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Kiddush (; ), , is a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and . Additionally, the word refers to a small repast held on Shabbat or festival mornings after the prayer services and before the meal.
Reciting kiddush before the meal on the eve of Shabbat and is thus a commandment from the Torah (as it is explained by the Oral Torah), although one can also fulfill the Biblical commandment by reciting Maariv of the Sabbath which also mentions the holiness of the day. Reciting kiddush before the morning meal on Shabbat and holidays is a requirement of rabbinic origin. Kiddush is not usually recited at the Seudah Shlishit on Shabbat, although Maimonides was of the opinion that wine should be drunk at this meal as well.
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 Torah 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 Judaism 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.
| Shabbat evening | Evening: 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) 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,! 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 festivals for happiness, holidays and times for joy, this day of
With, a holy convocation, a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt. Because You chose us, and sanctified us from all the nations, and and Your holy festivals in in happiness and in joy You have given us as a heritage. Blessed are You, God, Who sanctifies the 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) |
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.
In the opposite case, when Shabbat follows a festival, the regular Shabbat kiddush is recited, with no variations.
This special candle is called a Yaknehaz Candle.
The term kiddush also refers to refreshments served either at home or at the synagogue following Jewish prayer on Shabbat or Yom Tov, which begin with the recitation of kiddush. Typically served at an Ashkenazic Kiddush are items such as cake, crackers, gefilte fish, herring, kugel and cholent. On Shavuot morning, the custom is to serve dairy foods such as cheesecake and cheese for the kiddush.
According to the Shulchan Aruch,Orach Chayim 273:5; see Kiddush on Shabbat Day , Rabbi Doniel Schreiber, Yeshivat Har Etzion kiddush should be recited preceding the Shabbat meal. Eating mezonot such as cake or cookies or drinking an additional revi'it of wine is also sufficient according to the opinion of most Rishonim. Nevertheless, some Jews recite kiddush only when about to partake of a full meal.Based i.a. on Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe YD, vol. 2, no. 163, and ibid. OC vol. 4, no 63; see Kiddush on Shabbat Day , Rabbi Doniel Schreiber, Yeshivat Har Etzion
Often a kiddush is hosted by a family celebrating the birth of a daughter, a bar mitzvah, a wedding, an engagement, a birthday, or other happy occasion. Some people also host a kiddush on the yahrtzeit of a parent or other relative. In some synagogues the celebrant is honored with reciting the Shabbat morning kiddush on behalf of all the attendees. In other synagogues the rabbi or gabbai recites the kiddush. Some Jews make kiddush on Shabbat morning over liquor instead of wine. When this is done, the blessing recited is she-hakol nihyeh bid'varo instead of borei p'ri ha-gafen. The Mishnah Berurah (an authoritative Ashkenazi Jews halakha text) rules that under extenuating circumstances, liquor may be substituted for wine on the grounds that it is Hamar Medina, a drink one would serve to a respected guest; nevertheless, many rely on this even without extenuating circumstances.
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