Shabbat
Shabbat/Shabbos, aka the Sabbath, is a weekly holiday and a personal favorite of mine. I’m sure you’ve heard the whole “On the Seventh day, G-d rested” shpiel. Or maybe one of the 10 commandments about observing the Sabbath? Yeah, Shabbat is, like, a super big deal. Even though it’s every week, Shabbat is actually tied (depending on who you ask) for the holiest day(s) of the year.
Laws
Just to give you a bit of an idea of what Shabbat might look like in an Orthodox Jewish home, there is absolutely no “work” allowed on Shabbat. What do I mean by work, you ask? Well, just like with everything else in Judaism, there’s a very specific legal definition of work derived by the Rabbis from sources in the Torah. It’s not just what feels like work to this or that person. Work, or “melacha” in Hebrew, is defined as things that people needed to do to build the Temple. Long story short, there are 39 categories of stuff you can’t do. One is cooking, one is grinding (I know, aw shucks), one is kindling a fire, one is writing, the list goes on… Obviously you wouldn’t notice things like no grinding in a house on Shabbat. Here are some things you’d definitely notice…
No using electricity: The Rabbis study new technologies when they become available and make rulings based on previous laws we have. Electricity is forbidden on Shabbat because of the prohibition on fire, among other things. This doesn’t mean we have dinner by candle light, though. It means that we don’t turn on or off any switches on Shabbat. That means our bathroom light and dining room light stay on, but our bedroom lights stay off for the full 25 hours. We don’t use our phones, computers, cameras, cars, etc. (As a total technology addict, this is actually amazingly rejuvenating. No one at dinner has their phones on them. Everyone is completely focused on who’s in front of them, not texting a friend or taking care of a work email).
No cooking: All of the food for Shabbat is cooked before Shabbat. Aside from things like throwing together salads or cutting up fruit for dessert, all of the food preparation is done ahead of time. That means that Friday in my house is a total zoo, but come sundown, I can seriously take a breath and relax. (Oh, and eat lots and lots).
Exceptions: People often ask, well what about if someone has to go to the hospital? What if someone’s a doctor? These are great questions. In Judaism, life is holier and more important than anything else, and therefore, saving a life is more important than everything else too. This idea of saving a life, or Pikuach Nefesh, enables doctors to work if they need to, ambulances to function as normal, and so on.
Fun Fact: Because you can’t turn electric things on and off on Shabbat, you can’t use an elevator. BUT, we are the king of loopholes. So, there’s something called a Shabbat elevator. It stops on every floor, and you don’t have to push any buttons. Watching a random person get onto a Shabbat elevator without realizing it is so amusing every time.
Atmosphere
A huge element of Shabbat is the spirit of the day. It’s so peaceful. I love it so much. I seriously don’t know how people get through a week without it. People dress up in their finest clothing and serve their finest food on their finest dishes. You take a complete break from school or work or whatever it is you do during the week. You truly sanctify the day.
It’s also a very social day. It’s customary to have big feasts on Shabbat (for Friday night dinner and lunch on Saturday, plus a smaller meal later on Saturday around dinner time). These meals are best explained as American Thanksgiving, once a week. You invite you friends and family over, often set a big nice table, and have a multiple course meal.
Shabbat is a social staple of the week; each week, we are planning what we’re doing this Shabbat, next Shabbat, who we’re hosting, who’s hosting us, etc. It’s a total scene. Also, because you cannot drive on Shabbat, Jewish communities tend to be concentrated within walking distance of a synagogue (See what we did there? Genius). Therefore, everyone pretty much lives very close to each other and can walk to each others’ houses for meals, set up play dates for their kids, etc. It’s extremely communal.
Inside a Shabbat Dinner
I grew up with every Friday night as a special family night. We were allowed to have friends over, but we weren’t allowed to go out. It is time that we all spent together, eating a delicious meal. A few traditions make Shabbat dinners especially stand out. I host non-Jewish guests in my home for Shabbat regularly, and I love explaining these customs. They’re so easy to take for granted when you do them each week, but they’re truly amazing, in my opinion.
Shabbat begins with the women in the house lighting candles. I liight 3 (one for each member of my family). Before my daughter was born, I lit two, so the first week we brought her home from the hospital, it was really special for me to light a third one. The candles then burn out on their own during the evening.
Once it’s time to sit down for dinner, we start with “Shalom Aleichem,” a song thanking the angels for our wonderful Shabbat table. Next, the husband sings “Aishes Chayil” (Woman of Valor, Proverbs 31), recognizing and celebrating how awesome his wife is (there are also some G-d/people metaphors… I prefer the wife-celebrating part). My husband actually has a special custom to give a short speech about how much he appreciates me before he sings it. Needless to say, no complaints there. After that, we bless our children. When we brought our daughter home and blessed her for the first time, that was the tear-jerker of all tear-jerkers. Finally, we say a blessing sanctifying the day over a glass of wine, then do a ritual hand washing, and break bread on delicious (usually homemade) challah bread. Then it’s food on food on food. Basically, it’s pretty awesome.
