This year, 2021/5781, the first Seder begins Saturday night after Shabbat. Today’s daf TB Pesakhim 103 presents seven different opinions about the order of the kiddush and havdalah blessings. The Gemara uses an acronym for each one of the blessings. For easy reference each letter of the acronym will stand for different blessing.
י-יין יקנה"ז blessing over the wine ק-קידוש kiddush נ-נר blessing over the candle ה-הבדלהthe havdalah blessing ז-זמן the shehekhiyanu blessing.
Even though there are seven different opinions, they can be divided into two separate camps. The first camp I will call team Rav which holds that kiddush comes first. The second camp I will call team Shmuel which holds that havdalah comes first. Although the Gemara doesn’t explain the underlining reason for each position, I will share Rashbam’s explanation. All the citations are translated by Sefaria.org
“With regard to a Festival that occurs after Shabbat, Rav said that the proper order of the blessings follows the acronym yod, kuf, nun, heh (יַקְנֶ"ה): Wine [yayin], kiddush, candle [ner], and havdala; and Shmuel said the proper order is yod, nun, heh, kuf (יִנְהַ"ק): Wine [yayin], candle [ner], havdala, and kiddush.”
Rashbam explains that Rav holds that kiddush is preferable over havdalah, If we make havdalah first, the sanctification of the day i.e kiddush appears like a burden. It also looks like were eager to get rid of Shabbat. On the other hand, Shmuel holds that havdalah comes first based on the midrash that is found later on today’s daf. “This is comparable to a king who is exiting a city and a governor is entering. Etiquette dictates that the inhabitants of the city first escort the king out of the city to take leave of him in a dignified fashion, and afterward they go out to greet the governor. Similarly, one should first recite havdalah, to take leave of Shabbat, and only then recite kiddush over the Festival, whose sanctity is lesser than that of Shabbat.”
“And Rabba said that the correct order is yod, heh, nun, kuf (יַהְנֵ"ק): Wine [yayin], havdala, candle [ner], and kiddush. And Levi said the order is kuf, nun, yod, heh (קְנִיָּ"ה): Kiddush, candle [ner], wine [yayin], and havdala. And the Rabbis say the order is kuf, yod, nun, heh (קִינָ"ה): kiddush, wine [yayin], candle [ner], and havdala. Mar, son of Rabbana, said the order is nun, kuf, yod, heh (נְקִיָּ"ה): Candle [ner], kiddush, wine [yayin], and havdala. The Sage named Marta said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua that the proper order is nun, heh, yod, kuf (נִיהָ"ק): Candle [ner], wine [yayin], havdala, and kiddush.”
Rabba is on team Shmuel. He places the blessing over the candle in between kiddush and havdalah because one is a sanctification the other is a desanctification. Levi is on team Rav. We places the wine next to havdalah because we always make havdalah over a cup of wine. That is not necessarily the case for kiddush because you can make kiddush over the hallah. The Rabbis are also on team Rav. First you make kiddush and then you make havdalah using the regular order of blessings, wine, candle, havdalah. Mar bar Rabbana is on team Shmuel. He places the candle first because we gain immediate benefit from it. Marta is on team Shmuel. Rabbi Yehoshua is also on team Shmuel. He places the wine between havdalah and kiddush since they are both are said over a cup of wine. He places the candle first because you can say this blessing Saturday night even if you don’t have any wine.
Those of you who regularly say havdalah will immediately recognize that none of these rabbis include the blessing over the spices! Rashbam explains the reason why this blessing is missing due to our extra soul (נשמה יתרה). On Shabbat God gives us an extra soul to enjoy Shabbat even more. This extra soul leaves us Saturday night. The sweet smelling spices are like pleasant smelling salts to revive us. On holidays we also are granted that extra soul; consequently, we don’t need those spices to revive us. Tosefot on TB Pesakhim 102b (ד"ה רב אמר יקנ"ה) disagrees. They hold the position that on holidays we are not granted that extra soul. If this were the case, we would make the blessing over the spices when we make havdalah at the conclusion of the holiday. But we never say this blessing at that time. They make the case that the food and drink we enjoy at the meal takes the place of the spices to revive us.
You may also notice that so far nobody has also mentioned the shehekhiyanu blessing. The reason why is simple. The case that has been under discussions since the previous daf has been about the seventh day of Passover. The seventh day of Passover is not a separate holiday, but only the continuation of Passover. Consequently, the shehekhiyanu blessing is not needed. However, Rava and Abaye bring it into the conversation at the very end of our sugiyah.
“The Gemara asks: What halakhic conclusion was reached about this matter? What is the proper order of the blessings? The amorafim accept Rav’s opinion that one should recite kiddush before havdala; however, they disagree about the blessing of time, which is generally relevant in such cases and which Rav did not address. Abaye said that the proper order is yod, kuf, zayin, nun, heh (יַקְזְנָ"ה): The blessing over wine [yayin], kiddush, the blessing for time [zeman], the blessing over the candle [ner], and havdala. And Rava said the order is yod, kuf, nun, heh, zayin (יַקְנְהָ"ז): Wine [yayin], kiddush, candle [ner], havdala, and time [zeman]. The Gemara concludes: And the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rava.”
Both Abaye and Rava are on team Rav. They just disagree when you say the shehekhiyanu blessing. Abaye holds that shehekhiyanu blessing is said after kiddush It is linked to kiddush of the holiday which is entering and not to Shabbat which is exiting. Rava holds that we say the shehekhiyanu blessing at the end like we always do. We just maintain the same pattern.
What should we do this year? The halakha follows Rava and the order is יַקְנְהָ"ז. (Shulkhan Arukh, Orekh Hayim, 473:1) Don’t worry about remembering all of this. Your Haggadah will include all the instructions and the blessings in the right order.
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