One takes the cup with both his hands...
And places the cup in his right hand... What is the law
as to whether the left hand may assist the right hand? Rav Ashi said, since the
earlier ones asked the same question without resolving it, one should act
stringently (and not do so.)
He raises it a tefach above the ground. R. Acha the son
of R. Chanina said, which verse is the scriptural source for this (Psalms
116:13) I will raise up the cup of salvations and call out the name of Hashem.
The Maharsha points out that the two hands represent Din
(justice) and Rachamim (mercy). Since the right hand represents mercy it should
end up holding the cup. The word Cos (cup) has the gematria 81, as does the
word Elokim (the attribute of G-d represented by justice. Thus the Cos shel
Brocha (the cup of blessing drunk at the
end of the meal) is a cup of salvation, achieved by calling on the name of
Hashem (the attribute of mercy) to take precedence over Cos/Elokim, Din/strict
justice.
R. Yochanan said: whoever recites Birchas HaMazon over a
full cup is given an inheritance without boundaries, as it says in the verse
"when filled with Hashem's blessing, West and South you shall inherit
("y'rosha")." R. Yose bar Chanina says, "he merits and
inherits two worlds, this world and the world to come."
Tosfos explain that the word "y'rosha" could
have been written without the initial "yud" and final
"heh". And as the verse in Isaiah (26:4) which we say daily at the
very end of our morning prayers says: "ki b'Ka Hashem tzur olamim,"
"Trust in Hashem forever, for in G-d (Yud Heh) Hashem is the strength of
the worlds," which the gemara (Menachos 29b) explains is this world and
the world to come. See there for
explanations as to why this should be so.
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