Four cups of wine, a piece of matzo and thou at Passover

It's often said that alcoholism is rare among Jews because on kosher wine you get sick before you get drunk. But at the seder, the festive and ceremonial meal held on Passover, which begins tonight, each celebrant is required to drink four cups of wine.

For the observant, each cup should contain a minimum of 3.5 ounces. Anyone who has tried to swallow nearly half a litre of Manischewitz sweet concord grape wine at one sitting will confirm that the effect falls well short of a religious epiphany, if you'll pardon the expression.

Fortunately, vintners over the years have improved the quality of kosher wine to satisfy the most discerning palate. There are excellent kosher wines, both sweet and dry, from California, Italy, New Zealand and, of course, Israel. There is no excuse for serving a wine you can stand a spoon up in -- or cut with a knife, as Schapiro's Wines in New York once advertised -- at a seder.

Reinforced with wine that truly deserves the blessings bestowed on it, participants can focus their attention on the story.

Indeed, it may well enhance the retelling of the Passover saga since there will be genuine remorse at the mandatory spilling of wine to acknowledge the 10 plagues that befell Egypt, a gesture that is intended to diminish the joy of the occasion in recognition of the calamities the Egyptians suffered.

Of course, the tale is well-known to those familiar with the Bible or the Cecil B. Demille 1956 movie The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston and Yul Bryner, although the cinematic version took artistic licence with the Holy Book.

For instance, Exodus makes clear that the Lord spoke to the masses at Mt. Sinai, not in a one-on-one conversation with Moses as portrayed in the film. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Passover concerns itself exclusively with the Israelites' escape from slavery in Egypt; receiving the commandments is marked by another holiday 49 days later.

Moses, saved by his quick-thinking sister and Pharaoh's daughter from an order that all Israelite male babies be killed, grew up to demand freedom for his people in defiance of an intransigent ruler who withstood plagues of blood, frogs, lice, beasts, sick livestock, boils, hail, locusts and darkness before finally relenting after the most devastating plague, the death of the Egyptian first-born.

As death struck at each Egyptian home, it passed over the dwellings of the Israelites, who were instructed to swab lamb's blood on their door posts -- hence the name of the holiday, Passover.

The narrative says the Israelites left in such haste that bread prepared for the trip didn't have time to rise, resulting in a flat biscuit now known as matzo.

Over the centuries, Jewish religious authorities have developed an elaborate set of dietary restrictions based on matzo, specifically that leaven -- any food made from wheat, barely, oats, rye or spelt in which fermentation has taken place -- is forbidden.

The ban also restricts consumption of grain-based spirits, which means most hard liquour is not allowed. But, good news, tequila is not derived from grain but the succulent agave and, providing it's pure and carries the rabbinical stamp of approval, meets the standard of kosher for Passover. A little salt, a lemon wedge and l'chaim.