For many years now (decades, actually... wow!), we have been getting together with close friends on Shabbos after the vasikin minyan to make kiddush, have a bite to eat—sometimes just pastries, chips, and stuff, sometimes a full-blown s'uda. In any case, the one who makes kiddush has always sat for the kiddush ceremony. One week, he stood. Why he did that, what our response was—and what it should have been (our halachic response, I mean... we were all a bit taken by surprise), what the different parts of the kiddush service are, and why people do different things are all, b'ezras HaShem, topics we'll cover in this TftD. Strap in. The kiddush ceremonies on Friday night and Shabbos are somewhat different. Friday night fulfills a Torah obligation and is beautified with Rabbinic enhancements. We start with a declaration/testimony that HaShem created the world in six and then capped it all off with Shabbos, aka וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ. We then proceed with the actual kiddush blessing, which...
In English we have the term "pregnant pause," which means a deliberate, often long, and sometimes uncomfortable moment of silence in speech, acting, or conversation that is "full of" meaning, significance, or anticipation. There are also dramatic and poignant pauses, which are typically shorter. All three techniques can be used to build suspense (pregnant), add emphasis to the point just made (dramatic) , and/or encourage introspection and allow the matter to be internalized (poignant). They can each be used for any of those effects; I just indicated the most usual flavor of pause used in each situation... in my humble opinion. The ellipsis in the preceding sentence was meant to convey a poignant pause and encourage the reader to form their own thoughts on the topic. All this is to make the communication more engaging. <Feel free to fill in your own thoughts here while I make myself a cup of coffee.> It is also possible for a pause to turn into an interruptio...