Le kiddouch à la synagogue : étude de terrain sur le hareng et le kugel דער קידוש אין שול: א פעלד-שטודיע מיט הערינג און קוגל

"The great kiddush"

We have to start with a little seriousness, because the kiddush has a fine pedigree. The Shabbos morning kiddush is called "Kiddusha Rabba", "the great kiddush", a name already mentioned in the Talmud, even though it is actually the shorter one, and it is an obligation of rabbinic origin ^[1]. The Talmud (Pesachim 106a) says the daytime kiddush is essentially just the blessing over wine, and verses were added later ^[1]. According to the Shulchan Aruch, kiddush should be said where one eats a meal, and according to most Rishonim eating mezonos, a piece of cake or cookies, is enough ^[1].

A humor piece on Aish.com describes the kiddush as snack-time that rewards those who came to shul and tides them over until the meal ^[2].

And so, from "a piece of cake" grew one of the finest institutions in Jewish life.

The menu

What do you find at a kiddush? According to Wikipedia: cake, crackers, gefilte fish, herring, kugel and cholent ^[1]. According to every Jew who has ever stood at a kiddush: the same list, but in a particular order. First herring, because "you have to make a l'chaim", then kugel, because "it's already there", and then cholent, because "it won't last".

Shavuos, you should know, is different: then the custom is to serve dairy, like cheesecake and blintzes ^[1]. The herring goes on a short vacation.

"Just one l'chaim"

Every kiddush has its "just one l'chaim". It is a measurement no mathematician has yet calculated. "Just one l'chaim" is made for the baal simcha, for his father, for his father-in-law, for the whole family, and finally "for all of Klal Yisroel". Then you go home to the real meal and say: "I only nibbled a little."

The gabbai's announcements

In the middle of the kiddush the gabbai bangs on the table. Everyone goes quiet, except the man who has just reached the kugel. The gabbai thanks the baal simcha, mentions that the shiurim start after Shabbos, that a tenth man is still needed for tomorrow's Mincha, and asks nicely that nobody leave plates on the benches. Everyone nods. The plates stay there until next week.

The great race to the cholent

And then, the moment. The cholent pot is brought out. Within a minute the area around it becomes the most crowded spot in town. Nobody stands in line; people stand "in a big circle". Grown men in shtreimels and bekeshes display a punctuality otherwise seen only at the earliest zman for Krias Shema.

But when you look from the side, you see what a kiddush really is: neighbours who haven't seen each other all week, a father bringing his little boy for the first time, an older man who finally has someone to talk to, a baal simcha beaming. The kugel is the excuse; the togetherness is the point. And the cholent? That's already finished.