 We recite Kiddush twice on Shabbat, on Friday night and again on Shabbat morning. While the two versions share certain key things in common, they differ in significant ways as well. In particular, the Friday
night Kiddush features a lengthy bracha in which both “Zecher l’Maaseh Bereshit” – “a commemoration of the act of Creation” and “Zecher l’Yetziat Mitzrayim” – “a commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt” are mentioned prominently. On Shabbat morning, this bracha does not appear, and even in the various verses that do get recited according to some of the customs, Creation is only mildly touched upon and Exodus is not mentioned at all. If these two ideas are important enough to play such an important role in the Friday night Kiddush, why are they virtually ignored by day?
We might ask another question as well. Yetziat Mitzrayim as an operation did not come off particularly well. The population that left Egypt wound up failing to make it to their destination, and that after wandering for forty years to get to a land less than two weeks travel from where they started. They were adulterated by a mixed group of foreigners (eirav rav) that threw them off their game plan. A national day of mourning was born and an entire generation died in the wilderness. Why are we so keen on commemorating Yetziat Mitzrayim? Perhaps we should focus instead on “K’nisah la-Aretz” and commemorate our eventual entrance into the Land of Israel!
It seems to me that the mention made of Creation and Exodus in the Friday night Kiddush is not about the events themselves but rather about something those two events have in common.
They both represent moments of high potential.
Neither Creation nor Exodus led immediately to the perfection they both held in promise, not Creation for the world nor Exodus for the Jewish people. But conjuring up their memories brings us back to their pristine beginnings, when, for the moment, perfection seemed possible and potential was unlimited.
On Friday night, as Shabbat enters, we want to be reminded about the potential for perfection. We may not have carried through a perfected Creation, and we may not have seen through a perfect Exodus, but we need not repeat our past imperfections. With proper awareness and planning, we can have a perfect Shabbat.
Zecher l’Maaseh Bereshit and Zcher l’Yetziat Mitazrayim remind us to use the onset of Shabbat to think through our plan for making this one yield its full potential. By Shabbat morning, we make Kiddush again, to reinforce the sanctity that is by this time in full swing, but that unique moment of high potential is past, and so we commemorate Creation and Exodus no more.
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