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Q & A - WITH RABBI RISKINQ: We often have guests on Friday evening and the question arises as to whether every adult male ought to make his own kiddush. A: The most proper practice is for the host to make kiddush for the entire assemblage, based on the principle of “B’rov Am Hadrat Melekh” - a large number of people gives greater glory to the King. There is, however, a Hassidic custom that every guest who is himself the head of a family makes his own kiddush. While the first option is halakhically preferable, I myself always give adult heads of family the option of making their own kiddush in my home, since family custom always plays a great role in determining halakha (they usually refuse). Q: What is the proper procedure for kiddush - do we stand or sit? I have seen both customs. A: The first part of kiddush “ And the Heavens and the Earth were completed and all of their hosts….” , is a testimony that G-d created the world and the one who recites the kiddush is acting as a witness. Since witnesses stand when they give their testimony, that first paragraph ought be said standing. The Talmud (Babylonian Talmud Pesachim, Arvei Pesachim) teaches that “there is no kiddush except in the place where we eat” which could also be interpreted to mean that one must make kiddush where one eats and in the way in which one eats - that is, while seated. Hence Rav Moshe Isserles, the primary decisor for Ashkenazi Jewry rules that the first paragraph of kiddush be said while standing after which one sits and recites the blessing over wine as well as the second paragraph. Despite this ruling there are other Rabbinic Authorities who rule that both paragraphs ought be said sitting (like Rav Yosef Karo) and still others who rule that both paragraphs ought be recited while standing. The usual decision is for everyone to follow the custom of his father and grandfather. I would merely add that the principle that “There is no sanctification except in the place where one eats” has a legal ramification as well as a life-style ramification. The legal ramification is that one can only make kiddush where there is at least mezonot , and if one is then going to another home for a regular Sabbath meal with challah it is proper to make kiddush again. The life-style ramification is a critical Jewish lesson: real sanctification is expressed not when one fasts but when one eats, not by how one behaves in the Synagogue but by how one behaves in the context of family and business. If you have a question for Q & A, send it to ots@ohrtorahstone.org.il . We cannot guarantee that all questions received will be answered in this column.
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