Rituals

Kiddush

Calendrical Rituals

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "Kiddush." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/rituals/kiddush.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). Kiddush. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/rituals/kiddush

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-kiddush,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {Kiddush},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/rituals/kiddush},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Kiddush is the blessing recited over a cup of wine or grape juice to sanctify the Sabbath or a festival at its start, fulfilling the biblical command to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Recited at the start of the Friday evening meal and again, in shorter form, before the Sabbath midday meal, it is repeated with variant wording for each of the pilgrimage festivals and the New Year, the person reciting it discharging the obligation for everyone present who answers Amen.

Facts

Practice

Who Performs It

Householders, those living in the world 1

Though custom assigns leadership to the head of the household, halakhah holds that any adult Jew obligated in the commandment may recite kiddush for the whole table, and someone who has already fulfilled the obligation may still recite it aloud to discharge it for others present who answer amen, the vicarious-fulfillment principle known as shomea k'oneh.

Practitioner Detail

Recited by the head of the household or by any adult Jew present over a cup that is then shared with everyone at the table 2

Frequency

Weekly 2

Beyond the two required recitations each Sabbath, kiddush is also recited to sanctify each of the three pilgrimage festivals and Rosh Hashanah with festival specific wording; in colloquial American Jewish usage the word has separately come to denote the light communal reception held after Sabbath morning services, an informal extension distinct from the blessing itself.

Origins

Place of Origin

Kiddush's obligation and fixed wording were substantially developed through Talmudic exegesis, particularly in tractate Pesachim, of the biblical command to remember the Sabbath day, work carried out by the rabbis of Roman era Judea and Sasanian era Babylonia, the same centers that produced most of standard rabbinic liturgy. 1

Historical Origin

Its recitation over wine at the Sabbath's start fulfills the biblical command in Exodus to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, and it is already assumed as established practice, with the order of its blessings set out, in the Mishnah. 1

Use

Occasion

The onset of the Sabbath on Friday evening and again the following morning, and the onset of each of the biblical pilgrimage festivals and the New Year 1

Attributions

Tradition

Judaism, observed across its major streams with variation chiefly in melody and custom 1

Purpose

Fulfills the biblical instruction to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, marking the transition from the ordinary week into sacred time over a cup shared by the household 1

Meaning

Literal Meaning

Hebrew kiddush, literally sanctification, naming the blessing's function of declaring the Sabbath or festival day set apart and holy. 1

Attestation

Earliest Attestation

The Mishnah's tractate Berakhot, redacted around 200 CE, already assumes Kiddush as an established obligation and records a dispute between the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel over the order of its blessings 2

Status

Current Status

A living, near-universal practice across observant Jewish households worldwide 2

Cross-Tradition Connections