Kiddush for the Eve of Shabbos

Haggadah shel Pesach im Likkutei Minhagim VeTaamim [compiled and edited by the Rebbe Shlita], p. 8. [Page references in the present work are to its bi-lingual edition, entitled Haggadah for Pesach with English Translation of Text, Customs and Practices, by Rabbi Jacob Immanuel Schochet (Kehot, N.Y.; Second Edition, 1985), hereafter referred to in brief as Haggadah for Pesach.] So too in Pri Etz Chayim (18:14 and 21:6), Siddur HaAriZal, and Mishnas Chassidim. See also Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 271:10, and commentaries ad loc. (Note of the Rebbe Shlita.)

[Haggadah for Pesach, loc. cit.].

“No more than these two words ought to be said (Siddur Yaavetz), for they complement the prescribed number of words in the Kiddush. This wording is explained in the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, end of Sec. 174; Abudraham cites additional explanations.

“According to Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 24, ‘One should say סברי מרנן.’ This too is the ruling in Tanchuma, at the beginning of Parshas Pekudei; in the compilation of responsa of the Geonim appended to Sefer Kol-Bo; and in the Tur, sec. 174, on the authority of the author’s father.[...] A Kabbalistic explanation of this particular choice of words is to be found in Pri Etz Chaim, Shaar 18, sec. 16.” (Note of the Rebbe Shlita in the above-mentioned Haggadah shel Pesach, p. 9.)

The Shelah (Masseches Shabbos, s.v. סוד נוסח הקידוש; p. 139a) records that this was also the view of the author of Leket, Shichechah U’Peah; his own view is that it is the words יום הששי, rather than סברי מרנן, that ought to bring the total number to 72 (ע"ב). [The basic complement of 70 words is made up of 35 of the words in each of the two passages that comprise the Kiddush. The former half does not include יום הששי and the blessing over the wine; the words of the latter half are counted only from the first distinctive word of the blessing, viz., קדשנו. For details of the computation and its Kabbalistic significance, see the Shelah (loc. cit.) and Shaar HaKollel 18:4.]

The wording of the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch (end of sec. 174) implies that one says these two words only when including others in the blessing; it is our custom nevertheless to say them even when alone. See Shelah, loc. cit.; Siddur Yaavetz; and Mor U’Ketziah, by the same author [viz., R. Yaakov Emden], on Orach Chayim, end of sec. 174.

HaYom Yom, entry for 15 Adar I.

This is the version that appears in the Alter Rebbe’s Siddur. From the Glosses of the Rebbe Rashab on the Siddur: “The following note was found among the manuscript writings of my grandfather [i.e., the Tzemach Tzedek].

“ ‘An oral tradition explains why we say כי בנו בחרת (for You have chosen us) because we say זכר ליציאת מצרים (commemorating the Exodus from Egypt). (Moreover, we say the latter phrase even on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, which would appear to be quite unconnected with the Exodus.) The explanation [of the relevance of the Exodus and the connection between the two phrases] is as follows: Shabbos and [all] the festivals in fact derive from Above, except that G‑d granted them to us in the wake of the exile in Egypt. And because it was at the time of the Exodus from Egypt that G‑d thus chose us, we ought to say for You have chosen us immediately after the phrase commemorating the Exodus from Egypt.

“ ‘This I heard from the mouth of someone who had heard the answer given by the [Alter] Rebbe to his relative by marriage, the learned Rabbi [Levi Yitzchak] of Berditchev, in reply to the latter’s question about the phrase, for You have chosen us.’ ”

As will presently be explained, the above phrase (“for You have chosen us and sanctified us from among all the nations”) appears in the wording of the Kiddush as instituted by the earliest authorities. The author of Magen Avraham (sec. 271) writes: “There are those whose custom it is to omit the words, כי הוא יום [lit., ‘for it is a day,’ which in some rites appears before the word תחלה]; others are accustomed to omitting the phrase, כי בנו בחרת ואותנו קדשת. However, no custom should be changed.” The latter phrase also appears in the version published by the Maharil, in the Amsterdam edition of Shaar HaShamayim, and elsewhere. R. Menachem Azariah of Fano writes that in the course of the Kiddush one ought to mention Israel’s status as the Chosen People; indeed, he writes, “it is more essential in relation to Shabbos than in relation to all the other mitzvos, in order to complement the triad of witnesses who testify for each other “ [viz., Israel, Shabbos, and the Holy One, Blessed be He; cf. Tosafos on Chagigah 3b]. (This view is cited in Shiurei Berachah of R. Chayim Yosef David Azulai, sec. 271.)

Likewise, the wording of the Kiddush as it appears [in the Alter Rebbe’s Siddur] — i.e., including the phrase, כי בנו בחרת ואותנו קדשת מכל העמים, and omitting the three words, כי הוא יום — appears thus in the Siddur of Rav Amram Gaon; in ch. 29 of Hilchos Shabbos of the Rambam; in Abudraham; and elsewhere.

(The source for the above two paragraphs is Shaar HaKollel 18:4, which develops the theme further.)

See also the second version of ch. 27 of Mishmeres Shalom by the Rebbe of Kaidinov, s.v. הוספה. In the Siddur of R. Saadiah Gaon too the version of the Kiddush includes the phrase that begins, כי בנו בחרת.

Now Shaar HaKavanos (s.v. ענין הקידוש) writes that one should not say these words. As a rule, however, in matters such as these which are practiced daily or weekly, it is highly improbable that a custom should suddenly change. Accordingly, since the Alter Rebbe did include these words in his Siddur, and since they were recited by the Rebbeim and elder chassidim of Chabad in the course of uninterrupted generations, it is clear that מעשה רב — the practical example of a sage outweighs hypothetical considerations.

(The source for the whole of the foregoing footnote is a letter of the Rebbe Shlita.) [See also his Igrois Koidesh, Vol. XIII, p. 226].)

HaYom Yom, entry for 15 Adar I.