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In many synagogues, it is common to have an informal food gathering after services on Shabbat morning. This is very rarely, if ever, done Friday night. On Shabbat morning the way it's done is usually to have one person make Kiddush for everyone, and then everyone eats, although generally there is no Motzi made and no bread served. Some are careful to eat Mezonot so that the Kiddush has a Makom Seudah status. There are instances when this is done, along the same lines, at home.

Can one eat after Kiddush Friday night along the same lines? If not, why is it different?

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By washing, do you mean: having a meal? – Double AA♦ Jul 22 '12 at 22:22
When you say after, do you mean immediately after or anytime after? – Double AA♦ Jul 22 '12 at 22:30
And when you say "different", different from what? – msh210♦ Jul 22 '12 at 22:38
I'm closing this as a temporary measure so it can be clarified: right now it's unanswerable. – msh210♦ Jul 22 '12 at 22:39
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@msh210 and doubleaa, how about now? – Seth J Jul 22 '12 at 23:02
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1 Answer

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The rules of eating a meal in the same place one made or heard kidush are written among the rules of Friday night's kidush (and applied to both). Thus, the rule (Mishna B'rura 273:25) that cake suffices for this (so one need not immediately eat bread) applies to the nighttime as well as the daytime kidush. (However, even if he is famished during the day and cannot eat cake or the like so eats fruit, he can't do so at night: cake or the like is required at night. MB 273:26.)

Why, then, don't people do this in synagogues? I suspect it's practical considerations: women aren't there (in many synagogues, and, in any event, traditionally haven't been there, and old habits die hard), so it's unusual to make a celebration in the synagogue, for the community, Friday night. Moreover, people with children want to go home before the children need to go to sleep. And similar considerations.

Moreover, there are two specific reasons to have a kidush with no bread in the morning that don't apply at night. One is that (in many synagogues) the prayers end before lunchtime in the morning, and people want to eat something light. The second is a specific custom (Taame Haminhagim, asterisked footnote to 299) to eat "four meals" (the second of which requires no bread) on Shabas, so that some people deliberately (even at home) eat something light and take a break before lunch even if it is already lunchtime.

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1. What is the reason given by the M"B? 2. What is the source for the 4th meal custom? – Seth J Jul 23 '12 at 1:17
@SethJ Which MB are you referring to? – Double AA♦ Jul 23 '12 at 1:22
@doubleaa Cake being required at night. I can look it up, a but a brief explanation would make for a better answer. – Seth J Jul 23 '12 at 1:26
@SethJ You mean as opposed to fruit? He's quoting the Chaye Adam 2:6:22 who quotes the Elya Rabba which as far as I can tell doesn't exist. It's probably just a chumra because night time kiddush is deoraita. – Double AA♦ Jul 23 '12 at 1:31
@SethJ, re night vs. day, MB doesn't give a reason, and, while I haven't checked, I'll take DoubleAA's word for what he wrote above. Re the fourth meal, see Taame Haminhagim, asterisked footnote to 299. – msh210♦ Jul 23 '12 at 3:33

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