Bais HaVaad on the Parsha, Parshas Ki Sisa

Tea Time

March 13, 2025

Excerpted and adapted from a shiur by Dayan Yosef Jacobovits

And the Bnei Yisrael shall observe the Shabbos, to make the Shabbos an eternal covenant for their generations…

Shmos 31:16

The Mishnah Brurah (O.C. 289:2) says that many people customarily recite this pasuk and the following one as part of the Shabbos daytime kiddush. Others recite “Zachor…” (Shmos 20) as well. The Mishnah Brurah cautions against saying only “Al kein beirach…,” because one should not say only part of a pasuk, but the Aruch Hashulchan (O.C. 289) defends that minhag, saying that the passage is only recited to introduce kiddush rather than as a reading of the pasuk. Regardless, reciting these psukim is not a requirement.

Although wine (or grape juice) is generally used for kiddush on Shabbos day, one may also use chamar medinah (“wine of the province,” i.e., an important drink in a given time and place). R’ Moshe Feinstein says it should be a drink one would serve a prominent guest. In Europe, beer was often used as chamar medinah, though coffee and tea are more commonly used that way in the U.S. today. One who uses these drinks must be careful to drink the proper shiur (the majority of a revi’is) immediately following the bracha; some allow up to a minute.

Liquor may also be used, though most poskim hold that one must be careful to drink the proper shiur and ensure that the cup holds a revi’is. Iced coffee may also be used today according to many, because it has become quite popular as a special drink. But most poskim hold that iced tea and soda do not qualify as chamar medinah.