Shabbat

Jewish Calendar

Shabbat (or Sabbath) falls every seventh day of the week, from Friday just before sunset until dark on Saturday night. It is a day of rest, marking the time when God stopped creating after after the six days of creation. Shabbat recognizes God as Creator of the Universe and as Redeemer of Israel from Egypt.

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Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of your God יהוה: you shall not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements.

ויכל אלהים ביום השביעי AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY GOD FINISHED — R. Simeon says: A human being (literally, flesh and blood) who cannot know exactly his times and moments (who cannot accurately determine the point of time that marks the division between one period and that which follows it) must needs add from the week-day and observe it as the holy day (the Sabbath), but the Holy One, blessed be He, who knows His times and moments, began it (the seventh day) to a very hair’s breadth (with extreme exactness) and it therefore appeared as though He had completed His work on that very day (Genesis…

Rashi on Genesis 2:2

It is a positive commandment from the Torah to sanctify the Sabbath day with a verbal statement, as [implied by Exodus 20:8]: "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it" - i.e., remember it with [words of] praise [that reflect its] holiness.
This remembrance must be made at the Sabbath's entrance and at its departure: at the [day's] entrance with the kiddush that sanctifies the day, and at its departure with havdalah.

Mishneh Torah, Sabbath 29:1

And I found in the [Midrash] Tanchuma, "All matters of Shabbat are doubled: Two sheep; A cantillation (Mizmor), a song for Shabbat; two breads (lechem mishneh); 'Remember' (Exodus 20:8) and 'Guard' (Deuteronomy 5:12) - and it appears that the custom to light two lights is from this." All of this is from the composition by Rabbi Asher, from the Sefer HaMinhagot (Book of Customs). And it is also written there, "And all Israel is obligated to eat three meals on Shabbat. And the early ones were accustomed to break between one meal and another in the morning…

They may not give a poor person wandering from place to place less than a loaf worth a pundion at a time when four seahs [of wheat cost] one sela. If he spends the night [at a place], they must give him the cost of what he needs for the night. If he stays over Shabbat they must give him enough food for three meals. He who has the money for two meals, he may not take anything from the charity dish. And if he has enough money for fourteen meals, he may not take any support from the communal fund. The communal fund is collected by two and distributed by three people.

Mishnah Peah 8:7

It is taught in a baraita: They said about Shammai the Elder that all his days he would eat in honor of Shabbat. How so? If he found a choice animal, he would say: This is for Shabbat. If he subsequently found another one choicer than it, he would set aside the second for Shabbat and eat the first. He would eat the first to leave the better-quality animal for Shabbat, which continually rendered his eating an act of honoring Shabbat.

The Sages stated a significant principle with regard to the halakhot of Shabbat: One who forgets the essence of Shabbat, i.e., one who is entirely ignorant of the mitzva of Shabbat according to Torah law, and performed numerous prohibited labors on multiple Shabbatot, is liable to bring only one sin-offering for all those labors when he becomes aware that those actions were prohibited. One who knows the essence of Shabbat but forgets which day is Shabbat, i.e…

Mishnah Shabbat 7:1

The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array. On the seventh day God finished the work that had been undertaken: [God] ceased on the seventh day from doing any of the work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy—having ceased on it from all the work of creation that God had done.

For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth (Exodus 20:11): And were they created in six days? And has it not already been stated (Psalms 33:6), "By the word of the Lord, the heavens were made." If so why does it state, "For in six days, the Lord made the heaven?" Rather it is to punish the wicked who destroy the world that was created in six days and to give a goodly reward to the righteous who preserve the world that was created in six days. Another explanation: "For in six days, the Lord made, etc. - based on three things was the Shabbat given to Israel…

Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 20:11

וזכרת כי עבד היית, "remember that you used to be a slave, etc." These are Moses' words. Moses meant that the Sabbath legislation also contains an element which relates it to the Exodus. When someone rests and does not have to perform labour for someone else he will feel that it was G'd who enabled His people to rest up from all its problems and he will concentrate on gladly accepting the laws given by G'd who took the people out of that particular bondage. Pessachim 117 teaches that these words are the reason we have to mention the Exodus from Egypt in…

Or HaChaim on Deuteronomy 5:15:1

The Gemara says: Three food items enter the body yet the body does not benefit from them: Cherries, bad dates, and unripe dates. In contrast: Three matters do not enter the body yet the body benefits from them, and they are: Washing, anointing, and usage [tashmish], commonly used as a euphemism for conjugal relations. Three matters are microcosms of the World-to-Come, and they are: Sabbath, the sun and usage.

Berakhot 57b:10

ואת שבתותי תשמורו, words which do not only refer to the Sabbath of Creation, but to a variety of “Sabbath” legislations such as the “Sabbath” of the land known as sh’mittah, as well as the Sabbath of “money,” i.e. the demand for the lender to forego repayment of past due debts by the debtor at the end of the sh’mittah year. Al these types of “Sabbath” legislation are testimony to the fact that the Creator Who legislates such laws was the originator of the universe, hence His right to demand such obeisances from His creatures.

Sforno on Leviticus 19:3:2

On Sabbath—May the All-merciful let us inherit the day which shall be wholly a Sabbath and rest in the life everlasting.

Birkat Hamazon, Birkat Hamazon, Hatov Vehametiv 7

“And it shall come to pass on the sixth day that they shall prepare” (Exod. 16:5). He who prepares on the Sabbath Eve will eat on the Sabbath. A man should be exceedingly eager to prepare for Sabbath needs, and should hurry enthusiastically like a man who hears that the queen is coming to lodge in his house or that a bride and her entourage are coming to his house. What does he do? He rejoices greatly and says, “What great honor they show me to come within the shadow of my domicile.” He instructs his servants, “Prepare the house, clean it…

Sefer Chasidim 149

Moses assembled - Why is this stated? Since it says (Ex. 25:8), "Let them make me a sanctuary," one might infer [that they should do so] whether on a weekday or on the Sabbath. And yet, how do I fulfill "whoever does work on it shall be put to death" (Ex. 31:14)? [Is it to be understood as applying] to all other forms of work except the construction of the Tabernacle, or even to the construction of the Tabernacle? And how do I reconcile "Let them make me a sanctuary" [with the prohibition of work]? Is it on all other days, excluding the Sabbath…

Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 35:1

The Gemara now returns to the issue of delight in and deference to Shabbat. Rabbi Ḥanina would wrap himself in his garment and stand at nightfall on Shabbat eve, and say: Come and we will go out to greet Shabbat the queen. Rabbi Yannai put on his garment on Shabbat eve and said: Enter, O bride. Enter, O bride. The Gemara relates: Rabba bar Rav Huna happened to come to the house of Rabba bar Rav Naḥman. They brought before him three se’a of oiled biscuits…

When the fall of dew lifted, there, over the surface of the wilderness, lay a fine and flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” —for they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “That is the bread which יהוה has given you to eat. This is what יהוה has commanded: Each household shall gather as much as it requires to eat—an omer to a person for as many of you as there are; each household shall fetch according to those in its tent.” The Israelites did so, some gathering much, some little…

Exodus 16:14-30

There was a large courtyard in Jerusalem, which was called Beit Ya’zek. And there all the witnesses coming to testify about the new moon would gather, and the court of seventy-one judges would examine them there. And they would prepare great feasts for them, so that they would be willing and accustomed to coming and submitting their testimony. Initially, when witnesses would arrive on Shabbat from a distant place, they would not move from there all day, as they had left their Shabbat limit…

Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 2:5

Although allowing a fax machine to remain operative over Shabbat is permitted by most of the scholars who have addressed the issue, on first analysis it would seem that a fax that is received on Shabbat is mukzah and hence may not be moved or handled on Shabbat. All writing paper is mukzah by virtue of the fact that such paper is designed exclusively for a use that is forbidden on Shabbat, i.e., the paper will not willfully be used for any other purpose because any other use would constitute economic waste (mukzah maḥamat ḥisaron kis)…

Contemporary Halakhic Problems, Vol V, Chapter V Use of Automatic Telephone Answering and Fax Machines on Shabbat 28

Question: I have been asked by the precious sage, Meir Tzelah, May the Compassionate One guard him and show him grace, in the city of Bombay: We find a carriage that we call a 'Garry,' that has two wheels affixed to it; but they are not drawn by beasts, nor by people - rather it travel by virtue of a person that sits on it and pushes the wheels with his legs. So we wanted to know if it is permissible to ride on this Garry on Shabbat and Yom Tov, or not. May the teacher instruct us and his reward from the heavens will be doubled…

Responsa Rav Pealim, Volume I, Orach Chayim 25

Friday Evening, Isidor Kaufmann, Austria c. 1920. The Jewish Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. M. R. Schweitzer. PD

Friday Evening, Isidor Kaufmann, Austria c. 1920. The Jewish Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. M. R. Schweitzer. PD

Learn Moreלקריאה נוספת

National Library of Israel (Hebrew)

Relatedראו גם

Shabbat Candles

"Remember" and "Guard"

Kiddush and Havdalah

Shabbat Clothes

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