{"id":1935,"date":"2018-02-05T13:28:43","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T10:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/2018\/02\/05\/what-is-havdalah-2"},"modified":"2018-06-12T13:43:50","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T10:43:50","slug":"what-is-havdalah-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/2018\/02\/05\/what-is-havdalah-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Havdalah 101"},"content":{"rendered":"

This thorough article<\/a> from Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0provides a comprehensive overview of the Havdalah ceremony that concludes Shabbat, including an introduction to the basic structure\u00a0of the ritual, the meaning behind it, and variations depending on different customs and times in the Jewish calendar.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Havdalah<\/h2>\n

Havdalah\u00a0(“separation”) is a\u00a0Jewish religious\u00a0ceremony that marks the symbolic end of\u00a0Sabbath\u00a0and\u00a0Jewish holidays, and ushers in the new week. The ritual involves lighting a special havdalah candle with several wicks, blessing a cup of wine and smelling sweet spices.\u00a0<\/sup>Shabbat ends on Saturday night after the appearance of three stars in the sky. Some communities delay the Havdalah in order to prolong Shabbat.<\/p>\n

Customs<\/span><\/h3>\n

As for\u00a0kiddush, havdalah is recited over a cup of\u00a0kosher wine\u00a0or\u00a0grape juice,\u00a0<\/sup>although other beverages may be used if wine or grape juice are not available.<\/p>\n

<\/sup>Spices, called\u00a0besamim<\/i>\u00a0in Hebrew, often stored in an\u00a0artistically decorative spice container\u00a0in order to beautify and honor the\u00a0Mitzvah, are handed around so that everyone can smell the fragrance.\u00a0<\/sup>In many\u00a0Sephardi<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Mizrahi<\/a>\u00a0communities, branches of aromatic plants are used for this purpose, while\u00a0Ashkenazim<\/a>\u00a0have traditionally used\u00a0cloves. A special braided Havdalah candle with more than one wick<\/sup>\u00a0is lit, and a blessing is recited.<\/sup>\u00a0If a special havdalah candle is not available, two candles can be used, and the two flames joined when reciting the blessing.<\/p>\n

<\/sup>When reciting the words “Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam, bo’re m’orei ha’esh,” it is customary for the participants to hold their hands up to the candle and gaze at the reflection of the light in their fingernails.<\/p>\n

<\/sup>At the conclusion of Havdalah, the leftover wine is poured into a small dish and the candle is extinguished in it, as a sign that the candle was lit solely for the\u00a0mitzvah of Havdalah. Based on\u00a0Psalms 19:9<\/a>, “the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes,” some Jews dip a finger into the leftover wine and touch their eyes or pockets with it. Because it was used for a mitzvah, the wine is considered a “segulah<\/a><\/i>,” or good omen.<\/p>\n

After the Havdalah ceremony, it is customary to sing “Eliyahu Hanavi<\/i>” (“Elijah<\/a>\u00a0the Prophet<\/i>“) and bless one another with the words\u00a0“Shavua’ tov<\/i>”\u00a0(Hebrew) or “Gute vokh<\/i>” (Yiddish) (Have a good week).<\/p>\n

Havdalah is also recited at the conclusion of the following biblical\u00a0holidays:\u00a0Rosh Hashanah;\u00a0Yom Kippur; the first days of\u00a0Sukkot;\u00a0Simchat Torah;\u00a0Passover, both its first and last days; and\u00a0Shavuot. The blessing over the wine is said, as well as the prayer separating the holy from the everyday, but not the prayers over the havdalah candle or the spices (except for the conclusion of Yom Kippur when the prayer over the havdalah candle is recited).<\/p>\n

When a major holiday follows Shabbat, the Havdalah service is recited as part of the holiday\u00a0kiddush\u00a0and the blessing over spices is not said. The special braided Havdalah candle is not used since it may not be\u00a0extinguished\u00a0after the service, but rather the blessing is recited over the\u00a0festival candles. The prayer “distinguishes holiness from the everyday” is changed to “distinguishes holiness from holiness” signifying that the holiness of the holiday is of a lesser degree than the holiness of the concluded Shabbat.<\/p>\n

Significance<\/span><\/h3>\n

Havdalah is intended to require a person to use all five senses\u2014to taste the wine, smell the spices, see the flame of the candle and feel its heat, and hear the blessings.<\/p>\n

<\/sup>Following a normal Shabbat, the order of the prayers corresponds to the acrostic \u05d9\u05d1\u05e0”\u05d4 “Yavneh”, with the initials\u00a0Y<\/b>ayin (wine),\u00a0B<\/b>esamim (spices),\u00a0N<\/b>er (candle), and\u00a0H<\/b>avdalah (the Havdalah prayer).<\/p>\n

<\/sup><\/sup>The order of elements when Havdala is combined with\u00a0kiddush<\/i>\u00a0(e.g., on a Saturday night that is ‘Yom Tov’\u00a0(i.e., literally, ‘Good Day’)<\/i>\u00a0is known by the acrostic Yaknhaz.\u00a0<\/sup>This is the initial letters of\u00a0Y<\/b>ayin (wine),\u00a0K<\/b>iddush HaYom (blessing the day),\u00a0N<\/b>er (candle),\u00a0H<\/b>avdala (the Havdala blessing) and\u00a0Z<\/b>man (time, i.e.\u00a0shehechiyanu<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Blessings<\/span><\/h3>\n

The central blessing of the Havdalah is the following paragraph, of which there are variants:<\/p>\n

Blessed art thou, God, our Lord, King of the Universe<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

Who distinguishes
\nHoliness from the everyday,
\nLight from dark,
\nIsrael from the nations,
\nThe seventh day from the six workdays.
\nBlessed art thou, God,
\nWho distinguishes holiness from the everyday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The text of the Havdalah service exists in two main forms, Ashkenazic and Sephardic. The introductory verses in the Ashkenazic version (beginning \u05d4\u05e0\u05d4 \u05d0\u05dc,\u00a0Hinei El<\/i>)\u00a0<\/sup>are taken from the biblical books of\u00a0Isaiah,\u00a0Psalms\u00a0and\u00a0Esther.<\/p>\n

In the Sephardic liturgy, the introduction begins with the words \u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d5\u05df \u05dc\u05e6\u05d9\u05d5\u05df,\u00a0Rishon L’tsion<\/i>\u00a0and consists of biblical verses describing God giving light and success interspersed with later liturgical prose.<\/p>\n

The four blessings over the wine, spices candle and praising God for separation between holy and profane are virtually identical between the traditions. The phrase \u05d1\u05d9\u05df \u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc \u05dc\u05e2\u05de\u05d9\u05dd,\u00a0bein Yisrael l’amim<\/i>\u00a0‘between Israel and the nations’ is based on\u00a0Leviticus 20:26.\u00a0<\/a><\/sup>In\u00a0Reconstructionist Judaism<\/a>, however, the phrase is omitted, as part of founder\u00a0Mordechai Kaplan’s rejection of the Biblical idea of\u00a0chosenness<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This thorough article from Wikipedia\u00a0provides a comprehensive overview of the Havdalah ceremony that concludes Shabbat, including an introduction to the basic structure\u00a0of the ritual, the meaning behind it, and variations depending on different customs and times in the Jewish calendar.\u00a0 Havdalah Havdalah\u00a0(“separation”) is a\u00a0Jewish religious\u00a0ceremony that marks the symbolic end of\u00a0Sabbath\u00a0and\u00a0Jewish holidays, and ushers in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[359],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935\/"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post\/"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6\/"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments\/?post=1935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935\/revisions\/"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1994,"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935\/revisions\/1994\/"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1936\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/?parent=1935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/?post=1935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kol-ami.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/?post=1935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}