There are a number of branches of Judaism. The Orthodox are very strict in exactly how they practice what they believe to be the requirements of their faith. If you have heard about Jews who will not even turn on a light or use a car or an elevator on the weekly Sabbath, they were likely members of this branch of Judaism.
Those who are part of the Conservative branch of Judaism are slightly less rigid in their practice, but still are very careful about such things as observing the Kosher laws regarding food, and not working on the Sabbath.
Those who are part of Reformed Judaism recognize very few strict requirements for daily living, and if they follow such practices as avoiding non-Kosher food such as pork and shellfish, they may view their actions as merely part of a cultural way of life rather than as binding commandments from God.
Material in this series of articles on Jewish customs refers in particular to either Orthodox or Conservative Jewish practices.
Since the Sabbath is observed as the 24-hour period from the evening of Friday up to the evening of Saturday, preparations for observance of the Sabbath in Jewish homes begin Friday afternoon. Men who are able, leave their jobs as early as 2 or 3 PM in time to get home and be involved in those preparations. The home is cleaned and spruced up as if getting ready for guests--as the Sabbath itself is viewed as being like a Queen who will be coming to visit. Family members also bathe and get dressed up, and the best dishes and tableware are brought out to enhance the lovely meal that has been prepared.
Although regular "business" and "home-making" work will not be done on the Sabbath, the Sabbath command from the Bible to "do no work" is believed to cover far more than just physical labor like repairing a car or mopping a floor. The most observant of Jewish families take care not to do any of a list of 39 types of activities accepted by historical Jewish tradition as being prohibited by the Bible--and their many variations (which extend the list almost indefinitely). These would include such simple acts as tying shoelaces, turning on a light switch, or even writing two letters on a piece of paper. There are almost as many varying explanations for the reasoning behind these prohibitions as there are prohibitions.
So Friday afternoons are also dedicated to making preparations for any necessary elements of life that will be unable to be performed on Sabbath. Many families have automatic timers to turn the lights on after dark so that no one will be tempted to flip a switch ... and thus do the work of "creating" light (or, as some view this prohibition, will not be "lighting a fire.") In fact, in many homes, the little light bulb inside the refrigerator will be unscrewed so that opening the door of the refrigerator on the Sabbath does not trigger the light going on.
All food preparation such as kneading and baking that will be necessary for any food to be eaten in the next 24 hours is also completed. Putting food in a crock-pot or slow oven (which is turned on before the Sabbath begins) that can be eaten the following day, is permissible.
No
later than 18 minutes before sunset is scheduled to
arrive, the Sabbath is welcomed by a candle-lighting
ceremony usually done by one of the women in each home.
Two candles are lit, along with a special blessing in
Hebrew pronounced by the one doing the lighting, which
is translated in English as:
"Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to light the Shabbat candles."
After this ceremony which ushers in the Sabbath, the family will usually go to their synagogue for a short service, and then return home ready for dinner. Before dinner the head of the household will recite the Kiddush, a blessing on the Sabbath including the blessing over a representative cup of wine:
- [And it was evening and it was morning], the sixth day. And the heavens and the earth and all their hosts were completed. And God finished by the seventh day His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for on it He rested from all His work which God created to function.
- Attention, Gentlemen! Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine. (Amen)
- Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, has desired us, and has given us, in love and good will, His holy Shabbat as a heritage, in remembrance of the work of Creation; the first of the holy festivals, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt. For You have chosen us and sanctified us from among all the nations, and with love and good will given us Your holy Shabbat as a heritage. Blessed are You Lord, who sanctifies the Shabbat. (Amen)
After the Kiddush
will come a blessing on the challah, a special
sweet bread made with eggs and formed into at least two
twisted loaves for the meal.
Each family member will first perform a symbolic washing of their hands accompanied by the prayer "Blessed are you, Lord, our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning washing of hands."
Next a blessing will also be offered over the bread: "Blessed are you, Lord, our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth."
And then dinner is served.
After dinner, which is often long and leisurely, with much conversation, comes a final ceremony called Birkat Hamazon ("grace after meals"). This is done in fulfillment of the command in Deuteronomy 8:10: "When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD, your God, for the good land which he gave you."
The ceremony consists of singing an introductory Psalm, and then recitation or chanting or singing of a number of prayers of blessing, thanksgiving, and supplication, followed by another blessing over a final cup of wine.
Services the next morning at the synagogue last from around 9 AM until about noon. After returning home, another Kiddush ceremony is done, followed by a leisurely meal. Sabbath afternoon is spent in quiet activities including Bible study and discussions, short walks, games such as checkers--and naps.
The Sabbath is considered to come to an official close about 45 minutes after sunset, when three stars can be seen in the sky. At that point, an official "closing ceremony" is held, called Havdalah, which means "separation" or "division." Its purpose is to clearly show the dividing of sacred time--the Sabbath--from secular time--the rest of the week.
Needed for this ceremony are a cup for wine, a container of spices (often cinnamon, bay leaves, or cloves), and a candle holder, for a special candle which is made of braided wax with two or more wicks. Shops that sell "Judaica" (items with a Jewish connection) often have attractive, coordinated ready-made "Havdalah Sets" composed of these three items, and a variety of colors of the braided candles to refill the candle holder.
The braided candle is lit, and held by a child if one is present. After the recitation of some introductory Bible passages, comes the blessing over the cup of wine: "Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. (Amen)"
Next the box of spices is is blessed and passed around so that each person can savor the aroma. "Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who creates varieties of spices. (Amen)" Why the spices? "When the spiritual Sabbath leaves and another mundane work-week arrives, it is necessary to resuscitate ourselves by smelling a pleasant fragrance." (from AskMoses.com)
And then comes the blessing over the candle: "Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who creates the light of the fire. (Amen)" After this each person present holds their hands with fingers curved toward their palms, so that they can see the reflection of the flame in their fingernails, and see a shadow in their palm. A variety of explanations are offered for this custom. A common one is that it is considered to be improper to recite a blessing for something and then not use that thing for some purpose, no matter how small.
Finally there is the actual Havdalah (separation) blessing, said over the wine again. "Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who distinguishes between the sacred and the secular, between light and dark, between Israel and the nations, between the seventh day and the six days of labor. Blessed are You, Lord, who distinguishes between the sacred and the secular. (Amen)" The cup is passed around for all to take a sip from, and then a little bit of wine is spilled onto a dish and the flame of the candle extinguished in it.
The conclusion of the ceremony sometimes includes singing traditional songs.
At this point, it is recognized that the Sabbath Queen's visit is over, and the new week has begun.
For one effective, detailed overview of the Jewish observance of the Sabbath, see the Shabbat article on the Judaism 101 website. The material above was in part adapted from that overview.
http://www.jewfaq.org/shabbat.htm
Transliteration note:
The appearance of the Hebrew alphabet has nothing in common with the English alphabet. A number of Hebrew letters have sounds that are not distinctly connected to separate sounds in English. And even Hebrew itself is spoken in a wide variety of dialects depending on the cultural background of the speaker. Therefore attempts to transliterate (reproduce the sounds of a word or phrase in letters from one language to another) are always speculative at best. Even within the English-speaking community of Jews, there are wide variations in the way that Hebrew words are transliterated into English, with no central standard to draw from. In the articles in this series on Jewish Feast and Holy Day Customs, as well as throughout this Times of Refreshing website in general, in order to follow some sort of systematic way of transliterating, an attempt has been made to choose those transliterations that are most typical on the Internet. For instance, the Hebrew term for the Feast of Tabernacles is transliterated on some websites as Sukkot (1,160,000), others as Sukkos (119,000), others as Sukkoth (76,600), still others as Succot (128,000) or Succoth (162,000). In this case, the most typical choice is obvious, so Sukkot is the spelling of choice on this site. In other cases, the variations in spelling are much closer in numbers, and an arbitrary decision has had to be made.
