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Kiddush on Shabbat Day Without a Meal (1)

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Translated and adapted by Rav Eliezer Kwass

 

QUESTION:

 

If a person will not be eating a meal on Shabbat day (either for health reasons or because he derives his enjoyment - oneg Shabbat - from not eating), must he still make kiddush and, if so, how?

 

ANSWER, PART 1:

 

MUST ONE MAKE DAYTIME KIDDUSH EVEN WITHOUT EATING A MEAL?

 

            Our starting point for answering this question is a puzzle the Rishonim dealt with: what is accomplished through the daytime kiddush, which simply entails reciting over a cup of wine its normal blessing?

 

            The Torah commands us, "Remember the Shabbat day to sanctify it" (Shemot 20:6).  This verse is viewed by the Talmud (Pesachim 106a) as the source of the obligation of kiddush:

 

"Remember it through wine when it enters.  We have only derived the nighttime obligation; how do we know we must make kiddush during the day?  'Remember the Shabbat day.'  Which blessing is recited during the day?  '"[Blessed are You ...] who created the fruit of the vine' ("Borei peri ha-gafen")."

 

            The vast majority of Rishonim assume that the daytime kiddush, "kiddusha rabba," is a rabbinic obligation.  (The Maharam, quoted in the Magen Avraham OC 597:3, believes it is biblical, but this opinion is not accepted as halakha.)  For what reason, though, did our Sages institute it?  Through the various approaches that appear in the Rishonim in answer to this question we can analyze the nature of the daytime kiddush and thus determine how it relates to the Shabbat meal.  The four major approaches follow.

 

1. Rabbeinu David

 

            Apparently, the term "kiddush" is a misnomer for the daytime kiddush, according to Rabbeinu David in his commentary on Pesachim.  He writes:

 

"The only reason for this blessing is in order that one make his Shabbat and Yomtov meals over wine.  It is called "kiddush" because a meal is attached to it, just as a meal is attached to [the real] kiddush.  This [rabbinic] mitzva of MAKING A MEAL OVER WINE was related to a verse in the Torah."

 

            In other words, the blessing of kiddush rather does not function as a "sanctification" of the day, but rather serves to make the Shabbat meal special by opening it with wine.  According to this approach, all the Shabbat meals should really be made over wine, including the third meal.

 

            He provides a rationale for his position.  The act of accepting the sanctity of the Shabbat and of distinguishing it from the ordinary days which preceded it (see Rambam Hilkhot Shabbat 30:1) is clearly something that need take place only once (logically, at night).  It follows that the daytime kiddush must have some other function.

 

            According to Rabbeinu David, then, the meal is essential to daytime kiddush; in fact, kiddush is meaningless without a meal.  The purpose of making kiddush is to insure that the Shabbat must be given the importance and dignity that it deserves.

 

2. The Ran

 

            According to the Ran, the daytime kiddush is reminiscent of kiddush the night before:

 

"Only the nighttime kiddush is biblically mandated, for that is when Shabbat enters.  But, because the importance of Shabbat day is greater than that of the night, the Sages saw fit to institute a commemoration of kiddush during the day.  This is 'Borei peri ha-gafen,' which is the opening of the nighttime kiddush.  Also, since 'Songs of praise should only be said over wine,' making blessing over wine at the beginning of the meal (which is not done at other meals) represents a song of praise for the holiness of the day."

 

            There are two aspects of kiddush reflected in the daytime kiddush, says the Ran:

 

A. Kiddush that serves as SANCTIFICATION of the Shabbat can only be made at night, but, because of the extra importance accorded to the daytime, a brief allusion to kiddush is said then as well.  Evidence that the kiddusha rabba does not itself sanctify the day is found in the fact that the Sages did not institute any special blessing for it.  In short, it is simply a declaration of the day's holiness through recalling the nighttime kiddush.

 

B. A second aspect of kiddusha rabba is unconnected to the night, namely, that we express our PRAISE for the holiness of the day by beginning our meal with wine.

 

            At first glance, this second reason appears to be related to the Shabbat meal, but in fact this is not necessarily so, for even a blessing over wine alone, without a meal, would constitute praise of Shabbat.  This is borne out by a further comment of the Ran, "Nevertheless, since it [kiddusha rabba] was instituted according to the model of kiddush [at night] ... it should be made in the location of the meal, like the nighttime kiddush."  Since the rule that "Kiddush can only be made in the place of the meal" is only an addition to the basic requirement of kiddush, and as such is transferred to the daytime kiddush even though the latter theoretically can take place without a meal.  Kiddush can exist without a meal, but the meal enhances its goals.

 

            This Ran possibly implies that a person who does not plan on having a meal should still make kiddush.  For one who does have a meal, though, the added rule which requires kiddush to be made where the meal takes place still applies.

 

3. The Me'iri

 

            The Me'iri's comments on kiddusha rabba seem to include elements of both the Ran's and Rabbeinu David's approaches.  He first declares that the daytime kiddush is not literally a kiddush but only shares its name because it, too, is a mandatory blessing of Shabbat.  Further on, though, he writes,

 

"For this reason, [kiddusha rabba] too was instituted, so that the day should be sanctified through it, so by making his meal important through opening it with wine."

 

            Does this mean that the kiddush simply serves to make the Shabbat meal special (as in Rabbeinu David), or rather that making kiddush before a meal on Shabbat is a way of proclaiming the day's holiness, of singing its praises (as in the Ran)?

 

            Perhaps the Me'iri includes both elements.  Shabbat becomes SANCTIFIED THROUGH HAVING A SPECIAL MEAL.  This might explain why there is no need to make kiddush at the third meal.  The obligation is not simply to have special meals on Shabbat, but rather to sanctify the day through a special meal.  This sanctification is required only once at night and once during the day.  (One might still require wine for the third meal, not for purposes of kiddush but simply in order to make the meal special.)

 

            The Me'iri's approach differs from the Ran's with regards to how central the meal is to kiddush.  According to the Ran, drinking wine at the beginning of a meal is a way of praising the Shabbat; he focuses on the WINE.  The Me'iri, in contrast, focuses on the MEAL; the day becomes sanctified through having an important meal.

 

4. The Rambam

 

            Of the three opinions we have mentioned, it seems that the Rambam's is closest to that of the Me'iri's.  He writes (Hilkhot Shabbat 29:10):

 

"We are commanded to make a blessing over wine on Shabbat day before eating the second meal.  This is what is referred to as "kiddusha rabba;" he need only make "Borei peri ha-gafen" and drink, then wash his hands and eat.  It is forbidden to eat before making kiddush.  Also, this kiddush should be made only in the place where the meal is eaten."

 

            On the face of it, the Rambam believes that the term "kiddush" is fitting for kiddusha rabba, for the characteristic laws of kiddush apply to eat it (i.e., the prohibition of prior eating and the requirement that it be made in the same location as the meal).

 

            One might suggest something further in light of a seeming redundancy in the Rambam.  He first tells of the mitzva to make a blessing over wine before the second meal, and then mentions the prohibition of eating before making kiddush.  The second statement would have sufficed; if it is prohibited to eat before kiddush, kiddush must obviously be made before the meal!?  He must view the blessing and wine before the meal as the positive act of sanctifying through kiddush, not just the incidental result of the rule which prohibits eating before making kiddush.

 

            Both the daytime and nighttime kiddush entail making a blessing over wine in order to sanctify the Shabbat; but at night the sanctification is accomplished through the blessing (mekadesh ha-Shabbat), whereas in the day, which contains no such blessing, it is done through having the Shabbat meal.  According to the Me'iri, the daytime kiddush involves sanctifying Shabbat through having a special meal (made special by beginning it with a blessing on wine).  But according to the Rambam, as we have seen, the meal itself is part of kiddush and leads a dimension of sanctification to the (ordinary) blessing over the wine.

           

CONCLUSION

 

            Does one who is not obligated to eat a Shabbat meal (either because of sickness or because his personal oneg Shabbat dictates that he would get no "oneg Shabbat" through eating) still make kiddush during the day?

 

            It seems clear that according to Rabbeinu David and the Me'iri, the essence of kiddusha rabba is having a meal which begins with a cup of wine.  Kiddush, to them, is either having wine with one's meal (Rabbeinu David) or sanctifying Shabbat through a special meal (the Me'iri).  Therefore one who is exempt from the requirement to eat a daytime Shabbat meal is likewise exempt from the requirement of kiddush.

 

            The Ran, at least according to the first reason he gives (that the blessing over wine recalls the nighttime kiddush), believes that the obligation still exists in such a case.  And it is likely that the Rambam agrees.  This is so even according to our suggested understanding of the Rambam, for the obligation to sanctify the day remains even if one lacks the means to fulfill it in practice (i.e., without a meal).

 

            There are two possible proofs that the position which rules that kiddush should still be made even without eating a meal is accepted as halakha:

 

1. The Rama rules (OC 273:4) that even during the day, one who already made kiddush can make it for another.  If kiddush during the day merely means (as Rabbeinu David says) starting the meal with wine, the blessing over wine is considered a "birkat ha-nehenin" (blessing made before benefiting physically from the world) and not a blessing over a mitzva.  One cannot fulfill another's obligation to make a "birkat ha-nehenin" (if he himself is not partaking).  The fact that the Rama rules that one can in such a case make kiddush for another indicates that it by itself is a sanctifying act - a "birkat ha-mitzva," and is not dependent on the meal.

 

            This proof is not ironclad, though; it can be attacked in one of two ways:

a. Even if the blessing over the wine is considered a "birkat ha-nehenin", it is still a MANDATORY blessing and therefore one could fulfill another's obligation for him.  In a similar vein, there are those who rule that even one who already fulfilled his mitzva can make "Borei peri ha-adama" for another over "karpas" on the Seder night because it is a mandatory "birkat ha-nehenin."

b. Conversely, it is possible to say that the daytime kiddush is a mitzva similar to the nighttime one (like the Ran, not Rabbeinu David) and still rule that one cannot fulfill another's obligation for him.  After all, "Borei peri ha-gafen", even when said as part of a mitzva, is at its core a "birkat ha-nehenin" and thus one might never be able to fulfill another's obligation in it for him without partaking as well.

 

2. A more convincing proof that we rule that one must make daytime kiddush even without a meal is the Shulchan Arukh's ruling in OC 289:1.  He says that two classic kiddush rules, the restriction on eating before kiddush and the need for kiddush to be made in the same place as the meal, both apply during the day.  These would not be applicable if kiddusha rabba only meant making sure the daytime meal opened with wine.  The daytime kiddush must be, like the nighttime one, a sanctifying one that is meaningful even without the meal.  [Ed. note:  Then, according to the Meiri (that we sanctify the day through a meal which has been initiated by wine), the obligation to make kiddush exists for the person fasting - even if practically it is impossible.]

 

            The Machatzit Ha-shekel (OC 597:3) assumes that daytime kiddush should be made even if one is fasting.  This even applies if, as most Rishonim say, kiddusha rabba is of rabbinic origin.  He writes, however, that the fasting person cannot fulfill his obligation in practice.  Part II of this article will address the practical application of this law.

 

[Ed. note:  see VBM article "The Time for Kiddush and Havdala," by Rav Elyakim Krumbein; Shiurim LeZecher Avi Mori II by Rav Soloveitchik ztz"l, p. 111-114, p. 148-151.  These articles deal with these ideas and do not necessarily concur.]

 

(Daf Kesher #161, Tevet 5749, vol. 2, pp. 178-180.)

 

 

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