Kiddush Invitation Wording for a Baby Girl (Hebrew, Yiddish & English)

A kiddush, or kiddusha rabbah (קידושא רבא), is the celebration held in shul on Shabbos after a baby girl is named. The father gets an aliyah, the baby is named, and after davening the family makes a kiddush for the whole kehillah. The invitation is short and is usually sent on WhatsApp during the week and posted in shul.

What a kiddush invitation includes

• The heading: קידושא רבא (or simply קידוש).
• The reason: לרגל הולדת בתנו למז"ט, for the birth of our daughter, mazel tov.
• If the name has already been given, the baby's name with תחי'.
• The Shabbos and parsha: ביום שב"ק פרשת ___.
• When: after davening (אחר התפילה), or a time.
• The shul (בביהמ"ד ___) with the address.
• The parents' names, often with the grandparents.

Sample wording in Hebrew

Sample wording in Yiddish

Sample wording in English

"With gratitude to Hashem, we invite our family and friends to a Kiddush in honor of the birth of our daughter, this Shabbos, Parshas ___, after davening, at ___."

Kiddush for other simchas

A kiddush is also made for other occasions: an aufruf, a bar mitzvah boy's first Shabbos, a yahrzeit, or a siyum. The same pattern works for each one: the reason (לרגל ...), the Shabbos and parsha, the time and the shul. For a chosson's aufruf there is a separate Bavarfen design with its own fields.

Tips

• Check the parsha. Use a luach. A double parsha (for example ויקהל-פקודי) is written with both names.
• Write the full shul name. Many neighborhoods have several shuls with similar names.
• Keep it short. A kiddush card is read in seconds on a phone; it does not need long blessings.

Hebrew and English on one card

Many families send one card in Hebrew or Yiddish and a second in English for relatives and neighbors who don't read Hebrew. If you put both on one card, keep the Hebrew on top and the English as a short summary underneath: the simcha, the day, the time and the address. Names in English should be spelled the way the family spells them in daily life, which is often different from a word-for-word transliteration.

Sending it

Most guests now receive simcha invitations on WhatsApp. Send the small texting JPG to family groups first, then to the shul group, and print one copy for the shul notice board. If the details change, send the corrected card with a short line such as "updated time", so nobody keeps the old one.

JPG or PDF: which file do you need?

After you pay you get three files, each for a different job. The Small – for texting JPG is under 1 MB, so it goes through on WhatsApp and on picture messages (MMS) without turning blurry; many phone carriers limit picture messages to about that size. The Full quality JPG is 2550 px wide at 300 dpi, sharp enough to print at home. The PDF is print-ready at letter size and holds one flat image, so the print looks exactly like the preview. If you only send the card on phones, the small JPG is all you need; if you are going to a printer, bring the PDF.

Making your invitation on a phone, step by step

• Open the site and tap your simcha, for example Sholom Zucher or Tenoyim.
• Tap the design you like. The card appears on top, the form underneath.
• Type the details. The card updates as you type, so you can see exactly where each line falls.
• Tap the order button under the card, then pay.
• After paying, download your three files: the PDF, the full-quality JPG and the small JPG for texting.

Make it now

On MazelTovInvite the Kiddush design asks for the daughter's name, the shabbos and parsha, time, shul, address, parents and grandparents. The heading קידושא רבא is fixed by the design. For $15 you download a print PDF, a full-quality JPG and a small JPG for texting.

More sample wording in lashon kodesh

When the baby has already been named, many families put her name on the card. A fuller version in the style many chassidish families use:

A short card, the kind that goes up on the shul board:

When the grandparents are making the kiddush in their shul, the card is often written in their name:

More sample wording in Yiddish

More sample wording in English

Line by line: what each phrase means

• ב"ה / בס"ד / בעזהשי"ת — the opening at the top; keep whatever your family uses on other cards.
• ברוב שבח והודאה להשי"ת — "with much praise and thanks to Hashem", the thanks for the birth.
• הננו מתכבדים להזמין — "we are honored to invite"; on a short shul-board card it can be left out.
• קידושא רבא — literally "the great kiddush", the Aramaic name for the Shabbos-morning kiddush. On a card it means the celebration kiddush. Many cards simply write קידוש.
• לרגל הולדת בתנו — "on the occasion of the birth of our daughter". Some add בכורתנו if she is the firstborn.
• ___ תחי' — the baby's name, with תחי' (may she live), once she has been named.
• למז"ט — "למזל טוב".
• אשר יתקיים אי"ה — "which will take place, im yirtzeh Hashem". The word קידוש is masculine, so יתקיים; if you write בשמחת and think of the שמחה, תתקיים is also used. Either reads fine.
• ביום שב"ק פרשת ___ — "on Shabbos Kodesh, Parshas ___".
• אחר התפילה — "after davening". In Yiddish: נאכן דאווענען.
• בביהמ"ד ___ — "in the Beis Medrash ___", the shul.

Writing the Shabbos and parsha

A kiddush card is always for a specific Shabbos, so the parsha is the most important line on it. A few things to watch:

• Write the parsha of that Shabbos, copied from a luach: ביום שב"ק פרשת וירא.
• Double parshiyos are written with both names: פרשת תזריע-מצורע, פרשת בהר-בחקותי, פרשת נצבים-וילך.
• Special Shabbosos. Many families add the name of a special Shabbos next to the parsha: שבת מברכים, שבת חנוכה, שבת שובה, שבת שירה. It is a nice touch and helps people remember the date.
• Shabbos on Yom Tov or Chol Hamoed. Write the Yom Tov name, for example שב"ק חוה"מ פסח, and check the shul's schedule, since davening may end at a different time.
• The Hebrew date is optional on a kiddush card. If you add it, write it in letters: שב"ק פרשת ___, ט"ו כסלו.
• In Yiddish the line reads שבת קודש פרשת ___ or דעם שבת, פרשת ___.

Time wording

Most kiddushim start right after davening, so the card does not need an exact hour. If your shul has more than one minyan, or the kiddush is in another building, write the time.

The shul or hall line

Write the shul the way people in your neighborhood call it, and then the street address in English letters. Many neighborhoods have more than one shul with a similar name, so the address saves people a wrong walk on Shabbos.

• בביהמ"ד ___ — in the ___ Beis Medrash.
• באולם התחתון של ביהמ"ד ___ — in the downstairs hall of the ___ shul.
• בבית הכנסת ___ — in the ___ shul (a little more formal).
• בביתנו — at our home, for a small kiddush after davening.

Since guests walk on Shabbos, a kiddush in the family's own shul, or in a shul in the middle of the neighborhood, is easiest for everyone.

Titles and honorifics

On a kiddush card the baby is a girl, so her title is תחי' (or שתחי'), not נ"י. The rest of the family follows the same pattern as on other heimish cards.

Keep titles the same as at the family's last simcha. One title before a name and one after is enough; הי"ו and שליט"א are not used together.

The baby's name: before or after the naming

The baby girl is named when her father gets an aliyah. In many families that is on Shabbos, at the same kiddush; in others it is on a Monday or Thursday earlier in the week. That changes one line:

• Named before the card is sent: write her name, בתנו ___ תחי'.
• Named on that Shabbos: write בתנו תחי' without the name, since it will be announced in shul.
• Some families never put the name on the card, even after the naming. That is fine; follow your family's habit.

The grandparents' lines

Grandparents are usually listed under the parents, in one line or two short columns:

When the kiddush is in the grandparents' shul, write it in their name, as in the sample above, and mention whose daughter the baby is. If a grandparent is no longer alive, many families leave the name off and some write it with ע"ה or ז"ל; both are common.

Special situations

• Twin girls. Write לרגל הולדת בנותינו התאומות תחיינה, "on the birth of our twin daughters".
• A kiddush for a girl after boys, or the first girl in the family. Some families add a line of extra thanks; a simple card is just as beautiful.
• A kiddush a few weeks later. Sometimes the kiddush is made a few weeks after the birth, when the mother is well and can come. The card stays the same; only the parsha changes.
• A joint kiddush. When two families in the same shul make a kiddush on the same Shabbos, they sometimes share one. Each family can still send its own card with its own names.
• A kiddush at home. A smaller kiddush after davening at home is common in some families. Write בביתנו and the full address.

Common mistakes

• The wrong parsha, especially in weeks with a double parsha, or when the kiddush is postponed.
• Using נ"י for a girl. For the baby girl, use תחי'.
• A shul name without an address, when the neighborhood has several shuls with similar names.
• No time for guests from other shuls. People who daven elsewhere need an approximate hour.
• Too much text. A kiddush card is read in a few seconds; a short card is a good card.
• Sending on Friday afternoon. Send it earlier in the week if you can, so people can plan to come.

The kiddush card at a glance

Full checklist

• Shabbos and parsha checked in a luach, with the special Shabbos name if you want it.
• Shul confirmed, and the kiddush room booked with the gabbai.
• Time: after davening, or an approximate hour for guests from other shuls.
• Baby's name with תחי', or "our daughter" if not yet named.
• Parents' and grandparents' names and titles checked.
• Full shul name and street address.
• English version or line, if needed.
• Preview checked on your phone; JPG sent to the groups during the week; PDF printed for the shul board.

Related guides

• Sholom Zucher invitation wording
• Yiddish & Hebrew invitation abbreviations
• How much does a simcha invitation cost?