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Lesson 18: How to Make Havdalah
Introduction to the Havdalah Service
Welcome to Lesson 18: How to Make Havdalah.
As we transition from the Kedushas HaShabbos, from the sanctity of Shabbos (Shabbat), from the beauty of the Shabbos Queen to the yimei hachol, to the days of the week, we recite Havdalah.
At the beginning of Shabbos, we fulfill the verse that says, “Zachor es Yom HaShabbos l’kadisho” – remember Shabbos to sanctify it, by reciting Kiddush. So too, at the end of Shabbos, we recite Havdalah to bid the Shabbos Queen farewell.
What does Havdalah mean?
The word havdalah means to separate, to discern, to see the difference between: Shabbos and yimei hachol– the beauty, the sanctity of Shabbos, and the days of the work week which are more difficult to infuse with kedushah (holiness).
Bein Yisroel la’amim, between we as a nation who are given the special mission to bring the light of Hashem to the world, to serve Hashem, as opposed to the amim, the nations of the world, whose purpose is to settle, to grow, to build the world. Our purpose is a higher purpose, to serve Hashem.
Bein ohr l’choshech– between light and darkness- the light of Torah, the light of sanctity, the light of kedushah, the light of Shabbos, in the darkness of that which lacks kedushah.
We mention these things to reinforce in ourselves our mission, our goal, and the strength that we get from Shabbos to carry those over to the work week so that we’ll be able to work further.
What do you need to make Havdalah?
- A cup of wine – As any kos shel brachah, any mitzvah (Torah commandment) that’s being done over a cup of wine, if you don’t have wine or grape juice, you could use beer, liquor or whiskey. As long as you have 3.3 ounces in the cup and you drink the majority of the cup, either of those are good. And if you don’t have any of those, there are those opinions that say you could use something that’s called chamar medina, a drink that is used to serve to honor someone, honor a guest that comes to your home. You could use, perhaps, a fruit juice like orange juice, some say coffee or tea or something like that. Preferable is to use wine, grape juice, beer, liquor or whiskey.
- Besamim – some fragrance, smelling spice. Usually what’s used is cloves or cinnamon or a mixture of both. We recite the blessing of borei minei besamim in the Havdalah service. As we’re going away from the soul and the spirit of Shabbos, the Neshamah Yeseirah (additional soul) that we have is going back and we’re losing that. So we smell the besamim which gives a measure of comfort and enjoyment to the soul that’s losing its Neshamah Yeseirah.
- The multi-wicked candle, the Havdalah candle – The Havdalah candle that we light during the Havdalah, on which we say the brachah (blessing) of borei meorei haeish, is really not related to Havdalah. It’s really a Saturday night brachah. And that’s why, when we say Havdalah on Yom Tov (holidays), we don’t use a candle.
On the first Motzaei Shabbos, the first Saturday night when Adam HaRishon (the first man) was created, he was given the knowledge by God that if he strikes two stones together he’ll produce fire. And mankind had the first benefit, enjoyment of fire on Motzaei Shabbos. We light the Havdalah candle on Motzaei Shabbos to thank Hashem for this, that we have the use of fire.
We use a multi-wicked candle because as the blessing is in the plural, me’orei ha’eish, the lights of the fire. If you have a multi-wicked candle, you have a big fire and there are a few different colors to the fire. There’s the blue fire, the yellow, the orange. If you don’t have a multi-wicked candle, you can take two single candles and put them together when you say the brachah of borei me’orei ha’eish.
After you say this brachah, you put your fingers near the fire. You want your fingers to be close enough to the fire that you can actually benefit from the fire. If your hands are close enough that you can see the difference between the nail and the skin, that’s close enough. So everyone who is listening to the havdalah should get close to the fire, so that they could also benefit from the fire.
The Havdalah Ceremony
I’m going to recite the Havdalah now, and I’m not going to say Hashem’s name. I’m going to interject in the middle to explain a little bit as I’m going along. But you who are making your Havdalah on Motzaei Shabbos should say it with Hashem’s name (see below) and don’t interrupt from the time you start the Havdalah till the end of the Havdalah.
We pour the kos (cup of wine) and keep pouring till the wine runs over, as a sign that the blessing should spill over.
The First Paragraph: A Sign of Blessing for the Week
Before we say the blessings of the Havdalah, there’s an introductory paragraph that we say. The Rema in Shulchan Aruch says that just as at the beginning of the year we dip apple in honey, which is symbolic of blessing, and hope that the blessing, that the sweetness of the new year should go into the year, so we say these verses at the beginning of the week so that the blessing of Shabbos, the light of Shabbos should spill over and carry over and give us hope and comfort throughout the week.
On Shabbos, we reaffirmed our belief in Hashem. We reaffirmed that Hashem gave us the manna for 40 years in the desert to show us and to make us believe firmly that God is the one who sustains us. So we mention our trust and our faith in Hashem as we leave Shabbos so that during the week everything that we do should be done with the blessing of Hashem and the trust and faith that we have in Hashem.
Light, Joy, and Honor
We recite the verse from Megillas Esther (The Book of Esther) following the salvation from Haman and Achashveirosh. The pasuk (verse) says, “Layehudim haysa orah v’simcha v’sasson viy’kar”- to the Jews at that time there was orah – the light of Shabbos, the light of mitzvos (Torah commandments), the light of salvation. They had orah, and simcha and sasson – joy and celebration, viy’kar – and all the honor that they got for being who they were.
We say “Kein tihiyeh lanu” – so it should be for us. We want that the simcha and sasson of Shabbos, and the light of Shabbos, should continue as we begin the workweek. There should be blessing, there should be light, there should be Torah, there should be things that give us encouragement and strength throughout the workweek.
The Havdalah Service
We light the candle before we recite the Havdalah (lights the candle).
We pick up the wine in the right hand, and hold the besamim in the left hand, and begin to recite the Havdalah:
הִנֵּה אֵ-ל יְשׁוּעָתִי אֶבְטַח וְלֹא אֶפְחָד כִּי עָזִּי וְזִמְרָת יָ-הּ יי וַיְהִי לִי לִישׁוּעָה
וּשְׁאַבְתֶּם מַיִם בְּשָׂשׂוֹן מִמַּעַיְנֵי הַיְשׁוּעָה
לַיי הַיְשׁוּעָה עַל עַמְּךָ בִרְכָתֶךָ סֶּלָה
יי צְבָ-אוֹת עִמָּנוּ מִשְׂגָּב לָנוּ אֱלֹ-הֵי יַעֲקֹב סֶלָה
יי צְבָאוֹת, אַשְׁרֵי אָדָם בֹּוטֵחַ בָּךְ
יי הוֹשִׁיעָה, הַמֶּלֶךְ יַעֲנֵנוּ בְיוֹם קָרְאֵנוHiney, Ei-l Yeshu’asi, evtach v’lo efchad,
Ki azi v’zimras y-ah Ado-noi, vayehi li liy’shua.
Ush’avtem mayim v’sasson mimay’nei hayeshua,
Lado-noi hayeshu’a al amcha birchasecha selah.
Ado-noi Tzeva-os imanu, misgav lanu Elo-hei Yaakov selah.
Ado-noi Tzeva-os ashrei adam botei’ach Bach.
Ado-noi hoshia HaMelech ya’aneinu v’yom kar’einu.
Everyone who’s around says,
“לַיְּהוּדִים הָיְתָה אוֹרָה וְשִׂמְחָה וְשָׂשֹׂן וִיקָר, כן תהיה לנו”
”Layehudim haysa orah v’simcha v’sasson viy’kar, kein tihiyeh lanu.”
לַיְּהוּדִים הָיְתָה אוֹרָה וְשִׂמְחָה וְשָׂשֹׂן וִיקָר, כן תהיה לנו
כּוֹס יְשׁוּעוֹת אֶשָּׂא וּבְשֵׁם יי אֶקְרָא
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹ-הֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶןLayehudim haysa orah v’simcha v’sasson viy’kar, kein tihiyeh lanu.
Kos yeshuos esa uv’sheim Ado-noi ekra.
Baruch Ata Ado-noi, Elo-heinu Melech haolam, Borei pri hagafen.
Transfer the wine from your right hand to your left hand. Pick up the besamim as you’re about to say the bracha on the besamim, and hold it in your right hand. (Anything you’re saying a blessing on, you hold in your right hand.)
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹ-הֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא מִינֵי בְשָׂמִים
Baruch Atah Ado-noi Elo-heinu Melech ha’olam, Borei minei besamim.
Smell the besamim, and pass it to those that are around you.
Pick up the kos in your right hand, and then say the brachah of the fire:
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹ-הֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא מְאוֹרֵי הָאֵשׁ
Baruch atah Ado-noi Elo-heinu Melech ha’olam, Borei me’orei ha’eish.
And your fingers are close to the fire. Observe the difference between your nails and your skin (as demonstrated in the video).
Then you recite the rest of the Havdalah:
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹ-הֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחוֹל, בֵּין אוֹר לְחֹשֶׁךְ, בֵּין יִשְׂרָאֵל לָעַמִּים, בֵּין יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי לְשֵׁשֶׁת יְמֵי הַמַּעֲשֶׂה, בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי, הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחוֹל
Baruch Atah Ado-noi, Elo-heinu Melech ha’olam, hamavdil bein kodesh l’chol, bein or l’choshech, bein Yisrael la’amim, bein yom hashvi’i l’sheishes yemei hama’aseh. Baruch Atah Ado-noi, hamavdil bein kodesh l’chol.
(Sits down and drinks most of the wine.)
Taking the Blessing with Us
Traditionally, we extinguish the light of the Havdalah candle with the wine. Many people dip their fingers into the wine, and put it on their eyes, their ears, and some put it in their pockets. We want that the blessing of the wine, the brachah that we said over the wine, should go forward to the workweek, that we should only see and hear good things. Everything that we do should be with the blessing of Shabbos.
Gut voch (a good week) to everybody.
Rabbi Pinchus Rappaport is a respected rabbi who received his Rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva of Staten Island, under the tutelage of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. He currently serves as a rabbi in Brooklyn, NY.
Since halachic opinions vary among the rabbis of different communities, Oorah and Rabbi Rappaport encourage you to direct any questions to, and get halachic guidance from, your local Orthodox rabbi. You may, however, rely on this video and email Rabbi Rappaport with questions in the interim, at askrpr2@gmail.com.
Shared as a zechus l’iluy nishmas Moshe Zeev ben Aryeh Leib
