Splitting Verses in Shema and Kiddush

Date: 16 Elul 5598

From: Rabbi Moshe Sofer

To: Rabbi Mordechai Ze'ev

Description

The Chasam Sofer addresses whether reciting partial verses in the Ma'arava Shema introduction and Friday night Kiddush violates the prohibition against splitting verses Moshe did not divide. He resolves the Shema issue by identifying the phrase as a complete verse from Acharei Mos, justifies Kiddush's mid-verse start for the divine acrostic, and emphatically rejects the Magen Giborim's theory that an esnachta constitutes a valid verse division.

Source: Shu"t Chasam Sofer OC §10

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