This article includes the complete Hebrew, English, and transliterated text for the Sephardic/Mizrahi Orthodox Kiddush, as well as a video with onscreen text from Kol Echad M’mekomo.
The term “Sephardic” refers to the Jews of Iberia and the Spanish diaspora, including those who moved to Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and North America following the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal in the late 15th century. The term “Mizrahi” refers to Eastern or Oriental Jews with Middle Eastern ancestry, including modern Iraq (Babylonia), Iran (Persia), and Yemen. Today, most Mizrahi Jews live in either Israel or the United States. Although Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews share many religious customs, they have separate heritages, and within both groups there are also many different traditions.
Variations
The Kiddush ritual is very similar throughout the Jewish world, yet there are slight variations in different communities. While the Ashkenazi Kiddush is the longest, generally including all of the words in parentheses below, many Mizrahi and Sephardic traditions omit some or all of them. Some Hasidic and Sephardic communities retain the final words in parentheses, yet remove the rest, based on the custom of the Lurianic Kabbalists of the 16th century who believed that the total amount of words should number 70 for mystical reasons. While the video featured here follows this custom, the audio below omits all of the words in parentheses.
The word “הגפן” is generally pronounced “hagefen” by the Mizrahi community (as heard in the audio below) and “hagafen” by Sephardic and Ashkenazi communities (as heard in the video). The word “בנו” is generally pronounced “vanu” by Ashkenazi communities, retaining the nuances of the Bibilical Hebrew, while some Sephardic and Mizrahi communities pronounce it “banu,” according to modern Hebrew.
There are many different tunes for Kiddush, as well as different customs about when those participating in the ritual should sit or stand.
Hebrew
(וַיְהִי עֶרֶב וַיְהִי בֹקֶר)
יוֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁי, וַיְכֻלּוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ וְכָל צְבָאָם.וַיְכַל אֱלהִים בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה. וַיִּשְׁבּת בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּו אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה.וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלהִים אֶת יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אתוֹ. כִּי בוֹ שָׁבַת מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא אֱלהִים לַעֲשׂוֹת.
סַבְרִי מָרָנָן:בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי, אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגפֶן.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי, אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְרָצָה בָנוּ. וְשַׁבַּת קָדְשׁוֹ בְּאַהֲבָה וּבְרָצוֹן הִנְחִילָנוּ, זִכָּרוֹן לְמַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית. (כִּי הוּא יוֹם) תְּחִלָּה לְמִקְרָאֵי קדֶשׁ זֵכֶר לִיצִיאַת מִצְרָיִם. (כִּי בָנוּ בָחַרְתָּ וְאוֹתָנוּ קִדַּשְׁתָּ מִכָּל הָעַמִּים) וְשַׁבַּת קָדְשְׁךָ בְּאַהֲבָה וּבְרָצוֹן הִנְחַלְתָּנוּ.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי, מְקַדֵּשׁ הַשַּׁבָּת.
Transliteration
(Vayehi erev vayehi voker)
yom hashishi vayechulu hashamayim veha’aretz vechol tezva’am.Vayechal elohim bayom hashvi’i melachto asher asah. Vayishbot bayom hashvi’i mikol melachto asher asah.Vayevarech elohim et yom hashvi’i vayekadesh oto. Ki vo shavat mikol melachto asher barah elohim la’asot.
Baruch atah adonai, eloheinu melech ha’olam, asher kideshanu bemitzvotav veratzah vanu. Veshabat kodsho beahavah uvratzon hinchilanu, zicaron lema’aseh bereishit. (Ki hu yom) techilah lemikraei kodesh, zecher litzeeat mitzrayim. (Ki vanu/banu vahartah veotanu kidashtah mikol ha’amim.) Veshabat kodshecha beahavah uvratzon hinchaltanu.Savri maranan:Baruch atah adonai, eloheinu melech ha’olam boreh pri hagefen/hagafen.
Baruch atah adonai, mekadesh ha’shabat.
Translation
(And it was evening and it was morning,) the sixth day.
And the heaven and the earth were finished and all their host.
And on the seventh day God had finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
And God blessed the seventh day, and he hallowed it, because he rested thereon from all his work which God had created and made.
With the permission of my masters and teachers:
Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who createst the fruit of the vine.
Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast sanctified us by thy commandments and hast taken pleasure in us, and in love and favor hast given us thy holy Sabbath as an inheritance, a memorial of the creation — (that day being also) the first of the holy convocations, in remembrance of the departure from Egypt. (For thou hast chosen us and sanctified us above all nations,) and in love and favor hast given us thy holy Sabbath as an inheritance. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who hallowest the Sabbath.
Translation based on The Standard Prayer book by Simeon Singer (1915) (public domain)