Serious congregations don’t schmooze during synagogue services. They wait until after the rabbi says “Kiddush.” That’s when the fun begins.
Whether you have a weekly kiddush at your synagogue or a special celebratory kiddush, the key is to make the event memorable. Shuls with multicultural bases are the most fun. Participants can share a bit of their background and even celebrate the national holidays of their birth country.
Two years of COVID followed by two years of war have affected many synagogues, and it takes an effort to restart the community when there have been interruptions (and red alerts).
So how do you make a kiddush that people will talk about for years to come? Here are some ideas to start your creative kiddush juices flowing like grape juice!
Involve the children
To keep children engaged and to control the flow of food, designate one long children’s table with all the candy, ice cream, and children’s goodies in one place. The children’s table can also serve as a place to display their decorations, prepared ahead of time, to get the children involved in preparing for and participating in the kiddush.
If you don’t want the kids to raid the table before the “Kiddush” blessing is made, throw a tablecloth over the table and do a reveal as soon as the blessing has been recited.
Celebrate along with the calendar
Each week we read a new Torah portion – and each week there are themes and opportunities for interesting kiddushes.
Sefer Bereshit has numerous opportunities, beginning with the creation of the world (imagine the table decorations for the six days of creation); Noah and the flood (think ma-bul (marble) cake and rainbow bagels); a Tower of Babel (made of crackers?); Jacob’s “red stew” (perhaps chili?). But it doesn’t stop with the first book. Themes can be developed from each Torah portion that translate into food, drinks, and opportunities to learn.
Holidays – Almost every month has holidays to celebrate; but even in a month that doesn’t, there are ways to have fun.
Tishrei – This sweet month is not heralded by a blessing for the new month, but it is laden with holidays. You can take it beyond the honey cake by creating a Build an Edible Sukkah Contest. Display (and taste) the results on your children’s table to name a winner.
Heshvan – No holidays, not even a fast day, in Heshvan – but that won’t stop us from celebrating National Pumpkin Day, National Chocolate Day, World Pasta Day, or a Canadian/American Thanksgiving kiddush with turkey, cranberry sauce, and fixings. Election Day is a habitual theme in November, so it may be the ideal time to create a Candidate Kiddush – with different foods to celebrate the candidates’ heritage, culture, or outlooks. With so many different Israeli candidates, this can get very interesting.
A potluck Trump Kiddush held in my home in Karnei Shomron after the November 2024 US elections featured orange foods (pumpkin soup, carrot muffins) to celebrate the “Orange Man” and American specialties (fries and hot dogs, apple pie). The community enjoyed the opportunity to think outside the box, and the food was amazing.
Kislev – Obviously, sufganiyot and latke tastings are key components of an exciting Hanukkah kiddush – but expand your horizons with sfinge, different types of vegetable latkes, sauces, and other cultural Hanukkah treats to make it especially memorable.
Tevet – The solemn fast of Asara B’Tevet is not something we celebrate with food; but since Tevet is a winter month, consider running an Iron Blech cholent/hamin cook-off. If your synagogue doesn’t allow potluck donations, commission cholent from a few different caterers. Have the donor or creator of each come up with an original name for his or her cholent. Count up the winners by placing discard bins for spoons in front of each cholent pot. The bin with the most spoons wins! Prizes can be an apron or a chef’s hat.
Shvat – Although we celebrate the trees, it is a bit early to enjoy the fresh fruits Israel produces all summer. Instead, offer dates, figs, and other dried fruits from Israel.
Adar – There is no better month to get the children involved. Consider a kids’ hamantashen baking contest. Give out prizes for the most creative, delicious, and unusual pastries. You can add a costume contest as well to make it even more interesting for the children.
Nisan – The Hametz Blowout Kiddush is an opportunity to empty your cabinets and use up all your flour on glutenous goodies. Pasta salads, lasagnas, bean dip – anything that has to be put away for Passover is fair game. Check the expiration dates to ensure that you’re not using items that are past their expiry date.
Iyar – Spring has sprung, and Independence Day is an opportunity to go blue and white. Fortunately, our nation’s colors are everywhere. Deck out your kiddush hall with flags, bake blue-and-white cupcakes, blueberry pies, and rent a machine to make blue slushies for everyone to enjoy.
Sivan – We mark the end of the school year, and we celebrate Jerusalem Day, as well as Shavuot – the holiday of the first fruits. It is also the beginning of the summer. Ice cream and cheesecake are obvious Shavuot dairy choices. Watermelon is the perfect way to cool off on a hot day, and adults and children alike enjoy ice pops, especially when the kiddush is held outside.
Even though Tamuz, Av, and Elul are low key in terms of celebrations, you can always find a reason to celebrate something on a Shabbat. Shabbat Nachamu and Tu B’Av are great times to host singles events, and the food can incorporate the theme of pairs (or pears). The beautiful thing about a kiddush is that there are always endless life-cycle events to commemorate. It just takes a little creativity.
Engagements, weddings, Shabbatot hatan, bar and bat mitzvot, anniversaries, and upsherins/halakot (first haircuts) are reasons to make a l’chaim. Families can get together to celebrate these occasions. A wedding anniversary kiddush can feature a table full of photos of the brides and grooms celebrating; and since couples are getting married all the time, there is always a reason to revel.
When our twins turned three, we sponsored a Hair: The Upsherin Kiddush featuring a Hair-ring Bar with different exotic types of herring, kichel, and pickles from a barrel.
Ask an artist
When we were looking for ideas for Jerusalem Day and Shavuot, we called in local artist Yael Harris-Resnick to design Yerushalayim Shel Chalav – a cheese platter replica of Jerusalem that was anything but cheesy. Getting local artists and creatives involved makes it exciting and interesting for the entire community.
To drink or not to drink?
Being on the kiddush committee at my synagogue has taught me that someone will always have something to say about whatever you do or don’t do.
One of the things that came up as a talking point was alcohol. One synagogue member confided in me that he first became an alcoholic as a teen at the untended kiddushes in his community. While a l’chaim is often part of the experience of making “Kiddush,” many communities have embraced the concept of “dry kiddushes” to avoid teenage drinking. Whether or not you choose to have alcohol at your kiddush, you should try to ensure that there is no easy access to it by the youth of your community. Even if you have no objections to giving your own child an occasional l’chaim, rules should be put in place to keep a responsible eye on the drinks table when children will be present.
Don’t take it personally, just ‘fress’
For every “Congratulations, well done” I get for a kiddush I work on, I also get the complaints.
“Every kiddush should have hot kugel.”
“Not enough herring.”
“Not enough crackers for all that herring.”
“Not enough fruit platters.”
“Too much fruit, not enough cake.”
“Too many vegetables left over.”
“Not enough home-baked goods – too many store-bought cookies.”
A well-run kiddush needs financing from the synagogue or from donors, as well as volunteers to plan, cook, bake, set up, and clean up.
When a community pitches in together to create the perfect kiddush, everyone will enjoy and remember it for years to come.