Shabbat

The sabbath is an everlasting covenant between the Jewish people and G-d. A part of its observance is to enjoy the day. Meals eaten at night, during the morning and late afternoon are all part of its observance and enjoyment.

In Judaism, based on Genesis ch.1 and Leviticus 23:32, all days including the Sabbath last from sunset to sunset. In actual practice, we begin our Shabbat a short time before sunset (on Friday) and end it after twilight on Saturday. This is done for several reasons and is a little longer than the actual Biblical day of Sabbath.

Wine gladdens the heart (Psalms 104). While too much wine is a bane, the right amount has its benefits. It contributes to exuberance, gregariousness and expansiveness. Knowing this, Jewish tradition has included wine (in moderation) in many ceremonies; and the Shabbat meals are one of these occasions.

The Sabbath is Saturday. Exodous 20:8-11, (the 4th Commandment)...REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY SIX DAYS SHALL THOU REST AND DO ALL THY WORK BUT THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD OUR GOD, IN IT THOU SHALL NOT DO ANY WORK, THOU NOR THY SON, NOR THY DAUGHTER, NOR THY MANSERVANT, NOR THY MAIDSERVANT, NOR THY CATTLE OR ANY MAN WITHIN THY GATES. FOR IN 6 DAYS THE LORD MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH AND HALLOWED IT.

1) Reading of Psalms and blessings in Hebrew

2) The silent part of the prayer

3) The Torah-reading

4) Another silent prayer

Note: The following answer concerns the meal, not the services.1. Lighting candles

2. Blessing wine

3. Breaking challah (bread)

The spice box is not actually passed around until the very end of Shabbat. It is passed around toward the end of the concluding service of Shabbat, called Havdalah.

One tradition explains that on Shabbat, each person is given an extra soul. The passing of the spice box at the end of Shabbat makes the loss of this extra soul a little less painful.

The common thought is work, and in an essence, that is true, but the Hebrew actually means you are not allowed to create. One example is creating a "spark." This means, no lighting fires, no pressing buttons, no using electronics. As long as the labor being performed is purely physical and does not create anything, it is okay (so you can walk places or lift a heavy chair indoors).

So their house will be clean for the day of rest.

Exodus 20:8-11 "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is and rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day, and hallowed it." Even God rested on the seventh day. He also recognized that man needed rest, and religion. He created the earth in 6 days for us, therefore we should be able to give one day back. Besides, all of His commandments are for our blessing and happiness.

There are 3 meals on the Sabbath. One in the Evening (Friday night), and two during the day. The meals are festive meals starting with kiddush over wine in the first two meals. Bread should be eaten for each of the 3 meals. The bread on the Sabbath is called 'Challah'. Other than that, one may eat whatever he likes. Many eat meat, poultry or fish.

The word is Hebrew, so its origin is Israel (or perhaps more correctly, Judaea). It came into Modern English via Old English sabat, which meant "Saturday", perhaps reflecting the Jewish Sabbath (or day of rest, which reflects the original Hebrew meaning "to rest"). Of course OE got it via Latin.

Shabbat ends of its own accord at the time a bit after sunset on Saturday night. Nothing that mankind does can either extend it or cause it to end. Those who observe the Shabbat can only mark its beginning and its end as they occur. The brief ceremony and set of blessings that mark the very end of shabbat are known as "HAHV-da-LAH", meaning "division" or "boundary" in Hebrew. It marks the boundary between holy and weekday-like. The moment is considered to be a let-down.

Yes, they absolutely can. Since passover is seven days (or eight in the diaspora) it must occur at least once.

Christianity and in that a group called 'Seventh Day Adventist' which the sabbath is their holy day which is Saturday. They do not work / party from friday night to saturday night as a time of rest and reflection to God about the good he has done in their lives

If Yom Kippur happens to fall during Shabbat, it is kept no differently than it is if it were to fall any other day. It is spent by fasting and spending the day in prayer.

It is forbidden to light or extinguish a flame during Shabbat. For this reason, you would not blow out the Shabbat candles. You would let them burn our themselves. There are Shabbat candles specially made for this that will burn for about 3-4 hours, a perfect amount of time to stay lit during dinner, but allow you to go to bed without worrying about leaving a lit candle.

To make something holy in the Hebrew sense is to separate: set it it apart and make it unique [unto God]. In terms of the Sabbath, we are challenged to find delight and joy, refrain from "labor" and "creation", and study God's Word.

The Monks of Fridesia have an absolute ban on working Fridays. Our adherents are called Fridesians, and the punishment for working on a Friday is to have a cat trapped in your trousers for at least 30 minutes.

Feel free to join. We are like all other religions, in that nothing we say is provable and we don't provide you with an identity card, but on the other hand we don't ask for money under any circumstances. You must believe in our teachings, however; which are: We think no-one should work Fridays. Non-believers are ignored, unless they've been former Fridesians, in which case we take their electronic gear and sell it on Ebay for a pittance.

We might register as a non-profit charity in the US, just like everyone else.

The Havdalah candles symbolizes the end of the sacred period of time known as Shabbat.

According to tradition, the Havdalah candle also represents the gift of fire, which God gave to Adam one day after He created him.

This practice goes all the way back to Biblical times. Since most people worked on the weekdays, they would congregate on the Sabbath, not only for prayer, but also to study Torah for many hours. Such "Sabbath-houses", as they were known, existed throughout the Near East in Second Temple times as well. In Talmudic times, the leading Sages would teach the multitude every Sabbath afternoon.

The Jewish Sabbath is from Friday sundown until Saturday after twilight. The origin of the Shabbat is in the Torah (Genesis ch.2, Leviticus ch.23, Exodus ch.20 and many other passages). Since the Sabbath is a day blessed by God (Genesis ch.2), he gave it to the Israelites as a treasured gift to be cherished (Talmud, Beitzah 15b). It is a day of rest (Exodus ch.20, ch.31), and a day of strengthening ties with the family, the community, and with God.
There are two main aspects to Shabbat observance: what we do and what we don't do.
What we don't do: we're not permitted to work on the Shabbat (Exodus ch.20). This includes 39 categories of productive interaction with the world, such as planting, writing, kindling fire, etc. (Talmud, Shabbat 73b).
What we do: candles are lit, customarily by the lady of the household, around 20 minutes before sunset on Friday afternoon. We then attend synagogue for the Friday afternoon prayer (mincha), the kabbalat Shabbat (ushering in of the Shabbat), and the Shabbat evening prayer (maariv), consecutively.
On Shabbat morning, we again attend synagogue. The services are longer than on weekdays and include prayers as well as reading the weekly Torah-portion.
There's often a kiddush (refreshments) afterwards, and congregants then have a chance to schmooze (to talk). Towards the late afternoon, there's another (short) service (Shabbat mincha).
After Friday night services and on Shabbat morning after services, we come home, often with guests, make kiddush (blessing over wine), and have a leisurely multi-course Shabbat meal including singing and words of Torah. Customarily, that week's Torah-reading (parsha) will be a topic of conversation; and the children of the family will be asked to speak of what they've learned in school.
After that, Shabbat is a quiet time: no phones, radio or TV (etc.), just schmoozing, taking walks, visiting friends, reading, learning Torah, playing board games, etc.
Husband and wife, in particular, finally have a chance to be together after a hectic week.