Question
After the Havdalah prayer is concluded, who can drink the wine in the Havdalah wine cup. Can women as well as men drink the wine. If women are excluded as I have been told, why is this the case? Thank you
Answer
They are excluded for mystical reasons – because there is an opinion that Eve gave Adam fruit from a grapevine, causing them to be banished from the Garden of Eden after the first and only Sabbath they spent there. The custom, therefore, is that women only drink from the Havdala cup if no men are present.