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Shabbat Eve Kiddush

Sefard · Shabbat · Shabbat Evening Meal · Shabbat Eve Kiddush

Nusach
Sefard
Edition
Translation based on the Metsudah linear siddur, by Avrohom Davis, 1981

Shabbat Eve Kiddush

The fourth of the Ten Commandments bids us “ זָכוֹר אֶת יוֹם הַשַׁבָּת לְקַדְשׁוֹ ”, Remember the Shabbos day, Lekadsho to keep it holy ( Exodus 20:8). The word also implies to sanctify it. Jewish law therefore requires us to sanctify the Shabbos at its beginning—and at its conclusion—with an oral declaration. Thus we have the mitzvah of Kiddush upon the arrival of the Shabbos and Havdala at its conclusion. Most halachic authorities agree that the Scriptural command to proclaim the sanctity of the Shabbos is fulfilled by reciting the middle blessing of the Friday night Shemoneh Esreh. The command to recite the Kiddush at home, over wine, is rabbinic. In Babylonia it was customary to recite Kiddush over wine in the synagogue at the end of the Friday night service for the travelers who remained in the synagogue to eat and sleep. ( Pesachim 101a, see Tosofos s.v. דְאָכְלוּ) In many synagogues in the diaspora it is still customary to recite this Kiddush. But in Eretz Yisroel, the custom was never instituted, and so to this day, Kiddush is not recited there on Friday night. It is forbidden to eat on Friday night without first reciting Kiddush, to be followed immediately by the meal. When Kiddush is said over wine, the challa loaves must be covered. When wine is not available on Friday night, it is permissible to recite Kiddush over two whole challa loaves; in such an instance, the challa need not be covered. When reciting Kiddush over bread, you must wash your hands and say the berachah “Al netilas yodayim” before reciting the Kiddush. Halachic opinions differ as to whether Kiddush should be said while standing or while seated at the table. Both practices are widespread and one should follow family tradition or the tradition of one's teachers in this matter.

Recite quietly: And evening came, then morning came: Recite aloud:

the sixth day. And the heavens and the earth were completed and [so were] all their hosts. And God completed, by the seventh day, His work which He had done; and He abstained on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for on it He abstained from all His work which God had created to do.

The words יוֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁי , the sixth day, are actually the last two words of the biblical verse that immediately precedes וַיְכֻלּוּ , which is the beginning of Kiddush. These two words are added as a preface to the actual Kiddush because the first letters of these two Hebrew words Y (yud) and H (heh) plus the first letters of the two words וַיְכֻלּוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם , V (vov) and H (heh), form the Four Letter Name of God. Because these two words are part of a verse, the Sages incorporated the preceding words, וַיְהִי עֶרֶב וַיְהִי בקֶר and there was morning and there was evening, to form a complete sentence. These words however, are said quietly as they do not relate to the Kiddush.

God completed His work at the precise moment which marked the beginning of the seventh day, but nevertheless was not part of it. The Sages comment נִכְנַס בּוֹ כְּחוּט הַשַׂעֲרָה He entered into it (the seventh day) by a hairsbreadth.— Seporno

S.R. Hirsch translates “Which He, God, had brought into existence in order to continue the work of creation upon it.”

(When reciting Kiddush on wine) Attention! our masters and our teachers

Blessed are You, Adonoy our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

Blessed are You, Adonoy our God, King of the Universe, Who sanctified us with His commandments and was pleased with us. And His holy Sabbath, with love and pleasure, He gave us for a heritage, a commemoration of the work of creation. (For this day is) the first of the days of holy convocations commemorating the exodus from Egypt. (For us have You chosen and us have You sanctified from among all the peoples.) And Your holy Sabbath with love and pleasure You gave us for a heritage. Blessed are You, Adonoy, Sanctifier of the Sabbath.

Our appointment to be the preservers of the Shabbos is not a stern command; it is actually a sign of God’s love and favor.—S.R. Hirsch

The Shabbos is listed first in Leviticus 23, where all the sacred festivals of the Jewish calendar are described.

Each person should receive some wine from the Kiddush cup. Everybody then wash their hands and recite the berachah על נטילת ידים and the head of the household says the berachah for bread over two vhallohs,, and fivess a piecr of the challah to each preson.

Where it comes in the siddur

In the other nusachs

Texts and sources

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