laws they are expected to recognize that the role that they play in the world is a product of God’s will. Even when they persecute the Jews, it is only because God has allowed them to do so. Amalek was guilty therefore, not of oppressing the Jewish People but of arrogantly believing that this was a product of their own strength and self-determination [self-rule] and not God’s will. Similarly when the Haggadah condemns, “ …the nations who do not know You,” it suggests that a nation that believes that their success in persecuting Israel was a product of their own strength is what led to their condemnation. It is the second part of this passage that is the real reason for their punishment, “Because they consumed Jacob and destroyed his dwelling place.” The nations tried to destroy Israel with a vengeance [revenge] rather than simply obeying God’s will ... [In other words, the passage does not condemn all non-Jews; it doesn't even condemn all of Israel's enemies and adversaries [opponents]; rather, it condemns enemies who truly relished [delighted] in their oppression of the Jewish people - IB.]

(1) Pour out Your wrath: We recite this verse because the four cups of wine are an allusion [an indirect or passing reference] to the four cups of retribution that the Holy One will pour out in the future on the nations of the world. We recite this prior to the fourth cup since it is with this cup that we complete the commandment of drinking four cups of wine. We now ask God to do what He promised to do to the gentiles who have oppressed us.

(1) Pour out Your Wrath: ... The verses which begin shefoch chamatcha are meant to ... express the idea that through song, we pray that God will mete out [give or order] justice to the nations who oppress Israel. Since we cannot pursue or kill our enemies, we ask God to “Pour out Your wrath,” and we offer our songs of praise as an offering just as Jehoshaphat did. To the plea that we cannot pursue the enemies of Israel we ask God to: “Pursue them with wrath…” And to the cry that we cannot kill our enemies we say, “Annihilate [destroy utterly] them from beneath the heavens of the Lord.” ...