Kadesh Asher bachar banu: As with many blessings, the Kiddush begins “Praised are You…” (in the second person) but continues “That he chose us…” (in the third person). Ramban makes the following comment in Parshat B’shalach on Exodus 15:26:²² “Any berakhahwhich acknowledges God’s sovereignty,²³… continues in the third person (for example, asher kidshanu – ‘Who sanctifies us’) while blesses that do not begin with the divine name because they fellow another blessing, are written in the second person,²⁴; Long blessings which begin and end with the words baruch attah Adonai; and connected blessings which follow either a short or long blessing. They do not begin with the words baruch attah Adonai but end with these words. Ramban suggests here that the language and person of the blessing depends on the type of blessing we are reciting. such as the second blessing of the Amidah which begins attah gibor, ‘You are mighty.’ Similarly the sages decreed that the Alaynu should be written in the third person because it begins by acknowledging God’s sovereignty.” This explanation is problematic since the blessing over the wine which we recite later in the Haggadah, Asher g’alanu as well as the prayer we add to the Amida during the Ten Days of Repentance, Zochreinu, begins in the third person and then switches to the second person, contradicting the Ramban.²⁵ The Ramban believed that the first part of the blessing must be in the third person but not the latter part of the blessing. The last part of a blessing which is written in the form of a petition can be written in the second person. This matter needs more study.

footnotes: ²² “Give ear to His commandments and heed His laws and I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians, for I the Lord am your healer.” This verse begins in the third person and then switches to the second person, just like the formula. Ramban comments on this and other verses which contain this switch of person – they are the basis for the Kiddush formula. ²³ That is, it begins with the word Baruch attah Adonai ²⁴ There are three formulas for blessings: Short blessings which begin baruch attah Adonai ²⁵ In the Haggadah we say, “Who redeemed us and our ancestors….so too did Adonai our God, bring us to the other festivals and seasons. In the Amida we say, “Remember us for life, O King who delights in life…” In the first blessing of the Amida then we switch to the second person from the third person.