Unlocking the Mystery: The Origin and Evolution of the Sabbath and the Sabbath Lights
Rabbi Manuel Gold
Did you ever wonder where the prohibition against lighting fire on the Sabbath came from? Or why there are so many prohibitions attached to the Sabbath? For a day of rest and rejoicing there are too many confining limitations that seem to interfere with its full celebration.
Where did these limiting prohibitions come from? How did the Sabbath evolve into that day we now know and recognize?
Up until now the origins of the Sabbath and the Sabbath Lights have been shrouded in mystery.
The Sabbath has many different meanings for us today.For some it is a day of study, rest and renewal. For others it is a day of joy, celebration and communal prayer. For still others it is a time for Sabbath lights and a rare family meal. Some see it only as a day of prohibitions, others of opportunities.
We may wonder if the myriad of Sabbath practices and meanings is foreign to the original spirit of the day?
The Sabbath as we know it is indeed a late development. We would not recognize the early biblical or early rabbinic Sabbaths.
An awareness of the origins and evolution of the Sabbath and its lights can help us better understand the value of the Sabbath in our lives.
The Jewish Sabbath
How did the Jewish Sabbath begin?
No satisfactory theory has been proposed until now that explains where the Jewish Sabbath originated. Why are there so many prohibitions attached to the Sabbath? How did the Sabbath lights begin?
The answers to these questions will shed new light on the Sabbath, its origins and its deeper meaning, and also provide us with a remarkable paradigm to help us to understand how Judaism, its holidays and celebrations began, and how and why they evolved, changed and were reinterpreted during the course of time, yet continue to serve as a vibrant form of Jewish expression, identity and values.
When and why did the Sabbath begin?
Some have seen the beginnings of the Sabbath over four thousand years ago, in a pre-biblical Babylonian shapattu (day of the full moon), a day of evil and taboo on which activity was forbidden. Others have defended the originality of the biblical Sabbath by claiming that there is no connection linguistic or otherwise between the Sabbath and shapattu .However, if it “looks like a dduck, and walks like….,” and it is a also a day ofstopping because of a fear of demons, then it is likely related to the Biblical Sabbath.
What can we discover from a fresh look at the sources?
The earliest biblical Sabbath is characterized almost entirely by prohibitions that forbid “work.” The appropriate term for such extensive prohibitions is “taboos.” In all cultures taboos reflect fears of demonic powers and forces.
Jewish sources from a later period (Talmud Pesahim 112b, etc.), which reflect much earlier traditions, consider Friday night and Saturday night to be particularly dangerous times when demonic spirits roam rampant. Many believed that among the special practices that can protect one from these evil spirits are fire, knots or twisting, braiding, spices, recitation of selected Psalms and the invocation of Elijah who was considered the most potent protector from evil spirits. (Berachot 3b)
All these ingredients are present in the Saturday nightHavdalah ceremony. Their original purpose was to protect the participant. Since most of us no longer believe in demons we have, over the centuries, reinterpreted those ceremonies investing them with new more spiritual symbolism. But their origins in ancient Jewish protective magic are clear. Among the protective rituals for Friday night were the Sabbath lights and the more recent braided challah. Again, all have been given new spiritual meanings.
These and other practices indicate the undocumented existence of an ancient, pre-Mosaic taboo seventh day.
The oldest meaning of the Hebrew word Shabbat is “to stop, to cease,” and only later does it acquire the added meaning “to rest.” Stopping all activity while remaining at or near home could reduce the danger of an encounter with evil forces.
Both versions of the Ten Commandments, when translated more accurately than previously, provide further evidence for a pre-Mosaic seventh day of taboos.
All previous translations regard Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15 as the sources for the Sabbath. The usual translations give us the sense of “keep the Sabbath day from this moment on.”
We have erroneously concluded that the Sabbath began with these commandments. However, when examined carefully, neither source actually states what we have come to expect them to mean. We have imposed our own expectations on these texts. When approached without prejudice they yield a new and more surprising meaning. They do not mean “from now on start observing the Sabbath.”
Ex.20:8 reads “Remember (zachor) the Sabbath day…”The word “zachor = remember” does not indicate the introduction of a new practice, but “remember” does indicate the recollection and continuation of a prior practice. That prior practice is clearly the prohibition of work/activity, that constitute the taboos that come form a fear of demonic powers.
Why would clearly pagan taboos be accepted by the biblical authors?
This new translation of the Fourth Commandment surprises us only because we don’t expect it. We find it easier to accept the more familiar suggestions that other pagan pre-Mosaic practices found their way into Judaism after having been “detoxified” of their pagan message. These practices include animal and grain sacrifices, the agricultural festivals, indeed all rituals and even the very idea of a divine being. They have all have been transformed by the biblical authors to conform to a non pagan monotheistic ideal.
Maimonides, probably responding to contemporary challenges that Judaism included many pre-Israelite pagan practices which should have been excluded from a religion that claims such high moral monotheistic ground, wrote (Guide of the Perplexed, Part III, Chapter XXXII, trans. M. Friedlander, 1881, pp.150-152):
“It is, namely, impossible to go suddenly from one extreme to the other; it is therefore according to the nature of man impossible for him suddenly to discontinue everything to which he has been accustomed… The Israelites were commanded to devote themselves to His service… But the custom which was in those days general among all men, and the general mode of worship in which the Israelites were brought up, consisted in sacrificing animals in those temples which contained certain images, to bow down to (them) and to burn incense before them… (God) did not command us to give up (this) manner of service (which) would have been contrary to the nature of man… God allowed these kinds of service to continue; He transferred to His service that which had formerly served as a worship of…things imaginary and unreal, and commanded us to serve Him in the same manner… By this Divine plan…the traces of idolatry were blotted out, and the truly great principle of our faith, the existence and Unity of God, was firmly established.”
This same process of reinterpretation and transformation applies equally to the biblical Sabbath. The Bible tells us to “remember,” that is to continue the taboos of the seventh day, perhaps because there was no possibility of demanding that the Israelites suddenly abandon their deepest fears. Yet the pagan elements, the demons and evil spirits had to be removed by the biblical authors, and a spiritual reason compatible with monotheism had to be substituted. This is exactly what occurs in the text. A new reason is introduced, “Remember (continue) the Sabbath day (taboos) “to sanctify it”(le’kadsho to make it special, dedicated to the one monotheistic God).” Or it may be read “…to sanctify Him (God).”
In the Dt.5:12 version of the Ten Commandments the word “zachor = remember” is replaced by “shamor = observe,” yet it has the same connotation, “(continue) to observe (the taboos)of the Sabbath day, (except from now on it is because) you are to sanctify it, (and not observe it out of fear of demons but rather) because your God has commanded it.”
The texts of both versions of the Fourth Commandment then continue and offer widely divergent additional reasons for the Sabbath in order to shift the motive for observing the Sabbath taboos away from its original fear of demons, to the positive monotheistic divine command that it be sanctified, made special for God.
The Exodus version traces the Sabbath origins to the creation story in Genesis, even though that Sabbath section (Genesis 2:1-3), was not actually a part of the original creation story.
In contrast, the Deuteronomy version traces its origins to the Israelite Exodus from Egypt.
That there are two widely different reasons given for the origin of the Sabbath indicates that the authors of the Bible were attempting each in their different way, to reinterpret the origin by substituting acceptable reasons in place of the unacceptable, fear of demons.
Genesis 2:1-3, which is familiar from the Sabbath prayers, is a later addition to the creation story which originally lacked the Hebrew word shabbat (=stopped), and only contained the word vayechulu (=and they were finished, that is the creation of heaven and earth were finished).
This brief series of verses is an uncharacteristically awkward repetitive construction. It is rare for the biblical authors to repeat consecutively in a prose narrative unless they are trying to make a point. In this case it is that the word vayechulu (=finished) should be understood as synonymous with shabbat (=stopped). This is achieved in four steps:
1) vayechulu (they were finished, Genesis 2:1) =
2 )vayechal (and He finishes, Genesis 2:2a) =
3) vayishbot (and He stopped, Genesis 2:2b) =
4) shavat (He stopped, Genesis 2:3, which is close enough to Shabbat).
In other words 1)”finished” = 4)”stopped.”
Sabbath becomes a Day of Joy
Eventually the belief that the Sabbath was not merely a day of cessation from activity but also a day of joy (Isaiah 58:13-14, from the end of the sixth century B.C.E.) and rest began to enrich the meaning of the Sabbath. By continually reinterpreting the meaning of the Sabbath in every age, Judaism has made it a vibrant and symbolic part of the value system which energizes and spiritualizes the Jewish people.
Where and when did the Sabbath Lights and the prohibition against Fire begin?
Previous theories about the origin of the Sabbath lights are unacceptable. They are not a Pharisaic polemic against the Sadducees.
The prohibition of fire on the Sabbath is found in the Bible,. Indeed what is the reason for the mysterious biblical command “Do not burn a fire in your homes on the Sabbath?” (Exodus 35:2-3)
It is significant that the original prohibition is not about cooking, heating, kindling a fire or lighting the home, although these usual explanations have come to be included in the later rabbinic extensions of forbidden activities.
The text (Exodus 35:2-3) states that “burning” a fire is not permitted. It does not mention “lighting” or “kindling” a fire.
1. Since ancient times fires have been burned to drive away demons and evil spirits. (Psalm 97:3) Given the biblical effort to eliminate all manifestations of paganism and belief in demons, it is easy to understand that the popular practice of burning a fire in the home on the Sabbath against demons could not be tolerated. But the biblical authors, religious purists who struggled to purge Judaism of all traces of paganism had to contend with the unwillingness of the populace to abandon those practices that they hoped would protect them from the dangers of ever threatening demonic powers. The Hebrew word leba’er (=to burn) implies a ritual burning for the purpose of eliminating impurity or paganism (as in “biur chametz,” the ritual burning of the leaven before Passover) or destroying evil. It does not mean “to light, or to kindle.
In spite of the attempts by the biblical authors to eradicate popular pagan practices (such as anti-demonic fire in the home), these practices managed to persist.
The Case of the Firewood Collector
2. Further biblical evidence of the frustration of the purists with the popular unwillingness to abandon the anti-demonic home fire is found in Numbers 15:32-36. While in the wilderness, after the Exodus, a man was found gathering firewood on the Sabbath. He was brought before Moses and Aaron who could not find a law or precedent which the man had violated. The man was placed under guard while the Urim and Tummim (ancient sacred oracular objects that were believed to convey the will of God) were consulted. The verdict was guilty, and then the penalty was death.
What was the man accused of, and what was he condemned for?
Later rabbinic interpretation mistakenly concludes that the crime was carrying a burden on the Sabbath. Yet from the context it appears that he was charged with gathering firewood with intent to burn the forbidden anti-demonic home fire on the Sabbath. The serious crime of paganism, the belief in false gods, was a capital offense. This new precedent established by the Urim and Tummim was that the commission of an act prior to the actual crime, but which act (gathering firewood) was clearly for the sole purpose of committing the crime (burning the pagan fire), warranted the punishment that fit the serious crime even though it had not yet been committed. Intent to commit the crime was declared equal to committing the crime.
Still the burning of the forbidden fire continued in popular practice.
Jeremiah 7:17-18
3. The anti-demonic home fire next surfaces in the late 7th century B.C.E. Jeremiah accuses the people:
“The children gather firewood, the men burn the fire, …
[this same Hebrew root leba’er (=to burn) is used here as in Exodus 35:2-3. Here the form is meba’arim (=they burn). The word esh (=fire) here appears with the definite article, Ha’esh (=THE fire), denoting a very specific type of fire.]
…and the women knead (clay) to make images for the (pagan goddess) Queen of Heaven, and they pour wine offerings to strange gods.” (Jeremiah 7:17-18)
So, the collecting wood and burning the fire are related to paganism, and in Exodus 35:2-3, related to the Sabath.
Jeremiah in Egypt
4. Years later, Jeremiah, along with many of the people, escape to Egypt after the destruction of the First Temple. There, Jeremiah again accuses them of the same crimes. (Jeremiah 44:16-28) The people respond:
“We listened to you back in chapter 7, Jeremiah, and we gave up these idolatries. In spite of that we were forced into exile in Egypt. That’s why we went back to our old pagan practices. They kept us in our homes and in our land. When we gave them up we were no longer protected from evil.” Jeremiah responds: “God says that your sin (in chapter 7) was so great that he could not forgive you even when you repented.”
What these stories further demonstrate is how tenaciously pagan practices, that were believed to be protective, survive, such as the forbidden anti-demonic Sabbath fire.
The Early Rabbinic Period
First Century CE
5. When we reach the early rabbinic period in the first century C.E., some 1200 years have passed since the time of Moses. By this time a remarkable change had occurred. At some point, we don’t know exactly when, the once forbidden Sabbath fire was reinterpreted as a fire that sanctifies the Sabbath day, and was accepted as such by many in the Jewish community.
The Mishnah (Shabbat, chapter 2, late second century C.E.) assumes that the Sabbath lights are an accepted practice, but debates about which wicks or oils are acceptable. Are some wick materials and oils forbidden because they are aromatic and might therefore be wrongly selected for their anti-demonic properties? That may be the reason that wicks made from wood are prohibited. (Mishnah Shabbat 2:3)
The Blessing for the Sabbath Lights
There is no mention in the Mishnah of a blessing for the Sabbath lights. ¯The Mishnaic statement (Shabbat 2:6): “For three transgressions do women die in childbirth…and for (failing to) light the (Sabbath) light,” is probably a vestige of the ancient belief that the fire on the Sabbath drives away the evil demons.
6. The Talmud (Shabbat 20b-24b, from Babylonia, late fifth century C.E.) while discussing the above Mishnah about wicks spends much more time discussing Hanukkah lights than Shabbat lights, and debates the formula for the Hanukkah light blessing (23a) without ever mentioning a Sabbath light blessing.
7. The debate about a blessing for the Sabbath lights does not surface until the middle of the Geonic Period, (latter part of the ninth century C.E.). (See the excellent analysis of the Sabbath lights in Lawrence A. Hoffman,”The Canonization of the Synagogue Service,” 1979, pp. 86-89, and notes 60-73, on pp. 212-213.)
The issue revolved around a conflict with the Karaites, a Jewish sect that prohibited Sabbath lights in keeping with the biblical prohibition against burning a fire on the Sabbath. It is even likely that the Karaites inherited this prohibition from their predecessors, the Second Temple Sadducees, (see Jacob Z. Lauterbach, “Rabbinic Essays,” 1951, “The Sabbath,” p.458, n.92.) who followed biblical laws while rejecting the Pharisaic-Rabbinic oral traditions.
Rabbinic reinterpretation and acceptance of the popular practice of lighting the biblically forbidden Sabbath fire had not been accepted by the Karaites.
In order to establish the legitimacy of their approval of lights that sanctify the Sabbath, and as a polemic against the Karaites, the Geonim instituted the blessing. The wording for this new Sabbath light blessing was borrowed from the already familiar Hanukkah lights blessing. (Hoffman, p.86)
Since there is no direct source in the Bible for “… who commanded us to kindle the Sabbath lights,” the Geonim sought indirect justification from various biblical verses following the precedent set in the Talmud by which they had already justified the blessing for the Hanukkah lights. (Shabbat 23a)
Angels
8. There are old beliefs that angels come down through, or rest on, the flames of the Sabbath lights. (Lauterbach, pp.465-466.) Whether this originated in the Bible (Exodus 3:2; Judges 13:20) or elsewhere, it is expounded in Kabbalistic and other later Jewish writings. On Friday evening two angels accompany a person home from the synagogue (Shabbat 119b), one good the other evil, and in the “Shalom aleichem” their protective blessing is sought, along with those of other angels.
9. There is yet another source that demonstrates a connection between the Sabbath lights and the ancient belief that they protect the home by driving away evil spirits.
“Techinot”
“Techinot,” collections of prayers in Yiddish that were often composed by women, and were intended to be recited before or after performing rituals, first appear in printed form at the beginning of the 18th century, but reflect much earlier traditions. These collections are still in use today especially in Chassidic communities. The “techinah” recited immediately after the lighting of the Sabbath lights reads in part,
Reinterpreting the Sabbath and the Sabbath Lights
10. It is important for us to understand the origins and reinterpretive evolution of the Sabbath and its lights. Although like most Jewish practices they originated in pre-biblical times, our tradition from the Bible on, has sought to remove the elements of pagan belief and practice, whether by prohibition or reinterpretation. Their meaning and purpose has been reinterpreted in every age, to invest them with ever richer and more spiritual significance. The secret of the survival of Judaism and the Jewish people rests in this constant ongoing process of reinterpretation and change.
Today, if the Sabbath means different things to different people and practices vary accordingly, that is indeed an expression of the reality of our human nature. Each of us needs to find our personal and collective reinterpretations.
In our day the Sabbath may symbolize our need to assert our independence from the pressures of everyday existence. It may protect us from being overwhelmed by our necessary obligations. It may help us to reunite with family and friends. It may help us to celebrate our lives, to stop, appreciate and give thanks for our families and friends, to rediscover the Divine in the world around us. It may bring us closer to our identity, our faith and our people, our history, values and our future. It may help give us the time to consider how we will make the world a better place.
Whatever meaning or reinterpretation we choose to bring to the Sabbath it will reward us no less than it did our ancestors.
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Re-examining Judaism 