Introduction
Having previously explored the four cups of wine minimum at the Passover Seder in Rabbinic literature on episode #62 of The Jewish Drinking Show, there also exists in the Babylonian Talmud a text relating to the fifth cup of wine at the Passover Seder. This 190th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show explores this text with first-time guest, Dr. Leor Jacobi. A couple of further episodes that we reference within this episode are episode #25 (Demons and the Four Cups of Wine at the Passover Seder with Rabbi Alana Suskin) & episode #99 (Demons and the Four Cups of Wine at the Passover Seder [Redux] with Prof. Sara Ronis).
Brief Biography of the Guest
Dr. Leor Jacobi is a scholar of medieval Jewish art and visual culture affiliated with the Department of Jewish Art in the Faculty of Jewish Studies at Bar-Ilan University. He pursued early studies in cognitive science at the University of California, Berkeley before dedicating years to advanced Talmudic learning in Jerusalem and later returning to academia. He completed his MA and PhD at Bar-Ilan University, where his doctoral research explored the intersection of art and rabbinic literature in medieval culture. Jacobi has held prestigious fellowships, including a Humboldt Foundation postdoctoral fellowship at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, and has served in various academic roles, including lecturer and research fellow, while contributing to major scholarly projects and journals in Jewish studies and art history, one of which is his “The Fifth Passover Cup and Magical Pairs: Isaac Baer Levinsohn and the Babylonian Talmud”, European Journal of Jewish Studies, vol. 15 (2021): 84-103.
Episode
In addition to being available below in video format, the episode is also available in podcast format on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you prefer listening to podcasts:
