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Kiddush Sample

We link Shabbat to the Exodus from Egypt in the Kiddush prayer for a few reasons: 1) The Exodus demonstrated God's power to intervene in nature, proving God created nature. Referencing the Exodus acknowledges God continues to play an active role. 2) The Exodus symbolized the Jewish nation's formation, leading to keeping Shabbat as a nation with a shared religion and identity. 3) Talmud states one must mention the Exodus during Kiddush, derived from Scripture. Additionally, Pharaoh forced the Jews to work on Shabbat, accounting for the extra 30 years of the 210 year enslavement period. So Shabbat helped the Jews leave Egypt earlier.

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145 views2 pages

Kiddush Sample

We link Shabbat to the Exodus from Egypt in the Kiddush prayer for a few reasons: 1) The Exodus demonstrated God's power to intervene in nature, proving God created nature. Referencing the Exodus acknowledges God continues to play an active role. 2) The Exodus symbolized the Jewish nation's formation, leading to keeping Shabbat as a nation with a shared religion and identity. 3) Talmud states one must mention the Exodus during Kiddush, derived from Scripture. Additionally, Pharaoh forced the Jews to work on Shabbat, accounting for the extra 30 years of the 210 year enslavement period. So Shabbat helped the Jews leave Egypt earlier.

Uploaded by

Isaac E. Moses
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Why do we link Shabbat with the Exodus from Egypt?

Isaac Moses's four-year-old son asked: Why do you say "Mitzrayim" in Kiddush every week? "Mitzrayim" is a Pesach word! Isaac Moses elaborated: In other words, why do we refer to Shabbat as "commemorating the Exodus from Egypt"? Isn't it really all about God's completion of Creation? Tack-on question: Once you've established that Shabbat is linked both to Creation and to the Exodus, why is the terminology in Kiddush for these links slightly different? Shabbat is called "" - " a memorial to the deed of Creation" and " " "commemorating the Exodus from Egypt".

Alex said: On a literal level, there's the idea that the Exodus -- which the entire Jewish people experienced, and in which G-d manipulated and subverted nature as He pleased -- serves as proof that G-d originally created that same natural order out of nothing. Perhaps, then, that also explains the different terminology of vs. .Shabbos is a ,a remembrance, of the Exodus, because it is something that the people who first received this mitzvah remembered personally (and could transmit this to us, their descendants); whereas it is only a ,a memorial, of Creation, since that is something that we know of only by tradition. See Kuzari 1:11ff; also discussed by the commentaries to Exodus 20:2 and Rabbeinu Bechayei to Deut. 5:15. Jewish Jon added: God's taking the Jews out of Egypt was the first time God intervened with the natural order since creation. Acknowledging that God took us out from Egypt and changed the natural order is testimony that God created it, too. Alternatively, referencing that God took us out of Egypt, changing the natural order, is testimony that God created, and continues to actively play a role in the world. Not only that, but He did it for us. The leaving of Mitzrayim is also symbolic of nationhood, which led to religion together as a nation, without which there would be no commandment of keeping the Sabbath.

Barry said: The talmud in Pesachim (117b) states: One must mention the exodus from Egypt during Kiddush. This is derived from Scripture. I once saw a pilpul explanation from Rabbi Jonathon Eibuschutz. It is written that Jews were to be exiled for 400 years (counted from Isaac's birth), and a second verse states 430 years. What happened to the extra 30 years?

The decree was intended for the six days of the week only. Pharoah had them work on the Sabbath as well, which was 1/7th more than originally decreed. 1/7th of the 210 years of enslavement equals exactly 30 years. Thus the Sabbath was instrumental in allowing the Jews to leave Egyptian bondage earlier. Therefore it is mentioned in the Kiddush.

Original question: Why do we link Shabbat with the Exodus from Egypt? Contributors: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/users/2/isaac-moses http://judaism.stackexchange.com/users/37/alex http://judaism.stackexchange.com/users/80/jewishjon http://judaism.stackexchange.com/users/71/barry

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