Did you know? - Chabad Lubavitch of Athens Greece

When the Shabbat leaves...

Thursday, June 24, 2021 - 2:35 PM

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We discussed last week the Blessing of Havdalah (HERE), that we say when bidding farewell to the Shabat, and we mentioned its customs and blessings. But what is the reason for these customs?

Smelling spices or aromatic herbs: On Shabbat, each Jew receives an “additional” soul. In other words, something is added to our soul every Shabbat and helps us to connect with G-d. When the Shabbat ends, this “additional” soul leaves. To console our soul, we smell good spices, because as we know, a good scent soothes the soul.

The fire: It was the first “night after the Shabbat” of Creation and the sin of Adam and Eve. Before the sin, the Garden of Eden always had light, even during the night. After the sin and when Shabbat ended, Adam found himself in the dark for the first time (the consequences of the sin started only after Shabbat).

What did he do? G-d gave him the knowledge and he found two stones, rubbed them, and created the first fire of the world. In remembrance of this fact, we bless G-d who created the fire.

What if we do not have spices or herb with a good scent, or if we cannot find a fire to lit? It is not necessary to search for them and we can make Havdalah even without them. If we find them later, we can still say the blessing on them independently. This is because these are customs that are related to the night after Shabbat and not to the Havdalah blessing which separates Shabbat from the other days of the week.

There is also a custom to make another meal during this night after Shabbat. In the same way that when Shabbat starts, we do a meal (which starts with the Kiddush), we do something similar when it ends. We can make a simple meal, and it is acceptable even to eat only something of the size of an olive. The idea is to bid farewell to the Shabbat as we welcomed it, with a meal.

Shabbat Shalom,

Arie from the Yeshiva

How do we bid farewell to the Shabbat?

Thursday, June 17, 2021 - 12:22 PM

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On Saturday evening, when three stars appear in the sky, the Shabbat ends. In the evening prayer of Arvit, in the 4th blessing, we add the Havdalah. Havdalah is a hymn to G-d thanking Him for separating certain things in the world, such as separating the Shabbat from the rest of the days of the week. After the prayer, we recite again the Havdalah as a separate blessing, in a ceremony with a cup of wine.

Why do we do Havdalah (literally separation)?

In the same way that there is a Mitzvah to remember Shabbat when it starts, which we accomplish through the Kiddush (as we explained here), we need to remember it when it finishes. In the words of our Sages: “Remember [the Shabbat] when it enters and when it leaves”.

Let us go a little deeper. The Shabbat is a day where we detach ourselves a little bit from our everyday life and connect again to G-d, leaving aside our physicality. When the Shabbat ends, we start a new week, where we will go back to our everyday routine. The power to remain connected to G-d even then is given to us by the Shabbat. This is why we bless G-d Who gave us the power to stay connected with Him, blessing Him for having separated and distinguished the day of Shabbat. This is why we say Havdalah, to thank G-d.

At night after the end of Shabbat, it is customary to say a blessing over besamim, herbs or spices with a good aroma (cloves are regularly used). It is also customary to light a new fire, and after saying the blessing, use it (benefit from it) to see the difference of color between our nails and the skin of our fingers (besides the thumbs).

Our Sages instituted to say those blessings during the Havdalah ceremony, after the blessing over the wine and before the blessing of the Havdalah. We will explore the reasons for these customs next week, G-d willing.

We introduce the Havdalah with several verses speaking about abundance and G-d’s salvation, as a good way to start the week.

It is customary not to eat from sunset until Havdalah (as on Friday from sunset until the Kiddush).

Thus, we bid farewell to the Shabbat expressing our gratefulness to G-d Who gave us the gift of this special day.

Shabbat Shalom,

Arie from the Yeshiva

3 things you did not know about the bread of Shabbat

Thursday, June 10, 2021 - 12:13 PM

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On Shabbat, every time we eat bread, the custom is to use double bread for the blessing, i.e. to say the blessing over 2 whole loaves.

Why?

The explanation is that it constitutes a reminder for the Manna that G-d sent us in the desert. The Torah tells us that every Friday, the Jews received a double portion, because the Manna would not fall on Shabbat. To remember this, we have 2 loaves of bread on Shabbat. This reminds us that G-d takes care of our needs and our sustenance, and we do not need to worry about not working on Shabbat: G-d sends us a “double portion” during the rest of the week.

There is also the custom to cover the bread while we make the Kiddush.

Why?

One explanation has to do with the Manna as well. G-d would send it like a gift, carefully packed and protected: first there would be a layer of dew on the ground, then the Manna descended, and it was then covered by another layer of dew. As a reminder, we cover the bread (on the top as well). This reminds us of G-d’s love and care for His people.

Another explanation has to do with the fact that we do Kiddush with wine before eating the bread. Generally, the order of the blessings is first the bread and then the wine. On Shabbat (and holidays), we make Kiddush before the meal (which starts with the bread). The bread may be “hurt” that we first drink the wine, while the bread is more important, and its blessing is first. We therefore cover the bread, so it does not see this “humiliation”.

This teaches us how careful we must be with the feelings of our fellow person. Even for the bread, whose “feelings” we would say are not significant – our Sages tell us to cover it so as not to hurt it. Naturally, this teaches us how important it is to respect the feelings of the others and make sure not to hurt them.

Shabbat Shalom,

Arie from the Yeshiva

How and why do we make the Kiddush?

Thursday, June 3, 2021 - 11:30 AM

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G-d ordered us to remember the day of Shabbat. Our Sages explain that this means to express this remembrance in words, i.e bless G-d for the Shabbat. We do this through the Kiddush.

We recite the Kiddush in the evening (Friday) and in the morning (Shabbat), but it is not exactly the same text, as we will see below.

Our Sages instituted to say this blessing over a cup of wine. We first say the blessing on the wine, then the blessing of the Kiddush and then we drink the wine.

Why wine?

One of the reasons is that every song and praise is said with wine, like in the Temple, when the Levites recited their daily song while offering wine. Thus, we also recite the blessing of the Shabbat with wine.

The wine—which is a celebratory beverage—also serves to show that the meal we are about to eat isn’t just another regular meal, but a special, joyous and festive one. (See more reasons here)

The best is to recite the Kiddush with wine. It is not necessary to have sweet wine (the so-called Kiddush wine), but it must be Kosher wine. If one does not have Kosher wine, he can say the blessing of Kiddush with bread. In this case, he will first wash his hands with the blessings …al netilat yadayim (as every time before eating bread). Then he will recite the Kiddush, saying instead of the blessing of the wine, the blessing of the bread. The essential part in the Kiddush is the blessing on the Shabbat, which remains the same.

We recite the Kiddush before the meal, and we refrain from eating from sunset until we make the Kiddush.

In the evening, we introduce the Kiddush with verses from the Torah describing the first Shabbat of the world, when G-d “rested” from the Creation of the world (Yom Hashishi vayechulu hashamayim vehaaretz vechol tsevaam…). Then we say the blessing of the wine (… bore peri hagafen), and then we say the blessing of the Kiddush (Baruch ata… asher kideshanu bemitsvotav veratsa banu… mekadesh hashabbat) (see full text and translation here).

In the morning, there is no special blessing for the Kiddush, because the base for the Kiddush is to remember the Shabbat when it enters, in the evening. So, for the meal of the day, we simply say the blessing of the wine (or the bread). Nevertheless, we say before the Kiddush verses of the Torah which speak about the keeping of the Shabbat (Veshameru beney Israel et hashabbat…).

Shabbat Shalom,

Arie from the Yeshiva