Hatboxes glossary: driving on the sabbath

Lighting a fire is among the 39 labors forbidden on the Sabbath, according to the Talmud (Tractate Shabbat 7:2), and since automobile engines burn fuel (among other reasons), one of the activities prohibited on the Sabbath is driving a car.

Orthodox Jews cleave closely to this prohibition (with exceptions; saving a human life trumps all other considerations), but non-Orthodox Jews rarely do.  For example, Reform Jews may consider driving to synagogue on the Sabbath to participate in the religious life of their community more important that adhering to a rule that may seem to isolate them.

In Hatboxes, Miriam tries to dissuade Nadine from driving home after their sabbath dinner, but Nadine is untroubled about being non-Orthodox.

Nadine and Miriam chat after Shabbos dinner

What religious precepts govern your day-to-day life?

Hatboxes glossary: samovar + candles

Jews from the Pale—the area of Eastern Europe stretching from Poland  through Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine and into Russia—absorbed some of the cultural practices of the gentiles around them, including the use of samovars to brew tea.  Often made of brass, samovars might feature elaborate metalwork.

Russian samovar and Sabbath candles

Traditionally, two candles get lit just before sunset on the Sabbath, though more than just two may be lit. Usually women light the candles and recite the prayer, but men are required to do so if no woman is present.  The candles mark the beginning of the Sabbath, a joyous moment.

What practices travelled with your family when they left their ancestral homelands?

Hatboxes glossary: Shabbos

The second chapter of Genesis establishes the basis of the Sabbath (Hebrew:  שַׁבָּת, "Shabbat;" Yiddish:   שאבּעס,"Shabbos"):  after creating everything in six days, the Almighty not only rested on the seventh day but blessed it and established it as a day of rest for the whole world.

According to Jewish law, all creative, productive, or transformative action is to cease from sunset on Friday through sunset on Saturday. The Talmud defines 39 types of activities that people must not do while observing the Sabbath, including lighting fires, sewing, writing, building or demolishing anything, and driving a car has come to be prohibited.

Families gather for a special meal accompanied by singing and prayer.  Just before Friday's sunset, sabbath candles get lit, and a time different from the rest of the week in its rhythms and activity lasts for just over a full day.

Miriam, Nadine, Hannah, Sarah, and Ezer at Shabbos dinner in Hatboxes

What do you do on your day of rest?