Havdalah (, ) is a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

and ushers in the new week. The ritual involves lighting a special candle with several wicks, blessing a cup of wine, and smelling sweet spices (). Shabbat ends on Saturday night after the appearance of three stars in the sky. If one forgot or was otherwise not able to recite Havdalah earlier, it may be performed as late as sunset of the Tuesday following Shabbat; however, when it is recited after Saturday night the blessings of the spices and candle are omitted, and only the blessings on the wine and the havdalah itself are recited. Havdalah is also recited at the conclusion of the biblical holidays.

Customs

kiddush Kiddush (; ), , is a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays. Additionally, the word refers to a small repast held on Shabbat or festival mornings after the prayer services and before the meal. S ...

, havdalah is recited over a cup of

kosher wine Kosher wine () is wine that is produced in accordance with ''halakha'', and more specifically ''kashrut'', such that Jews will be permitted to pronounce blessings over and drink it. This is an important issue, since wine is used in several Jewi ...

grape juice Grape juice is obtained from crushing and blending grapes into a juice, liquid. In the wine industry, grape juice that contains 7–23 percent of pulp, skins, stems and seeds is often referred to as ''must''. The sugars in grape juice allow it t ...

, although other important beverages (''chamar ha-medinah'') may be used if wine or grape juice are not available. Spices, called ''besamim'' in Hebrew, often stored in an artistically-decorative spice container in order to beautify and honor the

mitzvah In its primary meaning, the Hebrew language, Hebrew word (; , ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment Divine law, from God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of disc ...

, are handed around so that everyone can smell the fragrance. In many Sefardic and

Mizrahi ''Mizrachi'' or ''Mizrahi'' () has two meanings. In the literal Hebrew meaning ''eastern'', it may refer to: * Mizrahi Jews, Jews from the Middle East and North Africa * Mizrahi (surname), a Sephardic surname, given to Jews who got to the Iberia ...

communities, branches of aromatic plants are used for this purpose, while

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language ...

have traditionally used

cloves Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or fragrance in consumer products, ...

. A special braided havdalah candle with more than one wick is lit, and a blessing is recited. If a special havdalah candle is not available, two candles can be used, and the two flames joined when reciting the blessing. Either right before or right after reciting the words "," 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. This custom was first recorded in MS ex-Montefiore 134 () and the (). At the conclusion of Havdalah, some or all of 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 mitzvah of Havdalah; some pour directly onto the candle. Based on , "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''," or good omen. After the Havdalah ceremony, it is customary to sing "''Eliyahu Hanavi''" ("

Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...

the Prophet") and/or ''HaMavdil Bein Kodesh LeChol'' ("Who separates Holy from ordinary/weekday"), and to bless one another with ' (Hebrew) or ' (Yiddish), meaning "Have a good week". Havdalah is also recited at the conclusion of the following biblical

holidays A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...

Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible, biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summe ...

;

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...

; the first days (first day in Israel) of

Sukkot Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Torah-commanded Jewish holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelite ...

;

Simchat Torah Simchat Torah (; Ashkenazi: ), also spelled Simhat Torah, is a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. Simchat Torah is a component of the Hebrew Bible ...

;

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

(''Pesach''), both its first and last days; and

Shavuot (, from ), or (, in some Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi usage), is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday, one of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan; in the 21st century, it may ...

. It is omitted, however, if the Sabbath falls immediately after the Festival. At the conclusion of a Festival that is not at the conclusion of the Sabbath, on the blessings over the wine and the blessing separating the holy from the everyday, but the spices and the havdalah candle are omitted. At the conclusion of Yom Kippur, when the blessing over the candle is recited, if it was lit from a candle that was lit all of Yom Kippur; when Yom Kippur falls on a weekday, the blessing on spices is not recited, and when it falls on the Sabbath customs differ. When a major holiday follows Shabbat, the Havdalah service is recited as part of the holiday

and the blessing over spices is not said. The special braided Havdalah candle is not used since it may not be extinguished after the service, but rather the blessing is recited over the festival 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.

Significance

Havdalah is intended to require a person to use all five senses: feel the cup, smell the spices, see the flame of the candle, hear the blessings and taste the wine. Following a normal Shabbat, the order of the prayers corresponds to the

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...

יבנ"ה ''Yavneh''. This acrostic consists of the initials Yayin (wine), Besamim (spices), Ner (candle), and Havdalah (the Havdalah prayer). The order of elements when Havdalah is combined with ''

'' (e.g., on a Saturday night that is ''Yom Tov'' ("holiday", literally "Good Day") is known by the acrostic יקנה"ז ''Yaknhaz''. This acrostic consists of the initials Yayin (wine), Kiddush HaYom (blessing the day), Ner (candle), Havdala (the Havdala blessing) and Zman (time, i.e. shehechiyanu). However, when the eighth day of Passover (outside of Israel) falls on Saturday night, the order is יקנ"ה ''Yikneh'', since shehechiyanu is never recited on the last days of Passover. Near the Qaddesh section in some Ashkenazic versions of the

Haggadah The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to reco ...

(e.g. Mantoba 1560, Prague 1526, Venice 1609 and the Goldschmidt Edition), Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2003),

Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew ''Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew'' is a scholarly book written in the English language by linguist Ghil'ad Zuckermann, published in 2003 by Palgrave Macmillan. The book proposes a socio-philological framework for the an ...

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. /

/ref> there is a picture of a hunter chasing a hare. This picture is a useful

mnemonic A mnemonic device ( ), memory trick or memory device is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory, often by associating the information with something that is easier to remember. It makes use of e ...

for the acrostic יקנה"ז ''Yaknhaz'' or ''Yaknehoz'', which resembles a

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

phrase that sounds similar. The Yiddish phrase יאָגן א האָז ''yogn a hoz'' means "to hunt a hare!" (cf. Yiddish יאָג דעם האָז ''yog dem hoz''). The colloquial German sentence ''Jag 'en Has akenhazalso means "hunt a/the hare!" (cf. German ''Jag einen/den Hasen!'').

Blessings

The verses recited before Havdalah differ by community. The introductory verses in the Ashkenazic version (beginning הנה אל, ''Hinei El'') are taken from the biblical books of

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

and

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

. In the Sephardic liturgy, the introduction begins with the words ראשון לציון, ''Rishon L'tsion'' and consists of biblical verses describing God giving light and success interspersed with later liturgical prose. The

Italian Nusach The Italian Nusach is the ancient prayer rite ('' nusach'') of the long-standing Italian Jewish (''Italkim'') community on the Italian Peninsula, used by Jews who are not of Ashkenazi or Sephardic origin. History The Italian nusach has been ...

has a third selection of verses. The verses are omitted at the conclusion of Festivals (except when coinciding with the Sabbath), when Havdalah is not recited immediately at the conclusion of the Sabbath (including when Tisha Bav falls on Sunday, and Havdalah is delayed until Sunday night at the conclusion of Tisha Bav), and in the Ashkenazic rite they are omitted also when Havdalah is recited as part of the Synagogue service. 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 בין ישראל לעמים, ''bein Yisrael l'amim '' 'between Israel and the nations' is based on .

Rashbam Samuel ben Meir (Troyes, c. 1085 – c. 1158), after his death known as the "Rashbam", a Hebrew acronym for RAbbi SHmuel Ben Meir, was a leading French Tosafist and grandson of Shlomo Yitzhaki, "Rashi". Biography He was born in the vicinity of ...

Pesahim Pesachim (, lit. "Paschal lambs" or "Passovers"), also spelled Pesahim, is the third tractate of '' Seder Moed'' ("Order of Festivals") of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. The tractate discusses the topics related to the Jewish holiday of Passov ...

Reconstructionist Judaism Reconstructionist Judaism () is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish movement based on the concepts developed by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983)—namely, that Judaism as a Civilization, Judaism is a progressively evolving civilization rather ...

, however, the phrase is omitted, as part of founder Mordechai Kaplan's rejection of the Biblical idea of chosenness. Modern tunes for Havdalah are based on melodies by

Shlomo Carlebach Shlomo Carlebach (; January 14, 1925 – October 20, 1994), known as Reb Shlomo to his followers, was an American rabbi and musician nicknamed "the Singing Rabbi". Although his roots lay in traditional Orthodox yeshivot, he branched out to c ...

Neshama Carlebach Neshama Carlebach (; born October 9, 1974) is an American teacher, entertainer, singer, and the protégée of her late father, Shlomo Carlebach. Her career as a recording artist and as an occasional essayist has reached interfaith communities an ...

and

Debbie Friedman Deborah Lynn Friedman (February 23, 1951 – January 9, 2011)Horn, JordanaBeloved US Jewish songwriter, Debbie Friedman, dies ''The Jerusalem Post'', January 9, 2011Fox, MargalitDebbie Friedman, Singer of Jewish Music, Dies at 59 ''The New York ...

. The Ashkenazi liturgy for havdala after a festival or Shabbat is as follows:

References

External links

Chabad.org: The Havdalah Ceremony

Video of The Havdalah Ceremony
{{authority control Shabbat Jewish blessings Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish prayers and blessings

Customs

Significance

Blessings

See also

References

External links