Preparing for Shabbat - My Jewish Learning

Preparing for Shabbat - My Jewish Learning



Shabbat Preparation is a Weeklong Activity


One prepares for the Sabbath all week. In Hebrew the days of the week
do not have names; they are all a launch pad for Shabbat. Sunday is the
first day, Monday the second, and so on until Friday, which is both the
sixth day and “the eve of Shabbat.”




In
anticipation of the Friday night meal, observant Jews tend to eat
lighter meals during the daytime on Friday. There is also much to do. In
fact, the more observant you are of the details of Shabbat, the more
you have to prepare before it arrives. The late eminent scholar Rabbi
Joseph B. Soloveitchik used to say that the true mark of a pious Jew is
not that he or she is a shomer Shabbat (a Sabbath observer) but is shomer erev Shabbat (one who properly prepares on the eve of the Sabbath).




By traditional Jewish law, one cannot shop on the Sabbath, so
marketing is usually done during the day on Friday. Cooking is
prohibited on the Sabbath, so that must be done in advance, too. Foods
prepared beforehand can be kept warm on a hot plate or on the stove, a
condition that has led to a preference for certain hearty dishes like a
meat-bean-and-potato stew called cholent.