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Kiddush Shabbat Day: Kiddusha Rabba

קִדּוּשָׁא רַבָּא · Saturday late morning before the meal · V'shamru + wine blessing
Kiddusha Rabba, the Shabbat day Kiddush, said before the Saturday-morning meal (lunch) after returning from synagogue. Much shorter than the Friday-night Kiddush. The prelude is a biblical passage (Exodus 31:16-17) about Shabbat as the eternal sign between God and Israel. Then the wine blessing. No "Mekadesh haShabbat" paragraph in the morning Kiddush, the day's holiness was already sanctified Friday night. The name Kiddusha Rabba ("the Great Kiddush") is actually ironic, it's the shortest Kiddush, and the rabbis called it "the Great" euphemistically because they didn't want to call any sanctification of Shabbat "the Lesser". Said standing, ~30 seconds. Followed by HaMotzi and the lunch meal.

Read Exodus 31:16-17 (V'shamru) on Sefaria for the surrounding biblical/liturgical context.

part 1 prelude Exodus 31:16-17
וְשָׁמְרוּ
ve-sham-RU
and they shall keep (qal pf 3pl + vav consec.)
בְנֵי
ve-NEI
the children of
יִשְׂרָאֵל
yis-ra-EL
Israel
אֶת
et
(def. obj.)
הַשַּׁבָּת
ha-sha-BAT
the Sabbath
And the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath,
לַעֲשׂוֹת
la-a-SOT
to make
אֶת
et
(def. obj.)
הַשַּׁבָּת
ha-sha-BAT
the Sabbath
לְדֹרֹתָם
le-do-ro-TAM
throughout their generations
בְּרִית
be-RIT
a covenant
עוֹלָם
o-LAM
eternal
to make the Sabbath an eternal covenant throughout their generations.
part 2 the sign (Ex 31:17)
בֵּינִי
bei-NI
between Me
וּבֵין
u-VEIN
and between
בְּנֵי
be-NEI
the children of
יִשְׂרָאֵל
yis-ra-EL
Israel
אוֹת
ot
a sign
הִיא
hi
is
לְעֹלָם
le-o-LAM
forever
Between Me and the children of Israel it is an eternal sign,
כִּי
ki
for
שֵׁשֶׁת
SHE-shet
six (cstr.)
יָמִים
ya-MIM
days
עָשָׂה
a-SAH
He made
יְהוָה
a-do-NAI
the LORD
אֶת
et
(def. obj.)
הַשָּׁמַיִם
ha-sha-MA-yim
the heavens
וְאֶת
ve-ET
and the
הָאָרֶץ
ha-A-rets
the earth
for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth,
וּבַיּוֹם
u-va-YOM
and on the day
הַשְּׁבִיעִי
ha-she-vi-I
the seventh
שָׁבַת
sha-VAT
He rested
וַיִּנָּפַשׁ
va-yi-na-FASH
and was refreshed (niphal)
and on the seventh day He ceased and was refreshed.
part 3 the wine (Borei Pri HaGafen)
בָּרוּךְ
ba-RUCH
blessed
אַתָּה
a-TAH
You
יְהוָה
a-do-NAI
the LORD
אֱלֹהֵינוּ
e-lo-HEI-nu
our God
מֶלֶךְ
ME-lech
King
הָעוֹלָם
ha-o-LAM
the universe
Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe,
בּוֹרֵא
bo-RE
Creator of
פְּרִי
pe-RI
fruit of
הַגָּפֶן
ha-GA-fen
the vine
Creator of the fruit of the vine.

♦ About this prayer

The shorter, daytime sanctification of Shabbat. A 30-second ritual that opens the Saturday-morning meal, the second of three Shabbat meals.

Why two Kiddushim: Friday night and Saturday morning

The rabbis derive the obligation to make Kiddush twice from the dual command in the Decalogue: "zachor et yom haShabbat l'kadsho" (Ex 20:8), "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it." The verb l'kadsho ("to sanctify it") implies an active act of sanctification. The Sages applied this once for Friday night (the start of Shabbat) and once for Saturday day (during Shabbat itself).

However, the day Kiddush is theologically subordinate, Shabbat was already sanctified the night before, so the morning is just an additional acknowledgment. This is why it's so much shorter than the Friday-night version: there's no Mekadesh haShabbat paragraph, no full Vayechulu, just the biblical preamble plus the wine blessing.

The ironic name: "Kiddusha Rabba"

The Hebrew/Aramaic name Kiddusha Rabba means literally "the Great Kiddush". But this is the shortest of the three Shabbat Kiddushes (Friday night, Saturday morning, and the optional Mincha-time Kiddush before Seudah Shlishit). Why call the shortest "the Great"?

The Talmud (Pesachim 106a) explains: it would be inappropriate to call any of the Shabbat sanctifications "the Small" or "the Lesser". So the rabbis gave the shortest one a euphemistic name. The same kind of inverted naming is used for the central Yom Kippur prayer (called Tefilat Zakah, "the Pure Prayer") and the closing service of Yom Kippur (called Neilah, "the Closing", when in fact the gates are still open).

The wine: and the option of bread

Like the night Kiddush, the morning Kiddush is preferably said over wine in a cup of at least 86ml. If wine is unavailable, it can be said over chamar medina, any "liquor of the country" considered important in the local culture (whisky, beer, sometimes coffee in some Yemenite traditions). If even that isn't available, Kiddush is folded into HaMotzi over the bread.

In contemporary Israeli/Sephardi homes, the morning Kiddush is often a moment for grown-up children to take turns saying it, getting comfortable with the Hebrew. The shortness (~30 seconds) makes it good practice.

♦ Lesson