Starting the Week by Saying Goodbye

On Sunday morning, Aliza’s second grade class started the week by saying goodbye to Shabbat with a ceremony called Havdalah. Havdalah means “separation” –  it separates Shabbat from the new week that is beginning.

There are four parts to the Havdalah service:

• We say a blessing over the wine
• We sniff the sweet smelling spices in the spice box
• We light the tall twisted Havdalah candle. The candle has many wicks so the flame burns brightly.
• We put out the candle’s flame by dipping it in the wine from the Kiddush cup

During the Havdalah ceremony, we say good-bye to Shabbat hoping that its sweetness will last all week long. Once the candle has been extinguished, we wish one another “Shavuah Tov”  – a good week.