Shabbat Evening Kiddush

SHABBAT EVENING KIDDUSH

Many have the tradition to stand for the evening Kiddush. :יִשִּׁשַּׁה םוֹי רֶקֹב יִהְיַו בֶרֶע־יִהְיַו :שחלב :םאָָבְצ־לָכְו ץֶראָָהְו םִיַמָשַּׁה וּלֻּכְיַו ,הָשָׂע רֶשֲׁא וֹתְּכאַלְמ יִעיִבְשַּׁה םוֹיַּבּ םיִהֹלֱא לַכְיַו :הָשָׂע רֶשֲׁא וֹתְּכאַלְמ־לָכִּמ יִעיִבְשַּׁה םוֹיַּבּ תֹבְּשִׁיַּו וֹב יִכּ ,וֹתֹא שֵׁדַּקְיַו יִעיִבְשַּׁה םוֹי תֶא םיִהֹלֱא ךֶרָבְיַו :תוֹשֲׂעַל םיִהֹלֱא אָרָבּ רֶשֲׁא וֹתְּכאַלְמ לָכִּמ תַבָשׁ

.ןֶפָגַּה יִרְפּ אֵרוֹבּ ,םָלוֹעָה ךֶלֶמ וּניֵהֹלֱא הוהי הָתּאַ ךוּרָבּ וּנָשְׁדִּק רֶשֲׁא םָלוֹעָה ךֶלֶמ וּניֵהֹלֱא הוהי הָתּאַ ךוּרָבּ ןוֹצָרְבוּ הָבֲהאְַבּ וֹשְׁדָק תַבַּשְׁו .וּנָב הָצָרְו ויָתוְֹצִמְבּ הָלִּחְתּ םוֹי אוּה יִכּ .תיִשׁאֵרְב הֵשֲׂעַמְל ןוֹרָכִּז וּנָליִחְנִה ָתְּרַחָב וּנָב יִכּ .םִיָרְצִמ תאַיִציִל רֶכֵז ,שֶׁדֺק יֵאָרְקִמְל הָבֲהאְַבּ ךְשְׁדָק תַבַּשְׁו ,םיִמַּעָה לָכִּמ ָתְּשַׁדִּק וּנָתוֹאְו .תָבַּשַּׁה שֵׁדַּקְמ ,הוהי הָתּאַ ךוּרָבּ .וּנָתְּלַחְנִה ןוֹצָרְבוּ In a whisper: It was evening, and it was morning, the sixth day. The heavens and the earth and all they contain were completed. With the seventh day, God had finished the work, ceasing on that seventh day from all the creative work that God had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on that day God rested from all the work of Creation.

Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Majesty of the world, who creates the fruit of the vine.

Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Majesty of the world, who has made us holy with Your commandments, and longed for us, and gave us this holy Shabbat in love and longing to be our heritage as a reminder of the work of Creation. It is the first among the holy days of gathering, a reminder of the exodus from Egypt. For out of all the nations You chose us and made us holy, and You gave us Your holy Shabbat in love and longing as our heritage. Blessed are You, God, who makes the Shabbat holy.

Baruch Atah, Adonai, Eloheinu, Melech ha’olam, borei peri hagafen. Baruch Atah, Adonai, Eloheinu, Melech ha’olam, asher kideshanu bemitzvotav, veratzah vanu, veShabbat kodsho be’ahavah uvratzon hinchilanu, zikaron lema’aseh vereshit. Ki hu yom techilah lemikra’ei kodesh, zecher litziat Mitzrayim. Ki vanu vacharta ve’otanu kidashta mikol ha’amim, veShabbat kodshecha be’ahavah uvratzon hinchaltanu. Baruch Atah, Adonai, mekadesh haShabbat.

THINK

When it comes to Kiddush, the fruit of the vine– whether wine or grape juice– is often the star of the show. But Kiddush is not actually about wine, it’s about time. That’s why the words of Kiddush connect so deeply to the Jewish story, to Creation and the exodus from Egypt. We keep and remember Shabbat as we raise our glasses and speak our story, making this time holy and special. The words of Kiddush speak of Shabbat as an expression of love and longing. King David said that “wine gladdens the heart,”12 and many embrace this joy by filling their Kiddush cup to the brim, symbolizing Shabbat as a time overflowing with love.

REFLECT

How might you make your Shabbat time an expression of love? What gladdens the heart of each of your family members? How might you tap into each family member’s “love language”13 during Shabbat?

CONNECT

“The Sabbath was a totally new institution in human history and at first no one else could understand it. Jewish tradition has left us a poignant record of one such moment of incomprehension. It is said that when the Torah was translated into Greek for the first time, there was one sentence that had to be deliberately mistranslated. It was the verse ‘On the seventh day God completed the work that He had made.’ The Greeks could not understand this. Eventually, the line was translated as ‘On the sixth day God completed…’ “Neither Greeks nor Romans could understand the idea that rest is an achievement, that the Sabbath is Judaism’s stillness at the heart of the turning world, and it was this that God created on the seventh day. ‘After six days,’ said Judaism’s sages, ‘what did the world lack? It lacked rest. So, when the seventh day came, rest came, and the universe was complete.’”14

PERSONAL PRAYER

It’s Friday night, the end of the busy and hectic week. It’s now time to take a break from the everyday. I join the community of Jews throughout the world to celebrate a day of rest in recognition of Your resting after Creation. May I find comfort in this day of rest, and the strength to continue working to improve myself.

— Pip Spandorfer,

Atlanta, Georgia

12 Psalms 104:15. 13 G. D. Chapman, The Five Love Languages. 14 Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, A Letter in the Scroll, p. 136.