Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 643 - Order of Kiddush

SECTION 643 The Order of Kiddush. (1–5)

1 [This is] the sequence [of the blessings] when reciting Kiddush on the first night of Sukkos.1 First, one recites a blessing over the wine,2 then one recites the blessing that sanctifies the festival,3 then the blessing leishev basukkah,4 and then the blessing Shehecheyanu.5

[The blessing sanctifying the festival precedes the blessing leishev basukkah] because the day must [obviously] be sanctified before one is obligated [to dwell in] a sukkah. [The blessing Shehecheyanu is recited last,] because it relates to the previously-mentioned sanctification of the day and also to the mitzvah of the sukkah,6 as explained in sec. 641[:1].

2 It is customary not to make a point of standing while [reciting] Kiddush;7 it is recited even while one is seated. Moreover, even the blessing leishev basukkah may be recited while sitting. Now, all of the blessings that were ordained over the performance of the mitzvos are recited before one fulfills them.8 It would thus be appropriate to recite the blessing leishev basukkah before one sits down to eat, for sitting down [to eat] constitutes the mitzvah, as it is written,9 “And you shall dwell10 in sukkos.”

The mitzvah is not that one should actually sit, for תשבו [in that verse] means “you shall dwell,”11 as in the verse,12 “And you dwelt¹¹ (ותשבו) in Kadesh for many days.” Nevertheless, it is proper to recite the blessing only when it is evident that one is abiding [in the sukkah] more than momentarily. This is evident when one actually sits; taking a seat shows that one intends to remain there for some time. When, by contrast, a person stands, it is not evident that he intends to remain [in the sukkah] more than momentarily, for he may take his leave at any time.

Thus, since the core of the mitzvah is to remain [in the sukkah] in more than a transient manner, it would be appropriate to recite the blessing before one [does this], i.e. before one sits. Nonetheless, since the essence of the mitzvah over which we recite the blessing is eating — for if a person sits in a sukkah and does not eat, he should not recite a blessing, as explained in sec. 639[:12] — we are concerned only that the blessing [over the sukkah] should be recited before one eats, for this is the essence of the mitzvah over which the blessing is recited, and not before remaining [in the sukkah] in more than a transient manner. For [the latter instance] alone, i.e., when one does not eat, is not the essence of the mitzvah over which a blessing is recited.13

3 All of the above applies on the night of Yom-Tov or on Friday night, when one sanctifies the day [by reciting Kiddush], and hence the blessing over the sukkah immediately follows the blessing sanctifying the day. It does not apply at the meals [eaten] on the other [days of] Sukkos, nor even at the morning meals eaten on Shabbos and Yom-Tov [before which] one recites a blessing over a cup [of wine]. At those times, since one is not reciting a blessing sanctifying the day,14 one should not recite the blessing leishev basukkah before drinking the cup [of wine],15 in order that it should be recited directly before eating, for this is the essence of the mitzvah over which the blessing is being recited.

4 According to the law it would be appropriate to recite this blessing before the blessing HaMotzi, since the obligation to recite this blessing applies as soon as one sits down to eat. Therefore it would be fitting to recite it before the blessing HaMotzi, which he is not required to recite until he desires to partake [of the bread].

Nevertheless, it has become universal custom to recite this blessing after the blessing HaMotzi, because the blessing HaMotzi marks the beginning of the meal, and people at large saw it fitting to begin the meal before reciting the blessing over the sukkah, because that blessing is recited only at the time of a meal.

The blessing over the sukkah is not considered an interruption between the blessing HaMotzi and eating, because this blessing is an integral necessity for the meal, and whenever an activity is necessary for a meal, it is not considered an interruption, as explained in sec. 167[:9].

5 If one did not recite the blessing Shehecheyanu on the first night [of Yom-Tov] and remembered the next day, he should recite it when he remembers,16 even though he will not be reciting it over a cup of wine.17 If he does not remember on the following day and also forgets [when reciting Kiddush] on the second night, and remembers during one of the other days of the festival, he should recite the blessing whenever he remembers. For one may compensate for [the failure to recite] the blessing Shehecheyanu throughout the seven days [of the festival], as explained in sec. 473[:2], with regard to Pesach. On Sukkos, however, the blessing Shehecheyanu must be recited in the sukkah,18 in order that the blessing should fulfill one’s obligation to relate it to the sukkah as well,19 as explained in sec. 641[:1-2].