Yom Tov: Kiddush
KIDDUSH: WHO MAY MAKE
Jewish Man or Woman Making Kiddush
Any adult Jew, male or female, may say kiddush for him/herself and, as long as he/she still needs to say kiddush for him/herself, may include other Jews.
Any Jewish male, 13 years old or older, may say kiddush for anyone else, either gender and any age, even if he has already fulfilled his personal requirement of saying kiddush.
Any Jewish female, 12 years old or older, may say kiddush for any other females but not for men, except that on the two Passover seder nights, a Jewish female who is at least 12 years old may even say kiddush for men, if the men are not able to say it for themselves.
REASON: Any person who is obligated to fulfill the mitzva of kiddush may say it for another person. It is questionable whether women are obligated to say (or have said for them) Jewish festival morning kiddush.
WHAT TO DRINK
Ideal Kiddush Beverage: Wine/Grape Juice
Wine (or grape juice) is the ideal and proper beverage for kiddush (and havdala).
REASON: It is considered to be a prestigious beverage.
Jewish Festival Night Kiddush Beverage
Wine (or grape juice) is the only drink permissible for Jewish festival (or Friday) evening kiddush. See Challot for Kiddush, below, if you do not have wine or grape juice with which to make Jewish festival (or Shabbat) evening kiddush.
HOW MUCH TO POUR
Pour Revi'it
As on Shabbat, the minimum volume of kiddush beverage on which you may say Jewish festival kiddush (or havdala) is a revi'it:
4 fl. oz. (119 ml) for d'oraita cases such as the first night of Jewish festivals (or Shabbat evening) kiddush, and
3.3 fl. oz. (99 ml) for d'rabanan cases such Jewish festival lunch and evening/daytime meals on the second Jewish festival day (as well as kiddush for Shabbat lunch).
How High To Fill the Cup
Ideally, fill your kiddush cup to just above the rim, even if the cup is larger than 4 fl. oz. (119 ml). Don't make the cup overflow.
NOTE: If you did not fill the kiddush cup to the rim, it is still OK.
Diluting Wine
There is no need to dilute wine before drinking it.
If Not Enough Wine
If there is not enough wine (or grape juice) for Jewish festival (or Shabbat) kiddush and havdala:
Set aside the first cup for havdala. Then, if there is one more cup,
Use it for the morning kiddush.
Challot for Kiddush
To use two challot for kiddush instead of wine:
Wash hands and say al netilat yadayim,
Say kiddush but substitute ha'motzi for borei pri ha'gafen; and, as soon as you finish saying kiddush,
Eat the bread as normal.
CUP & WINE BOTTLES
Your Own Kiddush Cup
If you want to drink kiddush wine, you may either hold your own cup of wine (or grape juice) during kiddush or receive wine or grape juice from the kiddush leader's cup.
Kos Pagum
Kos pagum means either:
"Physically damaged or broken drinking utensil”: You may not use such a cup for kiddush l'chatchila. OR
Cup of wine, grape juice, or any beverage that has been drunk from. This beverage may not be used for a kos shel bracha until at least a small amount more of some beverage has been added.
Uncovered Wine Bottles/Cups
You do not need to close the wine bottle or cover the other wine cups while the first of several people says kiddush, whether on Shabbat or Jewish festivals.
Washing Wine Glass
There is no need to wash a clean wine glass before using it for kiddush.
HOW MUCH TO DRINK
Drinking Cheekful
As on Shabbat, the minimum total volume of Jewish festival kiddush beverage that must be drunk--usually by the kiddush-maker (mevareich) but it may even be several people combined--is a cheekful (m'lo lugmov)—considered to be 2 fl. oz. (59 ml) within 30 seconds.
NOTE: If no one drinks the kiddush beverage, the commandment to say or hear kiddush has not been fulfilled.
NOTE: Although you must drink at least a cheekful to fulfill kiddush, you must drink at least 4 fl. oz. (119 ml) within 30 seconds in order to say the after-blessing.
WHEN TO SPEAK OR DRINK
When You May Speak after Kiddush
You may speak, even without having drunk anything yourself, once:
The leader (mevareich) has said Jewish festival (or Shabbat) kiddush for other people, and
At least 2 fl. oz. (59 ml) of the wine (or other appropriate beverage) over which kiddush was made has been drunk.
When You May Drink after Kiddush
You may drink your own beverage as long as:
The leader (mevareich) has said Jewish festival (or Shabbat) kiddush for other people, and
At least 2 fl. oz. (59 ml) of the wine (or other appropriate beverage) over which kiddush was made has been drunk.
BOREI PRI HAGAFEN AFTER DRINKING KIDDUSH WINE
Drinking Kiddush Wine and then Drinking Later in Meal
If you drank any amount of kiddush wine (or grape juice), you do not say borei pri ha'gafen over wine or grape juice later in the meal (but you may have to say ha'tov v'ha'meitiv if the wine is better than the kiddush wine).
Borei Pri HaGafen after Drinking Kiddush Wine and Hesech Da'at
If you said or heard the blessing borei pri ha'gafen, finished drinking had hesech da'at, and then want to make a new blessing over the remaining wine in the cup, see Borei Pri HaGafen: Saying Again.
NOTE: Although you may say a new borei pri ha'gafen on wine (or grape juice) that you left off drinking and returned to finish after hesech da'at, you may do so only as a simple blessing, not as kiddush (for how to make kiddush on same wine, see next halacha).
Making New Kiddush after Drinking Kiddush Wine
To say borei pri ha'gafen as a new kiddush on the same wine, you must add at least one drop of new wine to the cup, if you have drunk any of the wine directly from that cup.
BOREI PRI HAGAFEN AFTER NOT DRINKING KIDDUSH WINE
You must say borei pri ha'gafen if you want to drink wine (or grape juice) after you heard kiddush and then:
Spoke without drinking any amount of kiddush beverage, and/or
Spoke before the kiddush leader drank at least 2 fl. oz. (59 ml) of wine (or grape juice) from his cup, and/or
Heard someone make kiddush over a she'hakol, even if you drank from that cup.
KIDDUSH: STANDING OR SITTING
Standing or sitting while drinking wine or other beverage for kiddush (or havdala) is a non-binding custom, not a halacha.
Copyright 2015 Richard B. Aiken. Halacha L’Maaseh appears courtesy of www.practicalhalacha.com Visit their web site for more information.