(א) וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ הַשָּׁמַ֥יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ וְכָל־צְבָאָֽם׃(ב) וַיְכַ֤ל אֱלֹקִים֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑ה וַיִּשְׁבֹּת֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָֽׂה׃(ג) וַיְבָ֤רֶךְ אֱלֹקִים֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י וַיְקַדֵּ֖שׁ אֹת֑וֹ כִּ֣י ב֤וֹ שָׁבַת֙ מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֥א אֱלֹקִ֖ים לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃
(1) And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.(2) And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.(3) And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God in creating had made.
(טז) וְשָׁמְרוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת לְדֹרֹתָם בְּרִית עוֹלָם. (יז) בֵּינִי וּבֵין בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אוֹת הִוא לְעֹלָם כִּי שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים עָשָׂה ה' אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שָׁבַת וַיִּנָּפַשׁ.
(16) The children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to make the sabbath for their generations, a perpetual covenant.(17) It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased and rested.’
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃(ב) דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵקֶ֔ם מוֹעֲדֵ֣י ה' אֲשֶׁר־תִּקְרְא֥וּ אֹתָ֖ם מִקְרָאֵ֣י קֹ֑דֶשׁ אֵ֥לֶּה הֵ֖ם מוֹעֲדָֽי׃(ג) שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִים֮ תֵּעָשֶׂ֣ה מְלָאכָה֒ וּבַיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י שַׁבַּ֤ת שַׁבָּתוֹן֙ מִקְרָא־קֹ֔דֶשׁ כָּל־מְלָאכָ֖ה לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֑וּ שַׁבָּ֥ת הִוא֙ לַֽה' בְּכֹ֖ל מֽוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶֽם׃ (פ)(ד) אֵ֚לֶּה מוֹעֲדֵ֣י ה' מִקְרָאֵ֖י קֹ֑דֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־תִּקְרְא֥וּ אֹתָ֖ם בְּמוֹעֲדָֽם׃
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites, and you shall say to them: ‘These are the fixed-times of the LORD which you shall call sacred convocations. These are My fixed times. Six days shall tasks be done, and on the seventh day, an absolute sabbath, a sacred convocation. No task shall you do. It is a sabbath for the LORD in all your dwelling places. These are the fixed times of the LORD, sacred convocations which you shall call in their fixed time.
(יג) אִם תָּשִׁיב מִשַּׁבָּת רַגְלֶךָ עֲשׂוֹת חֲפָצֶיךָ בְּיוֹם קָדְשִׁי וְקָרָאתָ לַשַּׁבָּת עֹנֶג לִקְדוֹשׁ ה' מְכֻבָּד וְכִבַּדְתּוֹ מֵעֲשׂוֹת דְּרָכֶיךָ מִמְּצוֹא חֶפְצְךָ וְדַבֵּר דָּבָר.(יד) אָז תִּתְעַנַּג עַל ה' וְהִרְכַּבְתִּיךָ עַל במותי [בָּמֳתֵי] אָרֶץ וְהַאֲכַלְתִּיךָ נַחֲלַת יַעֲקֹב אָבִיךָ כִּי פִּי ה' דִּבֵּר.
If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your affairs on My holy day; If you call the sabbath “delight,” The Lord’s holy day “honored”; And if you honor it and go not your ways nor look to your affairs, nor strike bargains – Then you can seek the favor of the Lord. I will set you astride the heights of the earth, And let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob—For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
(ב) אבות מלאכות ארבעים חסר אחת .הזורע.והחורש. והקוצר. והמעמר. הדש. והזורה. הבורר. הטוחן. והמרקד. והלש. והאופה. הגוזז את הצמר. המלבנו. והמנפצו. והצובעו. והטווה. והמסך. והעושה שני בתי נירין. והאורג שני חוטין. והפוצע שני חוטין. הקושר. והמתיר. והתופר שתי תפירות. הקורע על מנת לתפר שתי תפירות. הצד צבי. השוחטו. והמפשיטו. המולחו, והמעבד את עורו. והמוחקו. והמחתכו. הכותב שתי אותיות. והמוחק על מנת לכתב שתי אותיות. הבונה. והסותר. המכבה.והמבעיר. המכה בפטיש. המוציא מרשות לרשות. הרי אלו אבות מלאכות ארבעים חסר אחת.
(2) The avot melachot [major categories of work forbidden on Shabbat] are forty minus one: sowing, plowing, harvesting, binding sheaves together, threshing, winnowing, sorting, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking, shearing wool, whitening it, beating it, dyeing it, spinning, weaving, making two loops, weaving two threads, separating two threads, tying, untying, sewing two stitches, tearing for the purpose of sewing two stitches, hunting a deer, slaughtering it, flaying it, salting it, curing its skin, scraping it, cutting it, writing two letters, erasing for the purpose of writing two letters, building, demolishing, extinguishing [a flame], kindling [a flame], striking with a hammer, carrying from one domain to another. These are the major categories of work [forbidden on Shabbat] - forty minus one.
הדלקת נר חובה משום שלום בית שלא יכשל בעץ או באבן וצריך להיות הנרות ארוכים שידלקו עד שיבואו לביתם בלילה ובלא"ה הוי ברכה לבטלה
Shabbos Candles are an obligation because of Shalom Bayis (i.e. peace in the house), so that a person should not trip over a stick or a rock. The candles need to be long in order that they last the night, because without this, it is a blessing said in vain
רבי חנינא מיעטף וקאי אפניא דמעלי שבתא אמר בואו ונצא לקראת שבת המלכה רבי ינאי לביש מאניה מעלי שבת ואמר בואי כלה בואי כלה
(1) Rabbi Channina would wrap himself (in a nice cloak) and stands towards evening on Friday and say, "Come, let us go out and greet the Sabbath Queen. Rabbi Yannai would put on his (Shabbat) clothes on Friday and say "Come, O Bride, Come, O Bride."
תניא ר' יוסי בר יהודה אומר שני מלאכי השרת מלוין לו לאדם בע"ש מבית הכנסת לביתו אחד טוב ואחד רע וכשבא לביתו ומצא נר דלוק ושלחן ערוך ומטתו מוצעת מלאך טוב אומר יהי רצון שתהא לשבת אחרת כך ומלאך רע עונה אמן בעל כרחו ואם לאו מלאך רע אומר יהי רצון שתהא לשבת אחרת כך ומלאך טוב עונה אמן בעל כרחו
(1) A Baraisa (Talmudic Text) taught: Rabbi Yose son of Yehudah says: Two ministering angels escort a person from the Synagogue to his (her) home on the eve of the Sabbath, one a good angel and one a bad angel. And when he comes to his home and finds the lamp burning, the table set, and his bed made, the good angel says, "May it be the will of God that it should be this way the next Sabbath as well." And the Bad Angel is forced to answer Amen against his will. But if the table is not set, the Bad Angel says "May it be the will of God that is should be THIS way the next Sabbath as well." And the Good Angel is forced to say Amen against his will.
(ג) ומכבוד השבת שילבש כסות נקיה. ולא יהיה מלבוש החול כמלבוש השבת.(ה) מסדר אדם שולחנו בערב שבת ואף על פי שאינו צריך אלא לכזית. כדי לכבדו בכניסתו וביציאתו. וצריך לתקן ביתו מבעוד יום מפני כבוד השבת. ויהיה נר דלוק ושולחן ערוך לאכול ומטה מוצעת שכל אלו לכבוד שבת הן.(ז) איזהו עונג זהו שאמרו חכמים שצריך לתקן תבשיל שמן ביותר ומשקה מבושם לשבת הכל לפי ממונו של אדם. וכל המרבה בהוצאת שבת ובתיקון מאכלים רבים וטובים הרי זה משובח.
(ח) ואם אין ידו משגת אפילו לא עשה אלא שלק וכיוצא בו משום כבוד שבת הרי זה עונג שבת. ואינו חייב להצר לעצמו ולשאול מאחרים כדי להרבות במאכל בשבת. אמרו חכמים הראשונים עשה שבתך חול ואל תצטרך לבריות.(יד) תשמיש המטה מעונג שבת הוא.
(Selections)
3. Honoring Shabbat involves also putting on clean clothes, so as not to wear the same clothes on both weekdays and Sabbaths.
5. One should set his table properly on Friday night, even if he feels no need for more than an olive's bulk of food... One should also, in honor of Shabbat, get his room ready, while it is still day on Friday, by having a lamp lit, a table laid, and a couch properly spread. For all these are marks of reverence for Shabbat.
7. What is Shabbat's delight? This is explained by the statement of the Sages that one should prepare for Shabbat the richest victuals and the choicest beverages that one can afford. The more one spends for Shabbat and for the preparation of numerous and tasty dishes, the more praiseworthy he is.
8. If a person has been reared in luxury and wealth, so that all of his days are like Shabbat, he should make his Shabbat food differ in some way from his weekday food.
14. Cohabitation is likewise regarded as Shabbat's delight.
Ahad Ha'Am (1856-1927)
More than the Jewish People have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jewish People.
"Radical Shabbat: Free Time, Free People"
Arthur Waskow Sojourners, May-June 2000
In short, the Jewish Sabbath is a day for being, not for making. [...] Doing, working, making are not intrinsically evil. Modernity has made possible much that is valuable. But a society that never pauses to catch its breath and reflect on its values, never pauses to love and affirm community and family such a society forms "making" into a grotesque mockery and turns production, consumption, and overwork into idols.
"Thinking Shabbat" Rabbi Lawrence Kusher in A Shabbat Reader p 199-201
We need a way to describe liberal Jews who are serious about Shabbat. Shomer Shabbat, Keeper of Shabbat, based as it is on the language of the actual commandment in Deuteronomy, could be ideal. Unfortunately it has been appropriated and defined, meticulously and oppressively, by someone else. So we return to the text of the Fourth Commandment and realize that it is said twice, once in Deuteronomy and again in Exodus. In Deuteronomy (5:11) we are told "Shamor," keep the Sabbath. But in Exodus (2;7) the verb is different: we are told "Zachor," remember the Sabbath. Perhaps it is for us to create a new standard of Shabbat behavior called "Zachor Shabbat." One who is "Zocher Shabbat" would remember throughout the day's duration that it was Shabbat. (Not so easy as it first sounds.) We say to one another, Do anything you want--as long as you will remember that it is Shabbat, amd that will insure that whatever you do will be lichvod ha-Shabbat, for the honor of the Shabbat.
Jennifer Breger, Ritualwell
Perhaps the most powerful image of Shabbat is of lighting candles... When we light Shabbat candles, we are reenacting God's creation of light recorded in the first chapter of Bereishit. According to our Rabbis, Shabbat itself is the generator of light in the world, "And God blessed the Sabbath day. How did God bless it? With light. When the sun set on the night of Shabbat, the light continued to function"(Bereishit Rabbah 11,2). The radiant light of Shabbat is a theme of Jewish sources through the ages. Not only does one's house shine on Shabbat but one's face is said to have a special radiance.
Pressure Release (Rabbi Reuven Hammer, The Torah Revolution)
Although the Sabbath originated in a simple, rural society, it has perhaps even more relevance in today's highly technological and highly pressured culture. For most of us, especially city dwellers, hard physical labor is not the problem, but enslavement to possessions, to the pursuit of material ends, and to the pressures of business and competition are obstacles indeed. We have tremendous need to withdraw from the everyday, to stop the drive toward acquisitiveness, to disengage from technology and reengage with people and with ourselves...."The Sabbath is the day on which we learn the art of surpassing civilization."
Strange as it may be, this ancient institution, which began as a way of freeing human beings from the tyranny of labor, is ideally suited to meet the needs of modern times as well. We have the need "to be refreshed." The word for this in Hebrew, va'yinafash, stems from the Hebrew nefesh - "life" or"soul." To give ourselves more life, a reinvigorated soul, is the goal of the Sabbath. No wonder the rabbis call the Sabbath "a taste of the world to come." (pp. 185-186)