Study Sheet – Shabbat

1. Foundations and Meaning of Shabbat

The word "Shabbat" means cessation, rest. It originates in the Creation narrative: God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh (Bereshit 2:3 – "God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it"). Observing Shabbat is one of the Ten Commandments.

Two foundational verses structure Shabbat obligations:

• Zakhor (Remember the Shabbat day to sanctify it – Shemot 20:8): grounds the positive obligations (kiddush, festive meals, candle lighting).
• Shamor (Observe the Shabbat day – Devarim 5:12): grounds the prohibitions (melakhot).

Tradition teaches that both words were spoken simultaneously (bedibbur ehad).

The kedushah (sanctity) of Shabbat is intrinsic: it has existed since Creation, unlike the sanctity of festivals, which depends on the calendar being fixed by the beit din. Shabbat therefore has a higher sanctity, and its prohibitions are stricter (cooking is forbidden on Shabbat but permitted on Yom Tov).

Shabbat is called an "eternal sign" (ot hi le'olam – Shemot 31:13, 17) between God and Israel, testifying to Creation and to the unique bond between God and His people. Desecrating Shabbat is considered a rejection of this testimony.

Tradition teaches that every Jew receives an additional soul on Friday evening, the neshamah yeteirah (Talmud Beitzah 16a), which departs at the conclusion of Shabbat, enabling heightened spiritual sensitivity.

2. Timing and Onset of Shabbat

Shabbat begins on Friday at sunset (sheki'ah). As a precaution, women light candles generally 18 minutes before sunset (20 minutes in Jerusalem, 40 minutes according to some Hasidic customs). One may accept Shabbat even earlier (tosefet Shabbat), and doing so is itself a mitzvah.

Shabbat ends on Saturday evening at the appearance of three stars, approximately 25 hours after candle lighting.

3. Candle Lighting

A married woman lights at least two candles, evoking Zakhor and Shamor. An unmarried woman lights one. If a woman forgets to light the candles once, she must light an additional candle every week for the rest of her life.

The woman lights the candles first, in remembrance of the sin of Chavah (Eve) who brought darkness into the world.

4. Kabbalat Shabbat and Liturgy

Kabbalat Shabbat ("welcoming the Shabbat") is a service recited on Friday evening before Ma'ariv. It was created in the 16th century by the Kabbalists of Safed (Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, the Ari). The Kabbalists would go out into the fields dressed in white to "welcome the Shabbat Queen."

The liturgy includes six psalms (95, 96, 97, 98, 99, and 29 – corresponding to the six days of the week), followed by the poem "Lekha Dodi," then Psalms 92 and 93.

"Bameh Madlikin" (the 2nd chapter of Tractate Shabbat) is recited in some communities (especially Sephardic) after Kabbalat Shabbat.

5. Kiddush

Kiddush is the sanctification of Shabbat through a blessing recited over wine before the meal. It is a Torah obligation (derived from Zakhor).

Friday evening: it includes the blessing over wine (borei peri hagafen), the passage from Bereshit 2:1-3 (Vayekhulu), and the sanctification blessing (mekadesh haShabbat). It begins with the words "Yom hashishi."

Shabbat morning (Kiddusha Rabba – the "great Kiddush," ironically shorter): the blessing over wine followed immediately by the meal. It begins with "Veshamru." It may be recited over bread if wine is unavailable.

6. Challot and the Meal

Two challot are placed on the table (lechem mishneh – double bread), recalling the double portion of manna the Israelites received on Friday in the wilderness (Shemot 16:22). They are covered with a cloth, recalling the dew that covered the manna, and so as not to "dishonor" the bread by reciting the blessing over wine first.

After Kiddush, one washes the hands (netilat yadayim), then recites "Hamotzi lechem min ha'aretz" over both challot. The piece is salted before being distributed. Ashkenazic custom: cut the bottom challah on Friday evening, the top one on Shabbat morning.

The braided shape is an Ashkenazic custom with no halakhic requirement. Sephardim often use round or other shapes. For Rosh Hashanah: round challot (symbolizing the cycle of the year).

Challah separation: the obligation to separate a piece of dough applies from approximately 1.667 kg (3.67 lbs) of flour (Ashkenazic measure). Today the separated piece is burned (no Kohanim in a state of ritual purity).

7. Birkat Hamazon (Grace After Meals)

Birkat Hamazon is a Torah obligation after eating bread to satiation (Devarim 8:10). It comprises four main blessings:

On Shabbat, the paragraph "Retzeh vehahalitzeinu" is added in the 3rd blessing. If forgotten before the 4th blessing, a make-up blessing is recited. After the 4th, one must start over.

The zimun is the formal invitation to grace when three adult men have eaten together ("Nevarekh"). With ten men, the Name of God is added.

For grain-based foods (but not bread): the blessing "Al hamihyah" (me'ein shalosh). Birkat Hamazon may be recited in any language the person understands.

8. The 39 Melakhot – Forbidden Labors

A melakhah is a type of creative labor forbidden on Shabbat. The Mishnah (Shabbat 7:2) lists 39 primary categories (avot melakhah), derived from the labors needed to build the Mishkan (Tabernacle): sowing, plowing, reaping, baking, writing, kindling a fire, etc.

Each category generates derivatives (toladot) of equal severity. For example, the av "reaping" (kotzer) has as its toladah "picking a fruit."

Pikuach nefesh: the principle that saving a life overrides Shabbat.

Amirah le-nokhri: it is in principle forbidden (rabbinic prohibition) to ask a non-Jew to perform a melakhah on Shabbat, with exceptions (Shabbat needs, illness, communal need, indirect request – details in Orah Hayim 307).

9. Havdalah – Closing of Shabbat

Havdalah ("separation") marks the end of Shabbat, recited Saturday evening after the appearance of three stars. If forgotten, it may be recited until Tuesday.

Four blessings (mnemonic YaBNeH):

The candle is braided (multiple wicks) because the blessing says "borei me'orei ha-esh" (who creates the lights of fire – plural).

By saying "Barukh hamavdil bein kodesh lechol" (without God's Name), one may begin performing melakhot, but the full Havdalah over wine remains obligatory.

10. Tzedakah and Shabbat

Tzedakah (from tzedek, justice) is not an optional act of charity but an obligation of justice. Maimonides defines eight levels of tzedakah, from lowest to highest:

1. Giving reluctantly
2. Giving less than one should but cheerfully
3. Giving directly to the poor after being asked
4. Giving directly without being asked
5. The giver does not know who receives
6. The recipient does not know who gives
7. Complete anonymity (through a communal fund)
8. Helping the person become self-sufficient (loan, job, partnership)

One must give at least one-tenth of one's income (ma'aser kesafim); the ideal is one-fifth. Even a poor person who receives tzedakah is obligated to give (Gittin 7b).

Money is not handled on Shabbat. It is customary to place money in the tzedakah box before candle lighting on Friday evening. The tzedakah of Shabbat is also expressed through hospitality (hakhnasat orehim).

Key Takeaways – Summary