Kiddush (, , ; also ) is a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify Shabbat and Jewish holidays. Additionally, the word refers to a small repast held on Shabbat and holidays after the prayer services and before the meal.
Significance The Torah refers to two requirements concerning Shabbat: to "keep it" and to "remember it" (shamor and zakhor). Jewish law therefore requires that Shabbat be observed in two respects. One must "keep it" by refraining from the 39 categories of activity prohibited on Shabbat, and one must "remember it" by making special arrangements for the day, and specifically through the kiddush ceremony.
Reciting kiddush before the meal on the eve of Shabbat and Jewish holidays is thus a commandment in the Torah (as explained by the Oral Torah). However, one can also fulfill the biblical commandment by reciting Maariv on Shabbat, which also commemorates the day's holiness. Reciting kiddush before the morning meal on Shabbat and holidays is a requirement of rabbinic origin. Kiddush is not usually recited at the third meal on Shabbat, although Maimonides thought that wine should be drunk at this meal as well.
Rituals
To honor the mitzvah of reciting kiddush, a silver goblet is often used, although any cup can suffice. The cup must hold a revi'it of liquid.Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 271:13 A revi'it is between (Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz)(Hazon Ish 39) and (Rabbi Avraham Chaim Naeh).Shiurei Torah After the person reciting the kiddush drinks from the wine, the rest of it is passed around the table or poured out into small cups for the other participants. Alternatively, wine is poured for each of the participants before kiddush.
Before reciting kiddush, the challah, which will be the next food item eaten in honor of the Shabbat or holiday, is first covered with a cloth. According to Halakha, the blessing over bread takes precedence to the blessing over wine. However, in the interests of beginning the meal with kiddush, the challah is covered to "remove" it from the table (some do not have the challah on the table at all during kiddush).
Wine or grape juice may be used for kiddush. The Talmud permits the use of unfermented fresh grape juice for sacramental use.Bava Batra 97b While later legal codes have expressed a preference for wine, traditional and orthodox communities generally permit the use of grape juice in place of wine for blessings and rituals.
On Friday night kiddush may be recited over the challah; the blessing over bread is substituted for the blessing over wine. In that case, the ritual hand-washing normally performed prior to consuming the challah is done before the recitation of kiddush. Some Ashkenazic communities, especially German Jews and Hungarian Jews follow this procedure even if wine is present. If there is only sufficient wine or grape juice for one kiddush, it should be used for the Friday night kiddush.Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 271:3, 11
In many synagogues, kiddush is recited on Friday night at the end of services. This kiddush does not take the place of the obligation to recite kiddush at the Friday night meal. When recited in a synagogue, the first paragraph (Genesis 2:1–3) is omitted.
The text of the Friday night kiddush begins with a passage from Genesis 2:1–3, as a testimony to God's creation of the world and cessation of work on the seventh day. Some people stand during the recital of these Biblical verses (even if they sit for kiddush), since according to Jewish law testimony must be given standing.
There are different customs regarding sitting or standing while reciting kiddush depending on communal and family tradition.
Some Hasidic and Sephardic Jews pour small amounts of water into the wine before kiddush on Friday night. This is done either to commemorate the old custom of "mixing of the wine" in the days when wine was too strong to be drunk without dilution, or to infuse the water (wine?) with the quality of mercy which is symbolized by water (wine?).
Since the Shabbat morning kiddush is rabbinically rather than biblically mandated, it has a lesser status than the Friday night kiddush. Its name Kiddusha Rabba (קידושא רבא, "The Great Kiddush"), first mentioned in the Talmud, is euphemistic.Mishnah Brurah 289:3 There are different versions for the kiddush on Sabbath morning, and it is generally shorter than the Friday night kiddush. Originally, this kiddush consisted only of the blessing over the wine. Later, additional verses related to Shabbat were added. However, there are a wide variety of customs as to which verse are recited, and in some communities no verses at all are recited. Some communities have a similarly brief Kiddush for the third Sabbath meal as well, made in the middle of the meal.
Text Occasion Hebrew EnglishShabbat evening [Evening became morning]: The sixth day. And the heavens and the earth and all that filled them were complete. And on the seventh day God completed the labor He had performed, and He refrained on the seventh day from all the labor which He had performed. And God blessed the seventh day and He sanctified it, for He then refrained from all his labor – from the act of creation that God had performed.
Permit me, distinguished ones, rabbis, guests and colleagues:
Blessed are You, the Lord our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine. (Amen)
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who sanctified us with His commandments, and hoped for us, and with love and intent invested us with His sacred Sabbath, as a memorial to the deed of Creation. It is the first among the holy festivals, commemorating the exodus from Egypt. For You chose us, and sanctified us, out of all nations, and with love and intent You invested us with Your Holy Sabbath.
Blessed are You, Adonai, Sanctifier of the Sabbath. (Amen)Shabbat morning (Some begin with Isaiah 58:13–14.)
(And the Children of Israel shall observe the Shabbat, by establishing the Shabbat for their generations as an eternal covenant. Between Me and the Children of Israel it is an eternal sign, that [in] six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and rested.Exodus 31:16–17)
(Remember the Shabbat day to sanctify it. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is Shabbat for the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, and your cattle, and the stranger who is in your gates. For [in] six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Shabbat day and made it holy.Exodus 20:7–10)
Attention, gentlemen, [rabbis, and my teachers]!
Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. (Amen)Holiday evening (recited on the festival nights of Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, and Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah)(When the holiday coincides with Shabbat (Friday night), the verses from Genesis (Evening became... had performed) precede this kiddush, and the sections in brackets are added.)
Attention, gentlemen, [rabbis, and my teachers]! Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. (Amen)
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations, and elevated us above all tongues, and sanctified us with His commandments. And You gave us, Lord our God, with love, [Sabbaths for rest and] festivals for happiness, holidays and times for joy, this day [of Shabbat and this day of]
(on Passover): the Festival of Matzos, the time of our freedom (on Shavuot): the Festival of Weeks, the time of the giving of our Torah (on Sukkot): the Festival of Succos, the time of our happiness (on Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah): the eighth day, the Festival of Assembly, the time of our happiness
[With love], a holy convocation, a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt. Because You chose us, and sanctified us from all the nations, [and Shabbat] and Your holy festivals [in love and in avor] in happiness and in joy You have given us as a heritage. Blessed are You, God, Who sanctifies [the Shabbat and] Israel and the holiday seasons. (Amen)
(On Sukkot, if the meal takes place in a kosher sukkah:)
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to dwell in the sukkah. (Amen)
(On all holiday nights except on the last two nights of Passover:)
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has kept us alive and sustained us and brought us to this season. (Amen)Holiday morning(When the festival coincides with Shabbat, first the Biblical verses (above, Shabbat morning) are recited.) (These are the festivals of God, holy convocations, that you should announce at their appointed times.Leviticus 23:4)
(And Moses declared the festivals of the Lord to the Children of IsraelLeviticus 23:44)
Attention, Gentlemen!
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. (Amen)
Other variations On Rosh Hashanah, the night Kiddush is similar to that of the other festivals. Where it differs, it is usually to follow the pattern of middle blessing of the Amidah. (An example is the concluding formula "Blessed are You, the LORD, King over the entire world, Who sanctifies [the Sabbath,] Israel, and the Day of Remembrance.") During the day, the verses Psalms 81:4–5 (Ashkenazi) or Numbers 10:10 (Sephardic) are recited prior to the blessing over wine. Many also say the festival verses (usually first), and on Shabbat all recite the relevant verses (see above) at the very beginning.
On Yom Kippur, being a fast day, no kiddush is recited, even by one who will be eating for medical reasons, and even on Shabbat.There is a minority opinion that one who needs to eat a considerable amount of food for health reasons to recite Kiddush when Yom Kippur falls on the Sabbath, but the Halacha does not follow this opinion.
On the first two nights of Sukkot, the blessing leishev ba-sukkah is recited at the end of Kiddush, after she-hechiyanu. On the second night in the Diaspora, some switch the order and recite leishev before she-hechiyanu. During the daytime kiddush, leishev is recited after the blessing on wine, before drinking. On the Sabbath of Chol Hamoed of Sukkot, leishev is recited at the end of kiddush.
Yaknehaz When a festival is on Saturday night, Kiddush is recited, but Havdalah must also be said because Shabbat is holier than the festivals. The sequence of blessings in such a case is known as yak'n'haz (יקנה"ז), for yayin, kiddush, ner, havdalah, zman, meaning "wine, kiddush, flame, havdalah, shehecheyanu". That is, first the blessing over wine, then the standard kiddush blessing (see above), then the blessing for the flame (borei m'orei ha'eish, Who creates the radiance of the fire), then a modified havdalah blessing (ending with "Who differentiates between (one level of) holiness and (another level of) holiness"), and then the shehecheyanu blessing (omitted on the final days of Passover; see above). Essentially, the havdalah blessings are recited after kiddush, but before shehechiyanu, which is usually the last blessing to ever be recited. Spices are not used.
In the opposite case, when Shabbat follows a festival, the regular Shabbat kiddush is recited, with no variations.
Yaknehaz Candle