Editing Jewish holidays (section)

===Shabbat—The Sabbath===
[[File:Shabbat Candles.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Shabbat candles]] and [[kiddush cup]]]]
{{Main article|Shabbat}}
Jewish law ''(halacha)'' accords ''Shabbat'' ({{langx|he|שבת}}) the status of a holiday, a day of rest celebrated on the seventh day of each week. Jewish law defines a day as ending at either sundown or nightfall, when the next day then begins. Thus,
* Shabbat begins just before sundown Friday night.  Its start is marked by the lighting of [[Shabbat candles]] and the recitation of [[Kiddush]] over a cup of [[kosher wine|wine]].
* Shabbat ends at nightfall Saturday night.  Its conclusion is marked by the prayer known as [[Havdalah]].
The fundamental rituals and observances of Shabbat include:
* Reading of the [[Weekly Torah portion]]
* Abbreviation of the [[Amidah]] in the three regular daily services to eliminate requests for everyday needs
* Addition of a [[musaf]] service to the daily prayer services
* Enjoyment of three meals, often elaborate or ritualized, through the course of the day
* Restraint from performing ''melacha'' (see [[#work|above]]).
In many ways, ''halakha'' (Jewish law) sees ''Shabbat'' as the most important holy day in the Jewish calendar.
* It is the first holiday mentioned in the [[Tanakh]] (Hebrew Bible), and [[God]] was the first one to observe it ([[Book of Genesis|Genesis]]).
* The [[Torah]] reading on ''Shabbat'' has more sections of ''parshiot'' (Torah readings) than on Yom Kippur or any other Jewish holiday.
* The prescribed penalty in the Torah for a transgression of ''Shabbat'' prohibitions is [[Capital punishment in Judaism|death by stoning]] ([[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] 31), while for other holidays the penalty is (relatively) less severe.
* [[Shomer Shabbat|Observance of Shabbat]] is the benchmark used in ''halacha'' to determine whether an individual is a religiously observant, religiously reliable member of the community.