How to Make Kiddush: A Complete Guide to the Shabbat Blessing

The Moment Shabbat Begins at the Table

The candles have been lit. The family has returned from synagogue or gathered in the dining room. The table is set with a white cloth, two covered challot, and a cup of wine. Now comes the moment that formally brings Shabbat to the dinner table — kiddush, the sanctification of the day over wine.

Kiddush is one of the most familiar and accessible Jewish rituals. It takes about two minutes. It requires wine or grape juice and a cup. And it transforms a Friday night dinner from a meal into something sacred — a deliberate act of declaring this evening different from all others.

If you have never made kiddush before, this guide will walk you through every step. If you grew up hearing it every Friday night but never quite learned the words, this is your chance.

What Kiddush Means

The word kiddush comes from the Hebrew root kadosh, meaning “holy” or “set apart.” Making kiddush is literally an act of sanctification — you are using words to declare that this time is holy, different from ordinary time.

The obligation to make kiddush comes from the Torah’s command to “remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). The rabbis of the Talmud determined that this “remembering” should be done over a cup of wine, because wine is associated with joy and celebration in Jewish tradition.

Kiddush is recited on Friday night (the evening kiddush, which is longer) and again on Saturday morning (the daytime kiddush, which is shorter). This guide focuses on the Friday night kiddush, which is the most widely observed.

Step-by-Step: Friday Night Kiddush

Step 1: Prepare. Fill a kiddush cup with wine or grape juice. The cup should be filled to the brim or very close to it — a full cup symbolizes a full blessing. Place the two challot on the table, covered with a cloth.

Step 2: Stand or sit. Customs vary. Many families stand for kiddush, as if bearing witness. Others sit, since kiddush is part of the meal. Follow your family custom or the custom of the community you are in. Everyone at the table should be quiet and attentive.

Step 3: Hold the cup. Lift the kiddush cup in your right hand (left hand if you are left-handed). Some hold the cup on their open palm with fingers curved upward, symbolizing the five books of the Torah.

Step 4: Recite the opening passage. Begin with the passage from Genesis describing the completion of creation:

Vayehi erev vayehi voker yom hashishi. Vayechulu hashamayim v’ha’aretz v’chol tz’va’am. Vayechal Elohim bayom hash’vi’i melachto asher asah, vayishbot bayom hash’vi’i mikol melachto asher asah. Vayevarech Elohim et yom hash’vi’i vayekadesh oto, ki vo shavat mikol melachto asher bara Elohim la’asot.

(And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. The heavens and the earth and all their hosts were completed. On the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created to do.)

Step 5: Recite the blessing over wine. Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha’olam, borei p’ri hagafen. (Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.)

Step 6: Recite the sanctification. Continue with the paragraph that declares the holiness of Shabbat, which includes thanks for being chosen and given the Sabbath as a gift, a memorial to creation and the Exodus from Egypt.

Step 7: Drink. Drink at least a cheek-full (melo lugmav) of the wine — most of a mouthful. Then pour or pass the remaining wine for others at the table to drink. Many families pour small cups for each person.

Step 8: Proceed to the meal. After kiddush, wash hands ritually (netilat yadayim) with the appropriate blessing, then recite the blessing over the challah (hamotzi) and begin the meal.

Saturday Morning Kiddush

The daytime kiddush is shorter. It begins with a Torah passage about Shabbat (often from Exodus 31:16-17), followed by the blessing over wine. It is typically recited before the midday Shabbat meal, sometimes at synagogue with refreshments — the “kiddush” after services that often features herring, cake, and conversation.

Customs and Tips

The challot are covered during kiddush so that the bread is not “embarrassed” by the wine being blessed first — a charming piece of rabbinic sensitivity. Some families have an elaborate silver kiddush cup passed down through generations; others use a simple glass. Both are equally valid.

If no wine or grape juice is available, kiddush can be made over the challah itself. This is not ideal but is permitted when necessary.

Children often learn kiddush at a young age, and many families give children the honor of reciting it on special occasions. It is one of the first prayers many Jewish children memorize — a foundation stone of Jewish home practice that has been laid every Friday evening for thousands of years.

Learning kiddush is learning to mark time as sacred. Two minutes, a cup of wine, a few ancient words — and the week is over, and Shabbat has begun.