Also known as:
Habdalah, Havdala, Havdalah;
Italian: Habdālā
HABHDALAH (« Separation »). - A Jewish religious ceremony at the end of the Sabbath (and, in a reduced form, of every feast day) and the beginning of the period of working days: and this corresponds to the practice of qiddās ("consecration"), at the beginning of the feast day (the feast day begins after sunset of the day preceding the feast).
In ancient times "the going out of the Sabbath" was celebrated with a common banquet, at the end of which, at nightfall, as at the end of every celebration of the common meal, a lighted lamp and lighted spices were brought. At this point the scriptural texts were recited (Ps. 144, 67, 91; Gen. 27, 28-29), suited to invoking blessing, abundance and purity of morals in the period beginning, and to warding off evil influences. "Separation" between sacred and profane time, between Israel and the peoples far from God. Distinguishing, separating, presupposes intelligence, and thus the mention of the h. was inserted into the prayers of the "18 benedictions," and precisely into that in which the gift of intelligence is asked of the Lord.
In the Middle Ages the popular belief had spread that at the end of the Sabbath the souls of the wicked returned to their punishments, and it is thus that the recitation of Ps. 91 was inserted into the ceremony.
BibliographyI. Elbogen, Der jüdische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung, Frankfurt 1924, pp. 120-22. On the h. in art see R. Wischnitzer
BIBL.: I. Elbogen, Der jüdische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung, Frankfurt 1924, pp. 120-22. On the h. in art see R. Wischnitzer-Bernstein, Symbole und Gestalten der jüdischen Kunst, Berlin 1935, p. 91.
Zolli, Eugenio. “HabhdĀLĀH (« Separazione »).” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, col. 1324. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951. https://azioneromana.com/article/habhdalah-separazione.
MLA
Zolli, Eugenio. “HabhdĀLĀH (« Separazione »).” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951, col. 1324. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/habhdalah-separazione.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec6_habhdalah_separazione,
author = {Zolli, Eugenio},
title = {HabhdĀLĀH (« Separazione »)},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VI},
pages = {1324},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1951},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/habhdalah-separazione}
}
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