ICJudaism: A Teacher’s Guide to Judaism

      Hosted by ICTeachers                                                                Formerly: Mike’s Rough Guide to Judaism

Disclaimer:

The contents of these pages represent the author’s personal views, experience and understanding.
There are bound to be some things here that some Jews would disagree with.

 

Shabbat 2

Shabbat begins on Friday evening (For Jews every day begins at sunset - in the story of creation, as told in Genesis, the days of creation are marked by the phrase It was evening and it was morning, the ...th day).

A few hours before sunset the house will be readied. Any cooking tasks which cannot be done on Shabbat will be done, the house will be cleaned as if a special guest were due, the family will ready themselves - a bath, clean clothes etc.

A little while before the start of Shabbat, the Shabbat candles will be lit (in the best candlesticks). This is traditionally a female responsibility, although there is no reason why a man can not light the candles. There are always at least 2 candles as a reminder that in the 10 commandments we are told to Remember the Sabbath day and to keep it holy (2 commandments).  

Being Shabbat, the kiddush blessing is lengthened by the recitation of passages concerned with remembering to observe Shabbat.

Kiddush is followed by the person who is leading the ceremony symbolically washing their hands. Before doing so he/she recites the b’rachah: Blessed are you God, sovereign of the universe who makes us holy by the command to wash our hands.

To begin the meal, kiddush is immediately followed by a blessing for bread:

Blessed are you God, sovereign of the universe who brings forth bread from the earth.

On Shabbat the bread is challah (can also be spelled chollah), a plaited bread made from a rich dough containing both sugar and egg. The Shabbat table always has 2 of these loaves (to remember that when our ancestors were travelling through the desert after the Exodus, God provided them daily with food called manna which they gathered in the mornings. To avoid having to gather food on Shabbat morning, 2 portions were provided on Fridays). Everyone has a piece of challah to eat which is first dipped in salt (or has a little salt sprinkled on it).

We say b’rachot (blessings) to acknowledge / thank / praise God, not to bless the wine or the bread. They are simply wine and bread and do not become special by being blessed. The Jewish view is that we cannot bless things; only God can do that.

The Friday night meal is something to be savoured. There are no particular regulations (other than the normal rules of kashrut) about what it should contain. You can read about a typical Shabbat meal in the Jewish Food section.

 

Back...                                                                          More...

 

 

Shabbat table set with candlesticks wine and 2 challot (traditionally covered until it is time to eat them). The red books are siddurim, the Jewish general purpose prayer book. The silver wine goblet is traditional and is usually known as a buchah (the Yiddish word meaning a cup or beaker).

As Shabbat begins the family will sit down to eat. The meal begins with kiddush,

Blessed are you God, sovereign of the universe who makes the fruit of the vine. (The b’rachah for wine).