Havdalah is the ceremony that formally ends the Sabbath and returns the day to ordinary time, performed after nightfall on Saturday over a cup of wine, a box of fragrant spices, and a braided multi-wick candle. Blessings are recited over each of the three, along with a blessing praising God for separating the holy from the ordinary, light from darkness, and Israel from the nations, echoing the ceremony's own name, which means separation.
Facts
Practice
Who Performs ItHouseholders, those living in the world 2 No ordained clergy is required; it may be led by any adult Jew, traditionally the head of the household, and is customarily performed at home rather than in a synagogue, though communal recitations also occur. Practitioner DetailLed by any adult present, traditionally at home with the household gathered, though congregational Havdalah is also widely practiced 2 FrequencyPerformed once weekly, after nightfall each Saturday once three stars are visible, marking the precise transition from Sabbath back to the working week, and again in an adapted form at the close of each of the major festivals. Use
OccasionSaturday evening, after nightfall marks the Sabbath's formal end 1 Origins
Place of OriginThe ceremony's blessings are rooted in Talmudic discussion of the Sabbath's close and are traditionally attributed to the Men of the Great Assembly of the late Second Temple period, the same body Jewish tradition credits with fixing much of the standard liturgy, situating havdalah's origin in Second Temple era Judea and the early rabbinic academies of Babylonia rather than in any one later community. 1 Historical OriginIts structure of blessings over wine, spices and a braided candle, closing with the blessing over God's separation of holy from ordinary, is already fixed in the Mishnah and elaborated further in the Talmud, making it one of the oldest continuously observed rites marking the Sabbath's end. 1 Attestation
Earliest AttestationThe core of the ceremony, the blessing distinguishing the holy from the ordinary, is set out in the Mishnah and elaborated in the Babylonian Talmud's tractate Berakhot 2 Attributions
PurposeMarks the transition from the sanctified time of the Sabbath back into the working week, the spice blessing traditionally explained as consoling the soul for the loss of the Sabbath's additional spirit 1 Meaning
Literal MeaningHebrew havdalah, literally separation or distinction, naming the rite's function of marking the boundary between the sanctified Sabbath and the ordinary week that follows it. 1 Status
Status TodayLiving tradition, practised today 3 Current StatusA living practice observed across the major streams of Judaism, with specific customs such as the braided candle and the passed spice box varying by community 2 Standing as a Comparative CategoryA standard analytic category in the study of religion 2 Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Source Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd editionMichael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik (eds.)
Originates in Language
Source Havdalah (Wikipedia)
Related To
Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd edition
Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik (eds.), Macmillan Reference USA, 2007View the Source 2. Jewish Liturgy: A Comprehensive History
Ismar Elbogen, translated by Raymond P. Scheindlin, Jewish Publication Society and Jewish Theological Seminary, 1993View the Source 3. Havdalah (Wikipedia)
Lead section
is a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat and ushers in the new week
In Group: Jewish Sabbath and Festival Rites, Introduction, sentences 1-2
Havdalah (Hebrew: הַבְדָּלָה, romanized: haḇdālā, lit. 'separation', Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אַבְדַּלְתָּא, romanized: aḇdaltā) is a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat and ushers in the new week.
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