What is Shabbat?

A day of rest, from the first week

The word Shabbat comes from the Hebrew verb for stopping or ceasing. The Sabbath first appears at the end of the creation account, before there was a people of Israel or a law at Sinai.

So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Genesis 2:3

At Sinai, God made the day a commandment. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). Exodus grounds the command in creation, since God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh (Exodus 20:11). When Moses repeats the commandments in Deuteronomy, he grounds it in redemption too. Israel was once a nation of slaves who could never stop working, and God brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand (Deuteronomy 5:12–15).

Shabbat is also a sign of the covenant between God and Israel. Exodus calls it “a covenant forever” and “a sign forever between me and the people of Israel” (Exodus 31:16–17). The prophets call it a delight (Isaiah 58:13). Jewish people have kept it through every century and every exile, and many say that Shabbat has kept the Jewish people as much as they have kept it.

When Shabbat starts and ends

Shabbat runs from Friday at sundown until Saturday at nightfall. In the Bible a day begins in the evening. “And there was evening and there was morning, the first day” (Genesis 1:5). So the seventh day begins as the sun goes down on the sixth.

• Candle lighting is customarily 18 minutes before sunset on Friday. In Jerusalem many families light 40 minutes before.
• Shabbat ends at nightfall on Saturday, when three stars can be seen in the sky. Calendars put that somewhere between about 40 and 72 minutes after sunset, depending on the custom they follow.

Because sunset moves with the seasons and with where you live, the times change every week. We don’t show local times on this page. For yours, check a local calendar such as Hebcal’s Shabbat times, or ask a congregation near you.

What “Shabbat shalom” means

שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם is the greeting of the day. Shalom means peace, and more than peace. It carries the sense of wholeness, of things being as they should be. To wish someone “Shabbat shalom” is to wish them a Sabbath of rest and well-being.

You will hear it from Friday afternoon until Saturday evening, at the door of the synagogue and across the dinner table. The right reply is to say it back. Some families use the Yiddish Gut Shabbes. After Shabbat ends, people wish one another shavua tov, a good week.

Shabbat dinner

Shabbat is welcomed at home, around a table set a little better than on other nights. The meal follows an order that families have kept for centuries.

1. Candles. Two candles are lit, traditionally by the woman of the house, and a blessing is said over them.
2. Blessing the children. Many parents lay their hands on their children and bless them, often with the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24–26. Many husbands read Proverbs 31 to honor their wives.
3. Kiddush. A cup of wine is lifted and Shabbat is declared holy. On Friday night the kiddush opens with Genesis 2:1–3, the verses about God finishing his work and resting.
4. Challah. Two braided loaves sit under a cloth. They recall the double portion of manna that fell before each Sabbath in the wilderness (Exodus 16:22–30). After the blessing the bread is torn or cut and shared.
5. The meal. Then dinner, often with songs at the table and grace after the meal. That custom comes from Deuteronomy 8:10, where Israel is told to eat, be satisfied and bless the Lord for the good land.

These are the three blessings most families say.

Over the candles

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לְהַדְלִיק נֵר שֶׁל שַׁבָּת.

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha’olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner shel Shabbat.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has made us holy with his commandments and commanded us to kindle the light of Shabbat.

Over the wine

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן.

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha’olam, borei p’ri hagafen.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

Over the bread

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, הַמּוֹצִיא לֶחֶם מִן הָאָרֶץ.

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha’olam, hamotzi lechem min ha’aretz.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.

Many Messianic families also say a blessing over the candles that thanks God for giving Yeshua, the light of the world, and asks that his people be a light to the world. At a Messianic table the bread and the wine often bring the Last Supper to mind as well.

Havdalah, the close of Shabbat

Shabbat ends the way it began, with blessings. Havdalah means separation, and the short ceremony marks the line between the holy day and the ordinary week. It is said on Saturday night once the stars are out.

A braided candle with several wicks is lit, and blessings are said over a cup of wine, over sweet spices that everyone smells, and over the light of the flame. The last blessing praises God, who separates the holy from the ordinary. The candle is put out in the wine, and everyone wishes each other a good week.

How Messianic Jews keep Shabbat

Yeshua kept the Sabbath. Luke says that “as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day” (Luke 4:16). His arguments with other teachers were about how to keep it. He healed on the Sabbath and taught that “it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:12).

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.

Mark 2:27–28

Messianic congregations gather on Shabbat. Some meet on Friday evening to welcome it, most meet on Saturday morning, and some do both. A Saturday service usually includes Hebrew prayers, the weekly Torah portion, a reading from the New Covenant Scriptures and a message. If you have never been, our guide to your first visit to a Messianic synagogue explains what happens.

Observance at home varies widely. Some Messianic Jewish families keep Shabbat much as observant Jewish families do, setting work and commerce aside for the whole day. Others mark it with a Friday dinner, a service and a slower Saturday. Across that range they agree on one thing. Shabbat is a gift to receive with joy and an expression of covenant faithfulness. Nobody earns God’s favor by keeping it, and Hebrews speaks of a deeper rest that remains for the people of God (Hebrews 4:9).

Gentile believers are welcome at the table. Isaiah speaks of foreigners who join themselves to the Lord and keep the Sabbath, and of a house of prayer for all peoples (Isaiah 56:6–7). To spend a Shabbat with a congregation near you, browse the directory.

Common questions

Further reading

• The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man

  Abraham Joshua Heschel. Farrar, Straus and Young, 1951. A short, beloved book on Shabbat as a sanctuary in time.