Question: I’ve noticed that some people fill their kiddush and havdallah cups to the point that they overflow. Is there a halachic source for this practice? Doesn’t it amount to bal tashchit?
Bernard Gold
Answer: Last week, we noted that the Rema cites an ancient custom to fill the havdallah cup until it overflows as a special sign of blessing, even to the extent of pouring some wine onto the ground. The Magen Avraham takes issue with this practice and suggests pouring until the cup overflows but not spilling on the ground, which is wasteful.
The Aruch HaShulchan (Orach Chayim 296:11) cites the Rema and asks why a cup would be rendered “unfit” (pagum) if no wine is spilled from it onto the ground – which is what he seems to suggest. The Levush writes that it would be unfit if one spilled after saying the beracha, but Aruch Hashulchan asks why. Spilling does not cause a cup to be pagum; only drinking from it does.
The Levush is hard to understand even on his own terms. He writes that one should begin spilling as one begins the beracha. But then the cup would be unfit by the end of the beracha!
The Aruch Hashulchan notes that the commentaries to the Shulchan Aruch (Magen Avraham and Taz) write that we shouldn’t follow the Rema and Levush. They suggest filling the cup to such an extent that inevitably some wine spills onto the ground. Doing so, they write, is the widespread practice.
Some criticize this practice, arguing for its abolition; they deem the whole idea of spilling as disgraceful to the mitzvah. The Aruch Hashulchan writes that perhaps the Rema agrees with this opinion, which is why he issued stipulations to only pour in a manner that will not disgrace the drink.
The Aruch Hashulchan argues that when the Rema writes that a person should spill, he doesn’t mean to intentionally spill. Rather, he means to fill up the cup so much that when the person holding the cup moves his hand ever so slightly (which is natural), some wine will spill. This small amount of spilled wine will not cause the cup to be unfit since the cup remains full.
From the above, it is obvious that halachic authorities looked with disfavor upon those who waste good wine by overflowing their cup to a great extent, which serves absolutely no purpose (Magen Avraham and Mishneh Berurah).
The Rema writes of spilling wine for havdallah as a good sign for the coming week, but many also spill before kiddush on Friday night and Shabbos day.
Matteh Moshe (504), a compilation of customs by a disciple of the Maharshal, states that the custom to spill is limited to Motza’ei Shabbat. He explains: “From Esau and Ishmael emanate 70 powers that are dormant on Shabbat but are revived on Motza’ei Shabbat and seek to castigate Israel. The Hebrew word for wine is ‘yayin,’ which has a numerical value of 70. The wine is allowed to spill to the ground right after Shabbat to weaken their powers.”
This sefer also states that we must formally separate ourselves from the children of Korach (who did not repent) at havdallah. Neither of these mystical reasons are relevant on Shabbat or Yom Tov.