Shabbat

According to halakha (Jewish religious law), Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before the sun sets on Friday evening until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night, or an hour after sundown.^[2] Shabbat is ushered in by lighting candles and reciting blessings over wine and bread. Traditionally, three festive meals are eaten: The first one is held on Friday evening, the second is traditionally a lunch meal on Saturday, and the third is held later Saturday afternoon. The evening meal and the early afternoon meal typically begin with a blessing called kiddush (sanctification), said over a cup of wine.

At the third meal a kiddush is not performed, but the hamotzi blessing is recited and

Shabbat is a festive day when Jews exercise their freedom from the regular labours of everyday life. It offers an opportunity to contemplate the spiritual aspects of life and to spend time with family. The end of Shabbat is traditionally marked by a ritual called Havdalah, during which blessings are said over wine (or grape juice), aromatic spices, and light, separating Shabbat from the rest of the week.[3]

Etymology

The word Shabbat derives from the Hebrew root

A

Connection to Sabbath observance has been suggested in the designation of the seventh, fourteenth, nineteenth, twenty-first and twenty-eight days of a lunar month in an Assyrian religious calendar as a 'holy day', also called 'evil days' (meaning "unsuitable" for prohibited activities). The prohibitions on these days, spaced seven days apart (except the nineteenth), include abstaining from chariot riding, and the avoidance of eating meat by the King. On these days officials were prohibited from various activities and common men were forbidden to "make a wish", and at least the 28th was known as a "rest-day".[6]^[7]

The

Egypt

Seventh-day Shabbat did not originate with the

planets generally, have also been abandoned.^[13]

Hebrew Bible

Main article: Biblical Sabbath

Sabbath is given special status as a holy day at the very beginning of the

Tanakh; double the normal number of animal sacrifices are to be offered on the day.^[19] Sabbath is also described by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, and Nehemiah

.

The longstanding Jewish position is that unbroken seventh-day Shabbat originated among the Jewish people, as their first and most sacred institution.^[8] The origins of Shabbat and a seven-day week are not clear to scholars; the Mosaic tradition claims an origin from the Genesis creation narrative.^[20][21]

The first non-Biblical reference to Sabbath is in an ostracon found in excavations at Mesad Hashavyahu, which has been dated to approximately 630 BCE.^[22]

Status as a Jewish holy day

The Tanakh and siddur describe Shabbat as having three purposes:^{[citation needed]}

1. To commemorate God's creation of the universe, on the seventh day of which God rested from (or ceased) his work;
2. To commemorate the Israelites' Exodus and redemption from slavery in ancient Egypt;
3. As a "taste" of
   Olam Haba (the Messianic Age
   ).

Judaism accords Shabbat the status of a joyous holy day. In many ways,

Jewish law gives Shabbat the status of being the most important holy day in the Hebrew calendar:^[23]

• It is the first holy day mentioned in the Bible, and God was the first to observe it with the cessation of creation (Genesis 2:1–3).
• Jewish liturgy treats Shabbat as a "bride" and "queen" (see Shekhinah); some sources described it as a "king".^[24]
• The
  Haftarah
  reading from the Hebrew prophets is read.
• A tradition states that the
  Jewish Messiah will come if every Jew properly observes two consecutive Shabbatoth.^[25]
• The punishment in ancient times for desecrating Shabbat (stoning) is the most severe punishment in Jewish law.^[26] In addition, the divine punishment for desecrating Shabbat, kareth (spiritual excommunication), is the most severe of divine punishments in Judaism.^[27]
• On Shabbat an offering of two lambs was brought in the temple in Jerusalem.^[28]

Rituals

"Shabbat dinner" redirects here. For the film, see Shabbat Dinner.

Welcoming Shabbat

Honoring Shabbat (kavod Shabbat) on Preparation Day (Friday) includes bathing, having a haircut and cleaning and beautifying the home (with flowers, for example). Days in the Jewish calendar start at nightfall, therefore many Jewish holidays begin at such time.^[29] According to Jewish law, Shabbat starts a few minutes before sunset. Candles are lit at this time. It is customary in many communities to light the candles 18 minutes before sundown (tosefet Shabbat, although sometimes 36 minutes), and most printed Jewish calendars adhere to this custom.

The Kabbalat Shabbat service is a prayer service welcoming the arrival of Shabbat. Before Friday night dinner, it is customary to sing two songs, one "greeting" two Shabbat angels into the house^[30] ("Shalom Aleichem" -"Peace Be Upon You") and the other praising the woman of the house for all the work she has done over the past week ("Eshet Ḥayil" -"Women Of Valour").^[31] After blessings over the wine and challah, a festive meal is served. Singing is traditional at Sabbath meals.^[32] In modern times, many composers have written sacred music for use during the Kabbalat Shabbat observance, including Robert Strassburg^[33] and Samuel Adler.^[34]

According to rabbinic literature, God via the Torah commands Jews to observe (refrain from forbidden activity) and remember (with words, thoughts, and actions) Shabbat, and these two actions are symbolized by the customary two Shabbat candles. Candles are lit usually by the woman of the house (or else by a man who lives alone). Some families light more candles, sometimes in accordance with the number of children.^[35]

Other rituals

"Oyneg Shabes" and "Oneg Shabbat" redirect here. For the collection of documents from the Warsaw Ghetto collected and preserved by the group known by the code name Oyneg Shabes, see Ringelblum Archive.

Shabbat is a day of celebration as well as

prayer. It is customary to eat three festive meals: Dinner on Shabbat eve (Friday night), lunch on Shabbat day (Saturday), and a third meal (a Seudah shlishit^[36]

) in the late afternoon (Saturday). It is also customary to wear nice clothing (different from during the week) on Shabbat to honor the day.

Many Jews attend synagogue services on Shabbat even if they do not do so during the week. Services are held on Shabbat eve (Friday night), Shabbat morning (Saturday morning), and late Shabbat afternoon (Saturday afternoon).

With the exception of Yom Kippur, days of public fasting are postponed or advanced if they coincide with Shabbat. Mourners sitting shivah (week of mourning subsequent to the death of a spouse or first-degree relative) outwardly conduct themselves normally for the duration of the day and are forbidden to display public signs of mourning.

Although most Shabbat laws are restrictive, the fourth of the Ten Commandments in Exodus is taken by the Talmud and Maimonides to allude to the positive commandments of Shabbat. These include:

• Honoring Shabbat (kavod Shabbat): on Shabbat, wearing festive clothing and refraining from unpleasant conversation. It is customary to avoid talking on Shabbat about money, business matters, or secular things that one might discuss during the week.^[37][38]
• Recitation of kiddush over a cup of wine at the beginning of Shabbat meals, or at a reception after the conclusion of morning prayers (see the list of Jewish prayers and blessings).

• Seudah Shlishit (literally, "third meal"), generally a light meal that may be pareve or dairy

  , is eaten late Shabbat afternoon.

• Enjoying Shabbat (oneg Shabbat): Engaging in pleasurable activities such as eating, singing, sleeping, spending time with the family, and marital relations. Sometimes referred to as "Shabbating".
• Recitation of havdalah.

Ending Shabbat

Havdalah (Hebrew: הַבְדָּלָה, "separation") is a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat, and ushers in the new week. At the conclusion of Shabbat at nightfall, after the appearance of three stars in the sky, the havdalah blessings are recited over a cup of wine, and with the use of fragrant spices and a candle, usually braided. Some communities delay havdalah later into the night in order to prolong Shabbat. There are different customs regarding how much time one should wait after the stars have surfaced until the sabbath technically ends. Some people hold by 72 minutes later and other hold longer and shorter than that.

Prohibited activities

Jewish law (halakha) prohibits doing any form of melakhah (מְלָאכָה, plural melakhoth) on Shabbat, unless an urgent human or medical need is life-threatening. Though melakhah is commonly translated as "work" in English, a better definition is "deliberate activity" or "skill and craftmanship". There are 39 categories of melakhah:^[39]

The 39 melakhoth are not so much activities as "categories of activity". For example, while "winnowing" usually refers exclusively to the separation of chaff from grain, and "selecting" refers exclusively to the separation of debris from grain, they refer in the Talmudic sense to any separation of intermixed materials which renders edible that which was inedible. Thus, filtering undrinkable water to make it drinkable falls under this category, as does picking small bones from fish (gefilte fish is one solution to this problem).

The categories of labors prohibited on Shabbat are

In addition to the 39 melakhot, additional activities were prohibited by the rabbis for various reasons.

The term

Specific applications

Electricity

Main article: Electricity on Shabbat

Orthodox and some Conservative authorities rule that turning

rabbinic injunction

, rather than a melakhah.

A common solution to the problem of electricity involves preset timers (

Shabbat clocks) for electric appliances, to turn them on and off automatically, with no human intervention on Shabbat itself. Some Conservative authorities^[44][45][46] reject altogether the arguments for prohibiting the use of electricity. Some Orthodox also hire a "Shabbos goy

", a Gentile to perform prohibited tasks (like operating light switches) on Shabbat.

Automobiles

Main article: Driving on Shabbat

Orthodox and many Conservative authorities completely prohibit the use of automobiles on Shabbat as a violation of multiple categories, including lighting a fire, extinguishing a fire, and transferring between domains (category 39). However, the Conservative movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards permits driving to a synagogue on Shabbat, as an emergency measure, on the grounds that if Jews lost contact with synagogue life, they would become lost to the Jewish people.

A halakhically authorized

Shabbat mode added to a power-operated mobility scooter

may be used on the observance of Shabbat for those with walking limitations, often referred to as a Shabbat scooter. It is intended only for individuals whose limited mobility is dependent on a scooter or automobile consistently throughout the week.

Modifications

Seemingly "forbidden" acts may be performed by modifying technology such that no law is actually violated. In

Sabbath elevator" will stop automatically at every floor, allowing people to step on and off without anyone having to press any buttons, which would normally be needed to work. (Dynamic braking is also disabled if it is normally used, i.e., shunting energy collected from downward travel, and thus the gravitational potential energy of passengers, into a resistor

network.) However, many rabbinical authorities consider the use of such elevators by those who are otherwise capable as a violation of Shabbat, with such workarounds being for the benefit of the frail and handicapped and not being in the spirit of the day.

Many observant Jews avoid the prohibition of carrying by use of an

jewelry

may be worn rather than carried. An elastic band with clips on both ends, and with keys placed between them as integral links, may be considered a belt.

Shabbat lamps have been developed to allow a light in a room to be turned on or off at will while the electricity remains on. A special mechanism blocks out the light when the off position is desired without violating Shabbat.

The

Jews, and all Jewish Sabbath-observers, to use a smartphone to text on the Jewish Sabbath. It has met with resistance from some authorities.^{[47][48][49][50]}

Permissions

Main article: Pikuach nefesh

If a human life is in danger (pikuach nefesh), then a Jew is not only allowed, but required,^[51][52] to violate any halakhic law that stands in the way of saving that person (excluding murder, idolatry, and forbidden sexual acts). The concept of life being in danger is interpreted broadly: for example, it is mandated that one violate Shabbat to bring a woman in active labor to a hospital. Lesser rabbinic restrictions are often violated under much less urgent circumstances (a patient who is ill but not critically so).

We did everything to save lives, despite Shabbat. People asked: "Why are you here? There are no Jews here," but we are here because the Torah orders us to save lives .... We are desecrating Shabbat with pride.

— Mati Goldstein, commander of the Jewish ZAKA rescue-mission to the 2010 Haiti earthquake^[53]

Various other legal principles closely delineate which activities constitute

ex post facto

Reform and Reconstructionist views

Generally, adherents of Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism believe that the individual Jew determines whether to follow Shabbat prohibitions or not. For example, some Jews might find activities, such as writing or cooking for leisure, to be enjoyable enhancements to Shabbat and its holiness, and therefore may encourage such practices. Many Reform Jews believe that what constitutes "work" is different for each person, and that only what the person considers "work" is forbidden.^[54] The radical Reform rabbi Samuel Holdheim advocated moving Sabbath to Sunday for many no longer observed it, a step taken by dozens of congregations in the United States in late 19th century.^[55]

More rabbinically traditional Reform and Reconstructionist Jews believe that these halakhoth in general may be valid, but that it is up to each individual to decide how and when to apply them. A small fraction of Jews in the Progressive Jewish community accept these laws in much the same way as Orthodox Jews.

Encouraged activities

The Talmud, especially in tractate Shabbat, defines rituals and activities to both "remember" and "keep" the Sabbath and to sanctify it at home and in the synagogue. In addition to refraining from creative work, the sanctification of the day through

• Reading, studying, and discussing Torah and commentary, Mishnah and Talmud, and learning some halakha and midrash.
• prayers
  .
• Spending time with other Jews and socializing with family, friends, and guests at Shabbat meals (hachnasat orchim, "hospitality").
• Singing
  niggunim
  , special songs for Shabbat meals (commonly sung during or after a meal).
• Sex between husband and wife.^[58]
• Sleeping.

Special Shabbat

Special Shabbatot are the Shabbatot that precede important

Most

Samaritans

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2022)

Samaritans also observe Shabbat.^[59][60]

Lunar Sabbath

Some hold the biblical sabbath was not connected to a 7-day week like the Gregorian calendar.^[61] Instead the New Moon marks the starting point for counting and the shabbat falls consistently on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th of each month. Biblical text to support using the moon, a light in the heavens, to determine days include Genesis 1:14, Psalm 104:19, and Sirach 43:6–8 See references: ^[62][63][64]

Rabbinic Jewish tradition and practice does not hold of this, holding the sabbath to be based of the days of creation, and hence a wholly separate cycle from the monthly cycle, which does not occur automatically and must be rededicated each month.^[65] See kiddush hachodesh.

See also

Look up Shabbat or shabbat in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shabbat.

• List of Shabbat topics
• Baqashot
• Jewish greetings
• Jewish prayer § Prayer on Shabbat
• Lord's Day
• Shmita
• Uposatha

References