Every Saturday night, when three stars appear, a Jewish household does something that looks simple. A cup of wine is lifted, a box of spices is passed around, and a braided candle is lit. The ceremony is called Havdalah (separation), and it is the moment when Shabbat ends and the week begins. Each of its parts has a reason in the Talmud, and the Kabbalists found a further layer in each.
The mitzvah of separating
The Sages teach that Shabbat is greeted with Kiddush and sent off with Havdalah (Pesachim 105a). The central blessing of the ceremony praises Hashem “who separates between holy and mundane, between light and darkness, between Israel and the nations, between the seventh day and the six days of labor.” The word mavdil (who separates) names the act: Shabbat has its own quality, and the week has its own, and the transition between them is made with awareness.
The spices
The Talmud gives a reason for the besamim (spices). Beitzah 16a teaches that on Friday evening, a person is given an neshamah yeterah (additional soul), and when Shabbat ends, it is taken from him. The Sages read this in the verse “He ceased from work and rested (shavat vayinafash),” and say that once Shabbat ends, “woe, the soul is lost.” The fragrance revives the person after the departure of this additional soul. (Our article on the extra soul of Shabbat discusses the idea in detail.)
The flame
The blessing over the flame is borei me’orei ha’esh, “Who creates the lights of the fire.” The Talmud connects it to the first Saturday night of history. Pesachim 54a records that when darkness fell on Adam at the end of the first Shabbat, Hashem gave him insight to take two stones and strike them together, and fire appeared. The word me’orei is plural, which is why the Havdalah candle is braided from several wicks. The flame is the first creative act of a human being, and the Havdalah returns to it as the week’s first act.
A common custom is to look at the light reflected in the fingernails. Several reasons for it appear in the tradition, and no single explanation is universal.
The wine
The wine is the cup over which the main blessing is made, just as at Kiddush. The Kabbalists note that wine carries the same character at both ends of Shabbat. It is the vessel that holds the sanctity as it arrives and as it departs.
The Kabbalistic reading
In the Zohar and in the writing of the Arizal, Shabbat is the union of the Holy One and the Shechinah (the Divine Presence), and the week is the realm of Assiyah (action), the lowest world, in which that union is hidden. Havdalah is the process of bringing the sanctity of Shabbat into the days that follow. The separation is also the way the holiness is carried forward, since a person who has experienced Shabbat takes it with him.
The Talmud adds a custom for the hour that follows. Shabbat 119b teaches that a person should always set his table on Saturday night, and this became the meal known as Melaveh Malkah (escorting the Queen). The same idea runs through it: the Shabbat is accompanied out of the house.
What to take from it
The ceremony takes a minute or two. The household stands in the dark, smells the spices and sees the flame. The Friday night welcome is covered in Lecha Dodi and Kavanot for Kiddush, and the laws of the day in Keeping Shabbat: A Brief Guide.
