Kiddush

A blessing and a gathering

The word kiddush comes from a Hebrew root meaning sanctification, the act of setting something apart as holy. It names a blessing spoken over wine or grape juice. In everyday Jewish speech it also names the food and drink served after prayer on Shabbat or a festival, a gathering that opens with that same blessing. So a person might be invited to a kiddush, meaning the refreshments, or asked to make kiddush, meaning to say the words.

Cups and covering

A silver goblet is often kept for kiddush, though any cup will do. It must hold a revi'it, a small measure of liquid, and rabbis have given differing figures for how much that is. Before the blessing, a cloth is laid over the challah. Bread would otherwise take precedence, and covering the loaf lets the wine blessing come first; some families keep the bread off the table altogether until kiddush is done. Whether people stand or sit during the recital follows family and community custom, and some stand only for the opening verses from Genesis.

Customs for each occasion

Friday night kiddush opens with verses from Genesis about creation and the seventh day of rest. The morning kiddush on Shabbat is shorter and rests on rabbinic rather than biblical authority; its name, Kiddusha Rabba or the Great Kiddush, is a euphemism. On Rosh Hashanah the wording changes to suit the day. On Sukkot, the blessing for dwelling in the sukkah is joined to kiddush. Where a festival runs into Saturday night, the blessings are combined in an order remembered as yaknehaz: wine, kiddush, the flame, havdalah, then shehecheyanu. Yom Kippur, a fast day, has none.

Sharing it with others

Many Ashkenazic congregations say kiddush after Friday night prayers, though nobody eats at that point. The practice began long ago for guests who slept in the synagogue and had no table of their own, and later authorities have debated whether to continue it. The word also covers the refreshments themselves. A family may host one to mark a daughter's birth, a bar mitzvah, an engagement, a wedding or a birthday, and some host in memory of a parent on the anniversary of the death. In some synagogues the person celebrating says the morning kiddush for all present; elsewhere the rabbi or gabbai does.

Wine, red or white

Wine is the usual drink for kiddush, and the Talmud allows fresh grape juice for sacramental use as well. Later legal codes prefer wine, while traditional and Orthodox communities generally permit grape juice for blessings and rituals. In the 17th century, in lands where Jews lived under suspicion, Rabbi David HaLevi Segal ruled that white wine might replace the red wine of the Passover meal so that no accusation would follow. The Shulchan Aruch places kiddush before the Shabbat meal. According to many early authorities, eating cakes or cookies, or drinking a further measure of wine, can satisfy the requirement.

How Kiddush is kept

Someone at the table, often the head of the household, holds a cup of wine or grape juice and says the blessing aloud. A cloth covers the challah, because the blessing over bread would normally come first, and covering it lets the wine blessing lead. The person who recites then drinks, and the cup passes round, or wine is poured into small cups for everyone. Guests may be invited to say it, and a family marking a birth, a bar mitzvah, a wedding or a birthday often hosts the gathering.

When and where

Kiddush is said at the start of Shabbat and festival meals. That means Friday night when Shabbat begins, Shabbat and festival mornings, and in some communities the third Shabbat meal. The synagogue version comes after Friday night prayer. It is left out entirely on Yom Kippur, a fast day.

Kiddush belongs to Jewish life wherever it is lived, at home tables and in synagogues. Communities across the Diaspora keep their own habits, among them Ashkenazic families, German and Hungarian Jews, Sephardic Jews and Hasidic groups. It is as much a household practice as a public one.

What Kiddush means

Kiddush holds two duties the Torah gives for Shabbat: to keep the day and to remember it. Saying a blessing over wine is one way of remembering, marking the day off from ordinary time. The Genesis passage read on Friday night speaks of the world's creation and of rest on the seventh day, and those who stand for it treat the words as testimony.

Days Kiddush is marked

Questions people ask about Kiddush

See also

PassoverA Jewish spring festival celebrating freedom from slavery with ritual mealsYom KippurThe holiest day in Judaism, dedicated to fasting, prayer and atonementRosh HashanahThe Jewish New Year marked by shofar horn blasts, prayer and sweet foodsSukkotA seven-day autumn Jewish festival of temporary booths, harvest prayers and hospitality

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle

• Kiddush on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.