A Silver Kiddush Cup

A silver Kiddush cup is used for drinking wine at a Shabbat or Jewish Holiday meal. This cup is usually passed around the table so that everyone has their own cup to drink from. The reason that it is preferable to have individualized cups is so that people can not contaminate their hands or mouths with non-kosher objects. Also if the cups are not made of silver they will react to the vine wine and cause an unpleasant taste in the mouth. The ideal cup for this purpose is a sterling silver kiddush cup.

The Kiddush cup is used to sanctify the Sabbath, holidays and Jewish lifecycle events with a special blessing over a glass of wine. The cup is traditionally engraved with the family name words of blessing to God and symbols like stars of David, lions, vines and flowers. It is also customary to decorate the cup with gold or silver inlays and designs. The cup is also often given as a Bar Mitzvah gift to commemorate the occasion and can be personalized with the recipient’s name.

One of the rules is that the wine used for the blessing should be red and not white. This is based on the Gemara in Pesachim (62b) and Rishonim that say this is because red wine has the highest concentration of fruit acids.

When a blessing is recited over wine it is important that the person saying it is using all of their senses, just as Moses did when he consecrated the Mishkan by smell, touch, sight and sound. This is so that the person will be fully awake and aware of what they are doing. כוס קידוש מכסף