The term Motza'ei Shabbat (—literally, the going out of the Sabbath) in
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
refers to the time in the evening immediately following
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 ...
, that is
Saturday
Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the god Saturn. His planet, Saturn, controlled the first hour of that day, according to Vettius Valens. T ...
night. It is a time when, following one's declaration of the intention to end Shabbat, it is permissible to resume
weekday activities that are prohibited on Shabbat. This may occur no earlier than when three "small"
star
A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...
s appear in the
sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...
. There are varying
opinions
An opinion is a judgement, Point of view (philosophy), viewpoint, or Proposition, statement that is not conclusive, as opposed to facts, which are truth, true statements.
Definition
A given opinion may deal with subjectivity, subjective matters ...
as to how much time elapses following
sunset
Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...
until this occurs. This difference of opinions results in different ways to predetermine the fixed time when the Shabbat will end on a given Saturday night. The time varies, depending on one's geographic location and the time of year.
Regardless of location, the time that Shabbat ends, which is approximately one hour later than the time for
candle lighting the day before, fluctuates approximately four hours throughout the calendar year and by up to 17 minutes from one week to the next (or by more than an hour if the
time has changed during the previous week).
There are three ways one can declare the end of Shabbat in order to be allowed to resume activities forbidden during Shabbat:
#Reciting ''Ata Honantanu'': This special paragraph is added to the
Amidah
The ''Amidah'' (, ''Tefilat HaAmidah'', 'The Standing Prayer'), also called the ''Shemoneh Esreh'' ( 'eighteen'), is the central prayer of Jewish liturgy. Observant Jews recite the ''Amidah'' during each of the three services prayed on week ...
during
Maariv
''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''.
The service will often begin with two ...
on Saturday evening, and is generally recited by men to end Shabbat
#Reciting ''Baruch Hamavdil'': The verse ''"Baruch Hamavdil Bein Kodesh LeHol"'' is generally recited by women, who traditionally do not recite the Maariv prayer
#
Havdalah
Havdalah (, ) is a Judaism, Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat 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 (). Shab ...
: Havdalah is a required ritual on Motza'ei Shabbat. Reciting or listening to Havdalah defines the end of Shabbat. But one who lights the Havdalah candle or else wishes to perform any activity otherwise prohibited during Shabbat must declare an end to Shabbat by one of the above two methods.
It is permitted to resume activities that are prohibited on Shabbat after any one of the three methods.
[Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim ]
References
External links
Chabad calendar
{{Shabbat
Shabbat