Cooking is forbidden on Shabbat so Jews prepare their food on Friday. The place their saucepans on a blech, which is a large metal sheet, placed over the cooker. The blech has hot and cold parts so the saucepans with the food in can be moved from hot to cold parts depending on how the food is needed. It is also forbidden for Jews to turn on lights as it makes fire and so they turn on all the lights they will need. They may also set their video to record programmes over Shabbat as they do not turn on their television as Shabbat is a day of rest and quiet. Ultra-Orthodox may not do this as it still requires electricity, and they believe that it is the modern day equivalent to fire, which is a melechah (plural melachot).
Just before Sunset, the wife and mother of the house lights the two candles. The women the beckons with her arms to welcome Shabbat into the house. The males in the house then go to the synagogue. Sometimes the females go too. At the end of the synagogue service, the rabbi says Kiddush (sanctification) over a cup of wine. When people leave the synagogue they wish each other ‘Shabbat Shalom’ (a Shabbat of peace).
At home, the husband and father blesses his children that they grow up to follow the godly examples of men and women in the faith. After this he recites Kiddush as well. Every family member listens to the blessings. No one will have had any food from the time Shabbat began except for young children or old people who would otherwise find it uncomfortable. After Kiddush, the family wash their hands as an act of purification. They take their places at the table and the husband recites another blessing over the challot. This blessing is to thank God for bringing bread to the Jews. After cutting the bread, the husband then dips pieces lightly in salt and passes them around the table.
On Shabbat the family eat special foods and sing songs. The family often tell biblical stories to each other or about Jewish men and women who have had a positive impact on the world. To Jews it is a time to relax and to spend time with family.
On Shabbat morning, the family goes to the synagogue. During the service the rabbi reads from the Torah. As people leave the synagogue they again wish each other ‘Shabbat Shalom’.
At home the husband again recites Kiddush and they tell stories. After lunch the family relaxes and studies the Torah.
In the afternoon, the males go to the synagogue again. They say short prayers and then they study the Torah with the other men until nightfall when Shabbat ends. At the end of the evening service, the rabbi performs havdalah (separation) to mark the end of the holy day. He says a blessing over a cup of wine, followed by another over spices. A third blessing is said over the light of a candle (plaited with several wicks so that the flames mingle), showing that Jews are allowed to light fire once more. He says one last blessing over the wine, and the separation or the holy day from the ordinary is completed.1
Havdalah Candle
When the husband gets home, he too performs havdalah. The family then starts tidying up as they could not do that during Shabbat and they have dishes to wash and put away.
Special Shabbats
The Shabbat that occurs in the Ten Days of Returning, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is called Shabbat Shuvah (Sabbath of Returning). The scriptural reading for this Sabbath (Hosea 14) urges Jews to turn to God to make themselves dependant on Him alone.1
Sukkot occurs at the beginning of the rainy season in Israel and every day of the festivals, Jews pray for rain. However, on Shabbat they do not.
Bar Mitzvah (son of the commandments) occurs on the Shabbat after the boy’s 13th birthday. The boy reads a portion of the sidra, which is normally read by a chazan in the morning service. His father then recites baruch shepatarani to thank God for bringing the boy to maturity and declares that the boy is responsible for his actions. After the service there is normally a celebration.
After someone dies, the family spends 1 week mourning after the funeral except on Shabbat when no mourning is allowed.
1 Judaism - Arye Forta
