Saturday” is “Shabbat” in Hebrew, which means “to rest, to stop being active”. In Yiddish it is “Schabbes”, the seventh day of the Jewish week, when the Torah instructs to refrain from all physical activity, since God worked for six days and rested on the seventh.

The Talmud explains in more detail what activities are forbidden — there are 39 in total. They are all related to the material world: cooking, building a house, sewing clothes. Instead, on the Sabbath people must devote ourselves to spiritual activities: praying and studying the Torah.

Among the Ten Commandments that the Jews received from God on Mount Sinai after the Exodus from Egypt are these words,

The main way to sanctify the Sabbath is to say kiddush, a blessing over a glass of wine or grape juice or bread. No food or water may be taken before kiddush, and the challah should be covered with a cloth while praying. There is a special cup for kiddush, which looks different from everyday tableware in volume, material, decoration and inscription. Kiddush cups are often made of silver in the form of ceremonial cups. For blessing, the cup is filled to the brim so that the wine overflows, symbolizing prosperity in the home, prosperity of its owners and a well-deserved rest.

Shabbat is welcomed and farewelled not only with prayer, but also with fire. Women light lavishly decorated candles, usually lighting one candle for every person living in the house. This ceremony is called Havdalah, which means the separation of the everyday and the holiday.

Until the beginning of the 20th century in some Jewish communities it was believed that the flames of the candles drive away various demons, especially Lilith, the child-killing witch, as well as other demonic forces, which were especially dangerous on the eve and at the end of the Sabbath.