The Sabbath, and Sabbath Services

The Sabbath, and Sabbath Services:

The biblically ordained day of rest that follows six days of normal activity, the Sabbath is characterized by the cessation of certain types of creative activity and labour. The Bible gives two reasons for the obligation to observe the Sabbath: "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it" (Ex. 20:11). The second reason is found in Deuteronomy (5:14-15), "... your male and female slave may rest as you do. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the sabbath day." Thus, the Sabbath day of rest is based upon two fundamental principles. The observance of the Sabbath is a weekly acknowledgement of God as the Creator and acceptance of His authority. Secondly, the Sabbath is a reminder of the slaves in Egypt and the motivation for social responsibility.
The Sabbath was sanctified by God at the time of the Creation. According to tradition, the patriarchs also observed the Sabbath (prior to the giving of biblical legislation) and the children of Israel were commanded concerning the Sabbath at Marah, one of the early stops in the desert before the Sinai Revelation (Ex. 15:25). The manna provided by God in the desert was collected only six days each week. On the sixth day a double portion was gathered, because the manna did not fall on Sabbath. The Bible speaks of the Sabbath as an "eternal sign", from which it is understood that the Jewish people will always observe it.
The life of an observant Jew revolves completely around the Sabbath. Money is saved all week to purchase that which is needed on Sabbath. No journey is undertaken unless arrangements are first made for Sabbath accommodations during the trip. In many homes, preparation for Sabbath begins on Thursday night and takes up all of Friday. There are those who will undertake no serious task after noon on Friday except tasks involved in the preparation for Sabbath. Bathing on Friday afternoon in honour of the coming holy day is considered obligatory, and weekday clothes are exchanged for Sabbath "finery", in accord with the prescription of the sages: "Your clothing on Sabbath should not be the same as your clothing on the weekday" (Shab. 114a). And the change of clothing was even deduced from the Pentateuch itself, as is written, "He shall then take off his vestments and put on other vestments ..." (Lev. 6:4). And Rabbi Hanina said: "A man must have two garments, one for the weekday and one for the Sabbath" (TJ. Pe'ah 5:8). Food to be eaten (particularly wine and two loaves of bread, lehem mishneh), is prepared before the day begins. Candles are prepared, and the house is cleaned thoroughly. The table is set with the finest cloths, dishes, and cutlery in honour of the Sabbath. The holy day is also extended into the weekday by lighting the candles twenty to forty minutes before sunset and by not concluding the Sabbath on Saturday evening (Motza'e Shabbat) until after dusk has ended and night has fallen.
On Friday evening (leil Shabbath) Kiddush, (see below), a prayer of santification, is recited over a cup of wine. Another Kiddush is recited on Saturday morning after the Shaharit (morning) service. Since the Sabbath is honoured with nourishment for the soul as well as nourishment for the body, the custom in earlier times was for the people to assemble in the synagogue on a Friday night after the meal and again on a Saturday afternoon to hear sermons and lessons. Today, as well, people devote time to read and study Judaism's central texts. The Sabbath prayers are inaugurated on Friday night with a service known as Kabbalat Shabbat. Six psalms, corresponding to the six weekdays are recited, then the liturgical poem Lekhah Dodi, written in Safed during the sixteenth century by Solomon Alkabetz, is sung. Then a seventh psalm (Ps. 92) entitled "A Psalm for the Sabbath Day" is read. Kabbalat Shabbat was instituted by the Safed Kabbalists.
The Talmud tells of Rabbi Hanina who late on Friday afternoon would wrap himself in his tallis (prayer shawl) and proclaim "Let us go out to greet the Sabbath Queen" (Shab. 111a). The Kabbalists took the passage literally and went outside of the city to "meet" the Sabbath, as the sun began to set. It has been noted that the total number of words in all of the psalms recited during Kabbalat Shabbat equals 702, the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew Shabbat. In some Ashkenazi communities, Kabbalat Shabbat is followed immediately by the study of a chapter of the Mishnah from the tractate Shabbat known as Ba-Meh Madlikin. Hasidim substitute a passage from the Zohar.
The evening prayers continue with the Arvit service, the first part of which is nearly identical with the weeknight Arvit service in most congregations. On Sabbath, the Amidah consists of seven benedictions instead of nineteen. In addition to the six set benedictions (three at the beginning and three at the end), the middle benediction focuses on various themes of the Sabbath. After the Amidah, the biblical passage Va-Yekhulu (Gen. 2:1-3) is recited as well as a paragraph Magen Avot, a benediction added for the sake of latecomers.
In the morning service, the Verses of Song (Pesukei de-Zimra) section is expanded by the inclusion of additional psalms. The weekly Torah portion (parashat ha-shavua) is read during the morning service, followed by the reading of the prophetic portion, the haftarah, connected thematically with the Torah reading. Afterward, the Musaf service is recited. At the afternoon Minhah service, the prayers Ashrei and U-Va le-Tziyyon Go'el are recited, the first part of the following week's Torah portion is read, and then the Amidah is recited. To the Amidah of Arvit at the conclusion of Sabbath is added a paragraph relating to the distinction between the holiness of the Sabbath and the secular weekdays. At the termination of the Sabbath, a special ceremony of "Farewell" known as Havdalah is recited with wine, lighted candles and spices. These ingredients point to the joy of the Sabbath, and its separation, physically and spiritually, from the working days of the week.
The basic imperative of the Sabbath is understood from the commandment (Ex. 20:10), ".. but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God: you shall not do any work ...". The Hebrew word used here is melakhah, and is actually somewhat different in concept from the English word, "work". The prohibition of melakhah is absolutely fundamental to the Sabbath and is repeated many times in the Pentateuch, Prophets, and Hagiographa. Melakhah is best defined as creative activity, and the amount of physical labour involved is not relevant to the determination whether a particular activity is prohibited as melakhah or not. The construction of the Tabernacle in the desert serves as a paradigm of creative activities classed as melakhah. The Talmud lists 39 separate activities undertaken as part of this construction, which are known as the avot melakhot or prototypes of melakhah. Related to these are the toledot melakhot or corollary activities, activities similar enough to the prototypes to fall into the same category of prohibition. For example, the act of milking a cow (or any other animal) is prohibited as a corollary of threshing, which is one of the 39 prototypes. Just as the purpose of threshing is to remove that which is eaten from that which is not eaten (the grain from the chaff), so too is milking (the milk from the cow). The Mishnah and Talmud of the tractate Shabbat list and discuss the 39 melakhot at length in an attempt to define and characterise each one of its corollaries and to distinguish that which is forbidden from that which is permitted. In order to preserve and enhance the character of Sabbath as well as to protect individuals from possible violations (violations of the laws of Sabbath is considered an extremely serious offence in Jewish law), the sages instigated additional prohibitions, each one known as a shevut.
Among the prohibitions of Sabbath is one known as mukzeh, the prohibition of handling items (such as a pen and pencil) which may not be used on Sabbath. The point of this prohibition is to prevent individuals from inadvertently using the item to perform its routine activity which is forbidden on Sabbath. The laws of mukzeh are also discussed in the Talmud and codified, along with the rest of the Sabbath regulations, in the Shulhan Arukh. Another aspect of the laws of Sabbath is the domains and areas in which an individual may move and carry things. The very first Sabbath prohibition appearing in the Bible (Ex. 16:29) reads: " ... let no man leave his place on the seventh day." The Karaites and other groups took this verse literally and concluded that it is forbidden to leave the house on the Sabbath. The Oral Law explains that it is permitted to walk anywhere within a limited area known as tehum Shabbat. According to halakhah, it is forbidden to walk more than 2,000 cubits in any direction beyond the boundaries of the place where one is staying for the Sabbath. One who has good reason to go further is permitted to do so if prior to the Sabbath he places a quantity of food sufficient to two meals 2,000 cubits from the last dwelling or the place where he lives. The place where the food has been left is then considered to be an extension of one's "place", and it is permitted to continue walking another 2,000 cubits in any direction.
Carrying objects between private and public domains is prohibitted as well. With regard to the Sabbath, four domains are to be distinguished, defined both by the manner in which each type is enclosed and the manner in which it is used. The first is a makom petor, or exempt area. An exempt area is one that is at least three hand-breadths higher than the ground and whose area is less than four hand-breadths by four hand-breadths. There are no limitation upon transferring an object to or from an exempt area on the Sabbath. The second type is a semipublic, or "neutral" area, neither strictly public nor private, known as karmelit. Into this category falls fields and oceans. With regard to the karmelit, there are certain limitations. The third type of area is the private domain, which in order to qualify must be very clearly set off and defined (e.g. the interior of a house). The fourth type of area is the public domain, an open area always used by the public. Included in this category are highways, deserts, and forests. The Sabbath laws regarding the permissibity of transferring objects from one domain to another are explained in the Talmudic tractate Shabbat of the Order Mo'ed.
Domains are differenty defined with respect to laws of ritual and to civil law. So for instance, in the case of the laws of ritual purity, a private domain is defined as a place in which fewer than three individuals live. With regard to civil law, a public domain is defined as an area through which all of the city's residents are permitted to pass. An individual causing some damage to such a place is obligated to make restitution since he is not permitted to cause damage to a place legally open to the public. However, the rabbis also created various types of eruv (the adjoining of areas) to circumvent some of the regulations that they had legislated.
In the institution of the Sabbath, the best of Judaism's religious, humanistic, and social values are manifest, and it is held as one of Judaism's chief ways of fashioning the holy life and the good society.

Four Special Sabbaths:
There are four Sabbaths during the year when a special portion is read from the Torah. Two occur before Purim and two before Passover. On each of these Sabbaths the weekly portion (parashet ha-shavua) is read from the first Torah, and the maftir (last verses of the Torah reading) relating to the subject appropriate for that time is read from a second scroll.
1. Shabbat Shekalim occurs on the Sabbath before Adar, or on Rosh Hodesh if that day falls on the Sabbath. A passage from Exodus (30:11-16) is read, dealing with the half shekel tax. This is a reminder that in the Temple the announcement about the tax was made on the 1st of Adar in order to assure that these funds would reach the Temple during that month. The money was used to buy public sacrifices and also to cover the costs of Temple repairs.
2. Shabbat Zakhor occurs on the Sabbath before Purim. The additional reading is from Deuteronomy (5:17-19), the subject being the injunction to wipe out the memory of the barbaric and inhumane tribe of Amalek. The subject is appropriate for that time since Haman, the enemy of the Jews in the Purim story, was a descendant of that tribe.
3. Shabbat Parah occurs on the Sabbath before Shabbat ha-Hadesh. The reading for it is from Deuteronomy 19:1-22 dealing with the red heifer, as a reminder of the Temple days when it was necessary for people to be ritually clean before they could eat from the Passover sacrifice. To this end the ashes of the red heifer were used as a means of purification at the approach of Passover.
4. Shabbat ha-Hadesh occurs on the Sabbath before the month of Nisan or on Rosh Hodesh itself if it occurs on Sabbath. The portion read is Exodus 12:1-20 dealing with the importance of the month of Nisan, and the laws of the Pascal offering, of the Passover festival, and the eating of unleavened bread (matzah).

Kiddush (Prayer of Sanctification)
Kiddush is the ritual of sanctification of the Sabbath and festivals at their beginning, with blessings recited over a cup of wine. The declaration recited at the beginning is known as Kiddush, which means "sanctification". The recitation of the Kiddush is not what endows the Sabbath with its sanctity; the Sabbath was sanctified by God at the Creation. Thus the Kiddush reads " ... God has blessed the Sabbath and sanctified it." Kiddush is rather an acknowledgement, a reminder, of the sanctity of the day in accordance with the biblical commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy" (Ex. 20:8), expounded in the Talmud, "Remember it over wine." The text of the Sabbath Kiddush opens with the biblical verses Genesis 2:1-3, and continues with the benediction (brakhah) over the wine, and concludes with the benediction of sanctification: " ... who has sanctified us with His commandments, who has chosen us and bequeathed to us His holy Sabbath as a remembrance of the act of Creation ... Blessed is He ... who sanctifies the Sabbath." Kiddush must be recited before the meal, preferably over a cup of wine. If, however, no wine is available, it may be recited over bread instead. Another Kiddush, known as the "Great Kiddush", is recited prior to the second meal of the Sabbath (usually lunch on Saturday). It is customary to cover the bread during the recitation of Kiddush. One reason is that at a meal during the week, the benediction recited over bread takes precedence over that recited over wine. At the Sabbath meal, however, since Kiddush takes precedence, the benediction over the wine is recited before that of the bread. Thus the bread is covered (hidden, as it were) in order to avoid a conflict in the order of the benediction.