top of page
Shabbat - candle lighting_edited.png

Mural designed by: Panagiotis Peter Sarganis

Shabbat

Nothing is more central to Jewish life than Shabbat - every Friday evening, we gather together to remember Shabbat. Singing the songs, reciting the prayers and observing this sacred time of Rest. 

Known in Hebrew as Shabbat and in Yiddish as Shabbos, it begins at sundown on Friday and ends on Saturday evening with Havdalah, a short ceremony that separates Shabbat from the rest of the week.

Shabbat celebrates creation and offers a respite from the hectic pace of the rest of the week. Shabbat is a day of rest, and also a day of pleasure and delight. Shabbat is a time that is set aside to take notice of the wonders around us.  Shabbat is central to Jewish life. As the great Jewish writer Ahad Ha-Am has observed: "More than the Jewish people has kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jewish people." The Sabbath truly has been a unifying force for Jews the world over.

History

History

The model of Sabbath rest can be found in Genesis 2:1-3:  "The heaven and earth were finished, and all their array. On the seventh day God finished the work which God had been doing, and God ceased [rested] on the seventh day from all the work which God had done. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it God ceased [rested] from all the work of creation which God had done."  Thus, the pattern of work and rest is woven into the very fabric of the universe. Rest means more than physical cessation of work. It implies taking oneself out of the ordinary, out of the routine, out of the every-day. This kind of rest gives us the opportunity to re-create our spirit and restore our soul.

Not only is the Sabbath an integral part of the creation story, it is the only holiday mentioned in the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments appear twice in the Bible, and the Sabbath commandment is formulated somewhat differently in each instance.

From Exodus 20:8-11: “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of Adonai your God: you shall not do any work -- you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. For in six days, Adonai made heaven and earth and sea, all that is in them, and God rested on the seventh day; therefore Adonai has blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."

From Deuteronomy 5:12-15: “Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as Adonai your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of Adonai your God: you shall not do any work -- you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your ox of your ass, or any of your cattle, or the stranger in your settlements, so that your male and female slave may rest as you do.

Mural designed by: Ramona Josephson

Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and Adonai your God freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore Adonai your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day”.

These two passages point out two different aspects of Shabbat: Exodus tells us to remember the Sabbath, while Deuteronomy stresses the observance of the day. And each passage offers us a different rationale for Shabbat: Exodus reminds us that on Shabbat we rejoice in the creation of the physical universe; Deuteronomy reminds us of our own experience of slavery, and that we must remember our Exodus from Egypt and recognize the freedom we enjoy.

OBSERVANCE

There are few details about specific Shabbat observances in the Torah, other than “do no work” (Exodus 20:10, Exodus 35:2, Deuteronomy 5:14). The only specific prohibitions mentioned are against kindling fire, gathering wood, and plowing.  After the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 CE, the ancient Rabbis had to adapt their customs and teachings to a new reality. Through this process, they laid the foundation of Rabbinic Judaism, which is now the basis for modern Jewish life.

A major area of concern for the Rabbis was creating rules for Shabbat observance. Based on an injunction not to work on Shabbat that appears in the midst of the Torah’s description of how the Israelites were to build the Tabernacle (Exodus 31:13), the Rabbis concluded that the work required to build the Tabernacle should form the basis of the kinds of work prohibited on Shabbat. They identified 39 categories of work, largely concerned with creating, destroying, and harvesting, and based their restrictions on these kinds of labor and other tasks related to them.

The Rabbis also translated the Torah’s commandments to “remember” and “keep” the Sabbath into liturgy, including special blessings and rituals as positive elements of observance.  Both the prohibitions and the liturgy and rituals have evolved over time, adapting to the social structures, customs, and ideologies of different communities. The mystics of the Middle Ages gave us a new image of Shabbat as a bride and queen, to be welcomed with joy and song. Prohibitions have sometimes expanded as technologies have changed, and artists through the ages have continues to add to the liturgy, creating the beautiful observances we can experience today.

NOTE FROM THE ARTIST: I positioned the Rabbi facing the Arc, arms wide open, embracing the Torahs to invoke the feeling of joy and awe we experience on Shabbat. The Torahs contain the teachings of our ancestors; two white doves reflect comfort. Above this arc I added the Hebrew letters that appear on our own arc as written by Rabbi Infeld.

Customs

Lighting candles, saying prayer over children, saying prayer over wine, saying prayer over challah.

Birkat Hamazon - blessing after meal.

Havdalah - commemorates the end of Shabbat.

shabbat_101.jpg
Customs
Blessings
Reading Torah

Blessings

Blessing Over Wine

Kiddish

HEBREW TEXT

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה, יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ,
מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּֽפֶן.

TRANSLITERATION

Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, borei p’ri hagafen.

TRANSLATION

Praise to You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

Lighting Candles

Candle Blessing

Light the Shabbat candles on Friday night, then recite the blessing.

HEBREW TEXT

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה, יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ, מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּנוּ לְהַדְלִיק נֵר שֶׁל שַׁבָּת.

TRANSLITERATION

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam
Asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'zivanu l'hadlik ner shel Shabbat

TRANSLATION

Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of time and space.
You hallow us with Your mitzvot and command us to kindle the lights of Shabbat.

Blessing Over Children

Blessing over children

FOR A FEMALE CHILD:

HEBREW TEXT

יְשִׂמֵךְ אֱלֹהִים כְּשָׂרָה, כְּרִבְקָה, כְּרָחֵל, וּכְלֵאָה.

TRANSLITERATION

Y'simeich Elohim k'Sarah, k'Rivkah, k'Rachel, ooch'Leah.

TRANSLATION

May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.

FOR A MALE CHILD: 

HEBREW TEXT

יְשִׂמְךָ אֱלֹהִים כְּאֶפְרַֽיִם וְכִמְנַשֶּׁה.

TRANSLITERATION

Y'simcha Elohim k'Efrayim v'chi-Menasheh.

TRANSLATION

May God make you like Ephraim and Menasheh.

SECOND PART OF BLESSING FOR BOTH MALE AND FEMALE:

HEBREW TEXT

יְבָרֶכְךָ יְיָ וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ.
יָאֵר יְיָ פָּנָיו אֵלֶֽיךָ וִיחֻנֶּֽךָּ.
יִשָּׂא יְיָ פָּנָיו אֵלֶֽיךָ, וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם.

TRANSLITERATION

Y'varechecha Adonai v'yish'm'recha.
Ya-er Adonai panav eilecha vichuneka.
Yisa Adonai panav eilecha
v'yaseim l'cha shalom.

TRANSLATION

May God bless you and keep you.
May God's light shine upon you, and may God be gracious to you.
May you feel God's Presence within you always, and may you find peace.

Blessing Over Challah

HaMotzi

HEBREW TEXT

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה, יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ, מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם הַמּוֹצִיא לֶחֶם מִן הָאָרֶץ.

TRANSLITERATION

Baruch atah, Adonai
Eloheinu melech haolam,
hamotzi lechem min haaretz.

TRANSLATION

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who brings forth bread from the earth.

bottom of page