[42] Another explanation of this custom has been suggested. Bread and wine being before us, it is doubtful which should have the preference for the purpose of Kiddush; the bread is therefore covered, so that no choice is left (Tur Orach Chayyim 271). Bread being the ordinary requisite at our meals, the use of wine for Kiddush is considered more indicative of the distinction of the day. If, however, wine is disliked or injurious, bread is used us its substitute (page 341, note 2). [↑]
[43] A peculiar ceremony may here be noticed. Some pass the knife over the bread before the berachah is said. The origin of this custom is this: the rule has been laid down that there should not be a long interval between the berachah and the partaking of the food. The knife and the bread are therefore kept ready, and originally an incision was made into the loaf in order to shorten that interval as much as possible. [↑]
[44] ברוך א׳ י׳ א׳ מ׳ ה׳ אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו להפריש חלה, “Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who hast sanctified us by thy commandments, and commanded us to separate challah.” [↑]
[45] Comp. Mishnah Shabbath ii. 16. [↑]
[46] Some kindle the lights first, and then say the blessing whilst their hands are spread out before the lights. The origin of this latter practice is this: It happens sometimes that the housewife is not ready in time for kindling the lights, and lets another do it for her, she reserving to herself the privilege of saying the berachah later on. In that case the holding of the hands before the lights and withdrawing them after the blessing represents symbolically the kindling of the lights. What was originally done in exceptional cases became subsequently the rule. [↑]
[47] Calendar is derived from the Latin Calendæ, which signifies the first of the month. The Hebrew term לוח, used for “Calendar” or “Almanac,” denotes “table” or “tablet.” In the Talmud. Sod (or Yesod) ha-ibbur is used in the sense of “the theory of the Calendar:” [[361]]literally, the term denotes the fixing of the additional day to the month or the additional month to the year. [↑]
[48] Or more exactly, 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 3⅓ seconds. The technical formula in Hebrew is: כ״ט י״ב תש״צג 29 days, 12793⁄1080 hours. [↑]
[49] In the first month the barley becomes ripe; in the second the whole vegetation of the country stands in its full splendour; in the seventh the hardy fruit, which withstood the heat of the summer, ripens; and in the eighth the first rain of the season comes down. [↑]
[50] The meaning of most of these names is uncertain. The two names Elul and Tishri seem to denote “the disappearance” and “the beginning” of the year. [↑]
[51] The adjustment is necessary for the right observance of Passover, which must be celebrated in the first month (Exod. xii. 2), the month of Abib (Deut. xvi. 1), that is, in the spring, when in Palestine the corn begins to ripen. Without the periodical insertion of a month, Passover would be celebrated in every succeeding year eleven days earlier than in the previous one, and in course of time at different seasons, contrary to the Law. [↑]