I have found that the concept of the Shabbat meals is one of
the hardest for people to understand. Yes, they are celebratory. Yes, they are
commemorative. Yes, they are an opportunity for the family to sit together and
reconnect. But the Shabbat meals are all of these, but also much more than all
of these. They are themselves a mitzvah. Even the kiddush, a Biblical command
unto itself, cannot be recited except where there is a meal. (The Ashkenazi
custom of reciting kiddush in the synagogue Friday night, dates back to a time
when wayfarers lodged in the synagogue, and needed to hear kiddush before
partaking of a meal.) Like the three prayers , the Shabbat meals have different
themes and moods. As I have noted, Friday night is the Feminine. The mood is
soft and quiet; filled with anticipation. Before partaking of the meal, all
participants wash their hands (some do this before kiddush). This is done at
every meal featuring bread, but is of special significance on Shabbat. Bread is
also a feminine symbol. "The bread that he eats"(in the story of Joseph) is a euphemism in
the Torah for one's wife. Bread is the only actual requirement for fulfilling
the obligation of the Shabbat meals. We are required to have two whole loaves of wheat bread. Spelt os ok, with barley bread usable in a pinch.This represents the "remember and observe" discussed
previously. But it also represents the Manna that sustained the Israelites in
the wilderness. Manna fell daily from Heaven, except on Shabbat. But a double
portion came down on Friday. The bread is placed between the table cloth and a
decorative "Hallah (loaf) cover". This represents the two layers of
dew that encased the Manna. (Other "reasons" came in during the
seventeenth century, but the dew element is the real one.) Any bread may be
used, but different communities treasure various forms of bread. Yemenites take
a loose batter, and pour it into a frying pan. This forms a unique bread that
is more like a pancake. Most Middle Eastern Jews use various types of flatbread. I was privileged to witness the dying Moroccan art of baking "frenna".
When we lived in the Negev during our last three years in Israel, we lived in a
community of southern Moroccans. Each woman had an igloo-shaped oven in her
yard, with a stone floor. Pre-dawn on Friday mornings, they would prepare a batter,
as they fired up the oven. They would pour the batter onto the stones, making a
bread that resembled the lunar surface. IT WAS DELICIOUS! Store-bought
facsimiles were never the same. The women would allow Sima to bake with them,
but did not allow her to touch the oven. A woman would guard her frenna oven as
she would her husband! Bucharian Jews have a much crunchier type of flatbread,
with beautiful patterns in it. Ashkenazi Jews have the lovely braided Hallot.
Despite legends to the contrary, the origin of the Hallah is from pre-Christian
Germany, and had pagan religious significance. However, by the time the Jews
reached Germany at the time of Charlemagne (c. 800), its pagan origins had been
forgotten. It is, to this day, a form of bread used by non-Jews for festive occasions in
many parts of Europe. For most Ashkenazim, Shabbat would not be Shabbat without
the braided Hallah. Some communities have sweet Hallah (although chocolate-filled is a modern innovation), while others prefer "Water Hallah",
an unsweetened bread, for fear that a sweet hallah would actually be considered
"cake" rather than bread. Whatever type of bread is used, two loaves
await the head of the household to bless. Kabbalistically oriented Jews usually
have either twelve loaves, representing the "Show Bread" (lehem
hapanim) offered in the Temple every Shabbat, or four loaves, representing the
Divine name (I do twelve, and meditate on the Name over four of the loaves).
After the "hamotzi" blessing is said, one of the breads is cut (some
communities have the custom of tearing, rather than cutting). The piece is then
dipped in salt. The simple reason for this dipping is twofold; it was believed
that salt would detoxify any impurities in the bread, and also to remember that
salt was essential to be put on sacrificial meat. Our table, especially on
Shabbat, represents an altar, with the bread the sacrifice. For this reason,
German Jews omit the Friday night dipping, as no sacrificial meat was offered
on the altar at that time. For Kabbalists, however, there is another dimension
to the salting ritual. Bread, as noted, is feminine. The Torah refers to salt
as "an eternal covenant". "Covenant is "brit", which
also means circumcision. Salt is the ultimate Masculine symbol. More next time.
