Religion - Shabbat
Shabbat (שבת shabbāṯ,
"rest" in Hebrew, or Shabbos in Ashkenazic pronunciation), is the weekly
day of rest in Judaism. It is observed, from sundown on Friday until
nightfall on Saturday, by many Jewish people with varying degrees of
involvement in Judaism. It is the source for the English term Sabbath,
the Arabic day "Sabt" (السبت), and concepts such as Sabbatical.
Etymology
The Hebrew word shabbat comes from the Hebrew verb shabat, which
literally means "to cease", or shev which means "sit". Although Shabbat
or its anglicized version Sabbath is almost universally translated as
"rest" or a "period of rest", a more literal translation would be
"ceasing", with the implication of "ceasing from work". Thus, Shabbat is
the day of ceasing from work; while resting is implied, it is not a
necessary connotation of the word itself.
Incidentally, this clarifies the often-asked theological question of why
God needed to "rest" on the seventh day of Creation, as related in the
Genesis account. When it is understood that God "ceased" from his labor
rather than "rested" from his labour, the usage is more consistent with
the Biblical view of an omnipotent God who does not need "rest."
Notwithstanding this clarification, this article will follow the far
more common translation of Shabbat as "rest."
A common linguistic confusion leads many to believe that the word means
"seventh day." Though the root for seven, or sheva, is similar in sound,
it is spelled differently.
Definition
Observance of Shabbat is mentioned a number of times in the Torah, most
notably as the fourth of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11 and
Deuteronomy 5:12-15). Other instances are Exodus 31:12-17 and 35:2-3,
Leviticus 19:3 and 30, 23:3 and 28:9-10 (the sacrifices). It is referred
to directly by the prophets Isaiah (56:4,6) and Ezekiel (ch. 20, 22, 23)
and Nehemiah 9:14, apart from numerous other allusions in the Bible.
Jewish law defines one day ending at nightfall, which is when the next
day then begins. Thus, Shabbat begins at sundown Friday night and ends
at nightfall Saturday night (traditionally, after three stars can be
seen on the sky). The added time between sunset and nightfall on
Saturday night owes to the ambiguous nature of that part of the day
according to Jewish law.
On occasions the word Shabbat can refer to the law of Shemittah or to
the holidays, dependent on the context.
Status as a holy day
The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and the Siddur (Jewish prayer book) describe
Shabbat as having three purposes:
* A commemoration of the Israelites' redemption from slavery in Egypt;
* A commemoration of God's creations of the Universe; on the seventh day
God rested from his work;
* A taste of the world in Messianic times.
While the Sabbath is not considered a holiday by many other cultures and
religions, Judaism accords Shabbat the status of a joyous holy day. In
many ways, halakha (Jewish law) gives Shabbat the status of being the
most important holy day in the Jewish calendar.
* It is the first holy day mentioned in the Bible, and God was the first
one to observe it with the cessation of Creation (Genesis 2:1-3).
* The liturgy treats the Sabbath as a bride and queen.
* The Torah is read as part of the services, with a longer reading. The
Torah is read over a yearly cycle of 53 parshiot, one for each Shabbat.
On Shabbat the reading is divided into seven sections, more than on any
other holy day, including Yom Kippur.
* There is a tradition that the Messiah will come if every Jew properly
observes two consecutive Sabbaths (Talmud, tractate Shabbat 118).
* The penalty of stoning (the most severe of the four death penalties)
was given in Biblical times for violating the Shabbat; this was only
done under the most rigid conditions and was rarely administered, but
serves as an indicator of the severity of violating the Shabbat. The
first case is recorded in the Bible (Numbers 15:32-37).
Observance
Shabbat is a day of celebration as well as one of prayer. Three festive
meals are eaten each Shabbat: on Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and
early Saturday evening before the conclusion of the Shabbat. All Jews
are encouraged to attend services at a synagogue during Shabbat, even if
they would not normally do so on weekdays.
With the exception of Yom Kippur, days of public fasting are postponed
or advanced for a day if they coincide with Shabbat, and mourners
sitting Shivah conduct themselves normally for the duration of the day
and are indeed forbidden to express public signs of mourning.
Mandatory activities
According to traditional interpretations of the Bible, Jews are
commanded by God to keep (passively) and remember (actively) the
Shabbat, and these two actions are symbolised by lighting two candles.
Although most Shabbat laws are restrictive (see below), the fourth
commandment in Exodus is taken by the Talmud to allude to the positive
aspects of the Shabbat. These include:
* Recitation of Kiddush over a cup of wine in the evening and the
morning, emphasizing the holiness of the day (see List of Hebrew
Prayers);
* Three joyful meals that minimally include bread (the traditional
challah loaves) and meat (according to most traditional views).
* Torah study (see below);
* Recitation of Havdalah at the conclusion on Saturday night (over a cup
of wine, fragrant spices and a candle).
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein is quoted to have said that decreased emphasis on
the "positive" aspects of the Shabbat has been a factor in increased
assimilation in the generations after World War II (Derash Moshe,
"Balak").
Prohibited activities
See also 39 categories of activity.
Jewish law prohibits doing any form of melachah ("work", plural
"melachot") on Shabbat. Melachah does not closely correspond to the
English definition of the term "work", nor does it correspond to the
definition of the term as used in physics. Rather, it refers to the 39
categories of activity that the Talmud prohibits Jews from engaging in
on Shabbat; they are legally derived (based on juxtaposition of
corresponding Biblical passages) from the kinds of work that were
necessary for the construction of the Tabernacle. Many religious
scholars have pointed out that these labours have something in common --
they prohibit any activity that is creative, or that exercises control
or dominion over one's environment.
The 39 activities
As based on the Mishnah Tractate Shabbat 7:2, the 39 activities are:
1. Sowing;
2. Plowing;
3. Reaping;
4. Binding sheaves;
5. Threshing;
6. Winnowing;
7. Selecting;
8. Grinding;
9. Sifting;
10. Kneading;
11. Baking;
12. Shearing wool;
13. Washing wool;
14. Beating wool;
15. Dyeing wool;
16. Spinning;
17. Weaving;
18. Making two loops;
19. Weaving two threads;
20. Separating two threads;
21. Tying;
22. Untying;
23. Sewing stitches;
24. Tearing;
25. Trapping;
26. Slaughtering;
27. Flaying;
28. Salting meat;
29. Curing hide;
30. Scraping hide;
31. Cutting hide up;
32. Writing two or more letters;
33. Erasing two or more letters;
34. Building;
35. Tearing something down;
36. Extinguishing a fire;
37. Kindling a fire;
38. Putting the finishing touch on an object;
39. Transporting an object between a private domain and the public
domain, or within the public domain;
Status of prohibitions
Each melachah has derived prohibitions of various kinds. There are,
therefore, many more forbidden activities on the Shabbat; all are traced
back to one of the 39 above principal melachot. Direct derivatives
(toledoth) have the same legal severity as the original melachah
(although there are marginal differences); examples are the related
activities of cooking, baking, roasting and poaching, all of which fall
under "baking". Indirect derivatives instituted by the rabbinic Sages
are termed shevuth and are much less severe in legal terms (e.g. they
were not punished with stoning when this punishment was still in force).
Given the above, the 39 melachot are not so much activities as
categories of activity. For example, while "winnowing" usually refers
exclusively to the separation of chaff from grain, it refers in the
Talmudic sense to any separation of intermixed materials which renders
edible that which was inedible. Thus, filtering undrinkable water to
make it drinkable falls under this category, as does picking small bones
from fish (gefilte fish is a traditional Ashkenazi solution to this
problem). Another example is the prohibition (in Orthodox halacha) on
turning electricity on or off, which is derived from "building" and
"tearing something down" (the Hebrew word that is used can be
interpreted as "destroying for the purpose of rebuilding"). The solution
commonly used involves pre-set timers.
Delineations
In the event that a human life is in danger (pikuach nefesh), a Jew is
not only allowed, but required, to violate any Shabbat law which stands
in the way of saving that life. The derived laws of shevuth are violated
under much less stringent circumstances, e.g. a patient who is ill but
not critically so.
Various other legal principles closely delineate which activity
constitutes desecration of the Shabbat. Examples of these include the
principle of shinui (change or deviation) - a severe violation becomes a
non-severe one if the prohibited act was performed in a way that would
be considered abnormal on a weekday. Examples include writing with one's
non-dominant hand (according to many authorities). This legal principle,
however, is post-facto (bedi avad) and is not normally relied upon
except in specific circumstances.
Reform Judaism, generally speaking, says that while one should study
those prohibitions, as one would study Jewish law, it is up to the
individual Jew to determine whether to follow those prohibitions on
Shabbat or not. For example, some Jews might find writing (or some other
malachah, or derivative of such a melachah) for leisure purposes to be
an enjoyable activity that enhances Shabbat and its holiness, and
therefore encourage such practices. More traditional Jews, naturally,
would disagree on this issue.
Legal workarounds
It is occasionally possible to perform seemingly forbidden acts by
modifying the relevant technology to such an extent that no law is
actually violated. An example is the "Sabbath elevator". In this mode,
an elevator will stop automatically at every floor, allowing people to
step on and off without having to press any buttons, which would be to
work. Regenerative braking is also disabled if it is normally used,
shunting energy collected from downward travel, and thus the
gravitational potential energy of passengers, into a resistor network.
This prevents violation of the Sabbath prohibition against doing useful
work. Many authorities consider the use of such elevators by those who
are otherwise capable as a breaking of the Sabbath, with such
workarounds being for the benefit of the frail and handicapped and not
being in the spirit of the day.
Many Orthodox Jews avoid the prohibition of carrying objects outside by
making their keys part of a belt, as it would be unsafe to leave doors
unlocked or hide the keys too close to the house.
Permitted activities
The following activities are encouraged on Shabbat:
* Visiting family and friends (within walking distance, given problems
with transport);
* Spending Shabbat together with one's own immediate family;
* Synagogue attendance;
* Hosting family and friends to sleep over for Shabbat (hachnasat
orchim, hospitality) or at least for one of the festive meals;
* Singing folk songs, zmirot (pizmonim), etc. (commonly done during or
after the meals);
* Reading, studying and discussing Torah and commentary, Mishnah and
Talmud, halakha and responsa and Midrash.
* According to Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), lovemaking between husband
and wife is encouraged.
* According to Reform rabbis, anything that enhances the enjoyability of
Shabbat as a special and spiritual day is to be encouraged.[1]
The following activities are in accord with Jewish law and tradition but
are not mandated:
* Playing board games
* Reading modern Jewish fiction (a number of rabbinic authorities
discourage the reading of novels and newspapers; inspirational stories
might fall outside this opinion);
* Taking a nature walk or hike;
* Some, mainly Modern Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform, authorities
permit spending time with one's pets.
Adaptation by other religions
Judaism's teachings about the Shabbat were eventually adopted and
instituted by other religions as well. Christianity moved observance of
the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday in the process of its theological
and historical split from Judaism. Subsequently, with the advent of
Islam Friday became a day of public prayer for Muslims (the concept of
"rest" is traditionally not incorporated, but is catching on nowadays),
that may be derived from the practice of having market days on Friday in
the Middle East in preparation for a "Sabbath".
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbat
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