5787/2026
Birkot HaNehenin vs. Birkot HaMitzvah
The Gemara does not address whether to stand or sit for Kiddush and Havdalah. However, the Rishonim and Acharonim vigorously debate this issue with no definitive resolution.
The issue hinges on a difference between Birkot HaMitzvah (Brachot on Mitzvot) and Birkot HaNehenin (Brachot before eating food). While we stand when being Motzi each other in Birkat HaMitzvot out of respect for the Mitzvah (such as Shofar blowing), we must sit when one person is being Motzi others in Birkot HaNehenin (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 213:1).
The reasoning for this distinction seems as follows: For Birkot HaMitzvah, we are bound to each other by our Halachic responsibility for each other, known as “Kol Yisrael Zeh BaZeh, or Areivut, for short. Thus, one may be Motzi others while standing out of respect for the Mitzvah. While we need to be standing in one room to bind together (and not wandering off in various directions throughout a building; Mishnah Berurah 271:4), there is no need to sit.
By contrast, there is no obligation to recite Birkot HaNehenin. Rather, Birkot HaNehenin are a Mattir, permit us to partake in the food Hashem provides us. Thus, since Areivut does not bind us, we must sit together, in the position in which we eat, to bind us together so that one person may be Motzi others.
We should bear this in mind at a stand-up HaMotzi: each person must make his own HaMotzi, as one person cannot be Motzi others in Birkat HaNehenin while standing.
Kiddush and Havdala
Kiddush and Havdala are unique in that they are a fusion of Bikrat HaNehenin (Borei Pri HaGefen) and Birkat HaMitzvah (Baruch Mekadeish HaShabbat/Baruch HaMavdil Bein Kodesh LeChol). Thus, the Birkat HaMitzvah component of Havdalah and Kiddush inclines us to stand, but the Birkot HaNehenin piece pushes us to sit. Our being pulled in two directions is at the core of the Rishonim and Acharonim’s debate over whether we stand or sit for Kiddush and Havdalah.
Tosafot
Tosafot (Brachot 43a s.v. Ho’il) begins their discussion of this matter by recording the prevailing custom of their time of Ashkenazic Jews to stand during Havdalah (and presumably Kiddush). The Rambam (Hilchot Sukkah 6:12) records that the custom of his Rebbeim and all Spanish rabbis was to recite Kiddush while standing (at least on Sukkot).
Tosafot wonder, though, how one can be Motzi others in Borei Pri HaGefen while standing. They suggest that perhaps once we are bound together (Kovin) for the Mitzvah portion of Kiddush and Havdala, we are Kevuim, bound for Borei Pri HaGefen.
Tosafot is not entirely satisfied with this answer and concludes by preferring to sit for Kiddush and Havdalah.
The Kol Bo
On the other hand, the Kol Bo (41) upholds the tradition of standing, arguing that we must stand to welcome the King to our Shabbat in Kiddush or to escort Him as He leaves during Havdalah.
The Shulchan Aruch and Rama
The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 271:10) says we should stand for the VaYechulu portion of Kiddush, but is silent regarding the rest of Kiddush. By contrast, he rules (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 296:6) that we should sit when saying Havdalah. For Kiddush, we are inclined to stand, since in VaYechulu we testify that Hashem created the world, and we stand when testifying.
The Rama writes, following Tosafot, that one may stand for Kiddush, but it is preferable to sit. He even notes the custom to sit even for the VaYechulu portion of Kiddush. The Rama, by contrast, rules that we stand for Havdalah.
The Mishnah Berurah (271:46) explains that the preference to sit for Kiddush stems from the fact that, unlike Havdalah, it is linked to the meal where we sit. This linkage is expressed in the Halachah of Ein Kiddush Ela BiMakom Seudah.
The Mishnah Berurah notes that the Vilna Gaon rules that one should sit for Kiddush. The Vilna Gaon also sat for Havdalah (Ma’aseh Rav 150).
Shabbat Morning Kiddush
The Chida (Birkei Yosef, Orach Chaim 289) cites the Maharash Vital, who records the Ari Z”L’s custom to stand for Friday night Kiddush but sit for Shabbat morning Kiddush. Shabbat morning Kiddush consists only of Borei Pri HaGefen, and therefore it makes sense that we must sit for one to be Motzi others.
The Sephardic custom is to stand for Friday night Kiddush and to sit when saying the Shabbat morning Kiddush (Yalkut Yosef Orach Chaim 271:28). When Sephardic Rav Shlomo Amar visited Teaneck’s Shaarei Orah in August 2017, he asked for a seat to recite Shabbat morning Kiddush, even though we have a standing Kiddush. Yalkut Yosef cautions that even at night, one should sit when drinking wine.
Those who stand for Shabbat morning Kiddush regard Shabbat morning Kiddush as an extension of Friday night Kiddush, for which they stand out of respect for the entering King.
Conclusion
With all these opinions heading every which way, one wonders why Chazal did not clarify this question in the Gemara. I suggest that Chazal wanted to leave this matter for family tradition to determine. Chazal thereby convey that not every Halachic matter is written down, as the possibilities for this question abound. Rather, it is a matter for family tradition to resolve.
Rav Hershel Schachter (Nefesh HaRav, p. 159) records that Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik customarily stood for Havdalah. On a rare Shabbat he spent at Yeshiva University, he refused to say Havdalah when asked.
Rav Schachter explained that since the custom at that time at Yeshiva University was to say Havdalah while sitting, Rav Soloveitchik did not want to disrupt the tradition. He recognized that the students would change their practice if they saw that their revered Rebbi acted differently than their Minhag.
Rav Soloveitchik shows us that the question of sitting or standing for Kiddush and Havdalah is not resolved by Chachamim but rather Mishpacha, by families. Sefarim and Chachamim teach only so much. Regarding certain matters, family heritage should be the determining factor. Such is the power of certain family traditions!