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Shabbat שבת קודש

The seventh day, sanctified at creation and the sign of the covenant between God and Israel.

Shabbat appears in the Torah before any commandment: the seventh day of creation is called blessed and sanctified before there is a nation. It first appears as practice in the desert with the manna — a double portion on the sixth day and none on the seventh — and then enters the Ten Utterances as «remember» in Shmot and «keep» in Devarim, which the sages explain as spoken in a single word.

Its point is not rest from fatigue but the suspension of intervention in the world: thirty-nine categories of creative work are forbidden, derived from the labours of building the Mishkan. Once a week a person stops being an owner and becomes a guest.

Shabbat is received with candles and kiddush, kept with three meals and singing, and ended with havdalah over wine, flame and spices.

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