Special Shabbat


Special Shabbatot are Jewish Shabbat days on which special events are commemorated. Variations in the liturgy and special customs differentiate them from the other Shabbats and each one is referred to by a special name. Many communities also add piyyutim on many of these special Shabbatot. Two such Shabbats, Shabbat Mevarchim—the Shabbat preceding a new Hebrew month—and Shabbat Rosh Chodesh can occur on several occasions throughout the year. The other special Shabbats occur on specific sabbaths before or coinciding with certain Jewish holidays during the year according to a fixed pattern.

Shabbat Shuvah – Return

Shabbat Shuvah or Shabbat Shubah or Shabbat Teshuvah is the Shabbat that occurs during the Ten Days of Repentance, but is between the two consecutive Days of Rosh Hashanah, and the Day of Yom Kippur. The name Shabbat Shuvah comes from the first word of the Haftarah that is read on that day, which literally means "Return!" The main haftarah consists of and this is all that is read in Yemenite communities; other communities add and/or. It is alternately known as Shabbat Shuvah owing to its being one of the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah. Traditionally, a lengthy and expansive sermon is given by the Rabbi to the general community in the afternoon, as is also the case with Shabbat HaGadol.

Shabbat Shirah – Song

Shabbat Shirah is the name given to the Shabbat that includes parashat Beshalach. The Torah reading of the week contains the Song of the Sea. This was the song by the Israelites after crossing the Red Sea. There is no special Torah reading. The haftarah includes the Song of Deborah. There is an Ashkenazi custom to put out bird feeders on Friday afternoon to feed birds on this Shabbat, in recognition of their help to Moses in the Desert. Some communities recite the piyyut "Yom le-yabbashah".

The Four Parshiyot

These are four special Sabbaths, each of which derives its name from the additional Torah portion that is read that day. Two of the Sabbaths occur in the weeks leading up to Purim and two in the weeks then leading up to Passover.

Shabbat Sheqalim

Shabbat Sheqalim requests each male adult Jew to contribute half of a Biblical shekel for the upkeep of the Tabernacle. The weekly Torah portion is the first section of Ki Tissa. This shabbat takes place before or on 1 Adar. In leap years of the Hebrew calendar, when there are two months of Adar, Shabbat Shekalim is before or on 1 Adar II.

Shabbat Zachor – of Remembrance

Shabbat Zachor is the Shabbat immediately preceding Purim. Deuteronomy 25:17-19, describing the attack on the weakest by Amalek, is recounted. There is a tradition from the Talmud that Haman, the antagonist of the Purim story, was descended from Amalek. The portion that is read includes a commandment to remember the attack by Amalek, and therefore at this public reading both men and women make a special effort to hear the reading.

Shabbat Parah

Shabbat Parah precedes Shabbat HaḤodesh in preparation for Passover. The first reading of Ḥuqat, the weekly Torah portion, describes the red heifer in the Temple in Jerusalem as part of the manner in which the kohanim and the Jews purified themselves so that they would be ready for the Passover sacrifice.

Shabbat HaḤodesh

Shabbat HaḤodesh precedes or occurs on 1 Nisan, during which Passover is celebrated. A special maftir, the second reading of Bo, is read, in which the laws of Passover are defined. On the first day of Nisan, God presented the first commandment of how to "sanctify the new moon" for the onset of Rosh Chodesh and thus Nisan becomes the first month of the Jewish year.

Shabbat HaGadol

Shabbat HaGadol is the Shabbat immediately before Passover. The first Shabbat HaGadol took place in Egypt on 10 Nisan five days before the Israelite Exodus. On that day, the Israelites were given their first commandment which applied only to that Shabbat, "On the tenth day of this month... each man should take a lamb for the household, a lamb for each home. There is a special Haftarah reading on this Shabbat of the book of Malachi. Traditionally, a lengthy and expansive sermon is given by the Rabbi to the general community in the afternoon, as is also the case on Shabbat Shuvah.
Various reasons are given for the name of this Shabbat:
  1. The Midrash Rabba states: “When they set aside their paschal lamb on that Shabbat, the firstborn gentiles gathered near the Israelites and asked them why they were doing this. The following was their response: “This is a Pesach offering to God who will kill the firstborn Egyptians.” They went to their fathers and to Pharaoh to request that they grant permission to send the Jewish people free, but they refused. The firstborn then waged a war against them, and many of them were killed. This is the meaning of the verse : “Who struck Egypt through its firstborn; for His kindness is eternal”.
  2. The Arba'ah Turim states: The lamb was the Egyptian deity. Many Jews, after 210 years of immersion within Egyptian civilization, had also adopted this animal as their god. When God commanded that a lamb be set aside and tied to the bed for four days in anticipation of sacrifice, the Jewish people abandoned their idolatrous practice and courageously fulfilled this mitzvah in the eyes of the Egyptian people, thereby demonstrating their complete trust and faith in God. Nothing could have been more abominable to the Egyptians, for their god was to be slaughtered. Nevertheless, miraculously, the Egyptians were unable to utter a word or lift a hand. They watched helplessly as their god was being prepared for slaughter. This miracle was a great miracle and gives this Shabbat its name.
  3. The Peri Hadash writes: On this day the Jewish people were commanded to fulfill their first mitzvah – to set aside the lamb as a sacrifice. This significant achievement is therefore referred to as 'Gadol'. Additionally, by fulfilling this first mitzvah they became like a child maturing into adulthood – they celebrated their Bar/Bat Mitzvah.
  4. Moses Sofer writes: On this day, the Jewish people fully ‘returned’ to their commitment and faith in God. God is called gadol. Therefore, the Jews who embraced and subjugated themselves to God earned the title gadol as well.
  5. Zedekiah ben Abraham Anaw writes that the customary lengthy Shabbat HaGadol speech makes the Shabbat feel long, drawn out, and ‘gadol’.
  6. David Abudarham writes: In the haftara of the Shabbat prior to Pesach, we read the posuk : "Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord." This reason places 'Shabbat HaGadol' in the same category as 'Shabbat Hazon', 'Shabbat Nahamu', and 'Shabbat Shuva', as their names are derived from the Haftara.
  7. Every Shabbat preceding a festival or festival season is known as Shabbat HaGadol.

    Shabbat Chazon – of Vision

Shabbat Chazon is named for the "Vision of Isaiah over Judah and Jerusalem" that is read as the Haftarah on this Shabbat at the end of the three weeks between dire straits, which precede the mournful fast of Tisha B'Av. It is also called black sabbath due to Isaiah's prophecy of rebuke predicting the destruction of the first temple in the siege of Jerusalem and its status as the saddest shabbat of the year.

Shabbat Nachamu

Shabbat Nachamu takes its name from the haftarah from Isaiah in the Book of Isaiah 40:1-26 that speaks of "comforting" the Jewish people for their suffering. It is the first of seven haftarot of consolation leading up to the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
It occurs on the Shabbat following Tisha B'Av. Shabbat Nachamu is traditionally celebrated with singing, dancing, eating, and musical performances that extend into the early hours of the following morning. Many customs ordain that the celebration should last until the earliest time for Shacharit. It is also customary to lead into Shabbat Nachamu on Erev Shabbat/Friday with lively musical performance and dance, as well as to resume musical performances after Shacharit on Sunday until Mincha/evening prayer services.
In addition, Shabbat Nachamu is connected to Tu B'av according to some sources.

Shabbat Mevarchim

Any Shabbat that precedes and begins the week during which there will be a day or days of a new Hebrew month is known as Shabbat Mevarchim
This prayer is recited after the Torah reading before the Torah scroll is carried back to the Torah ark, where it is stored in the synagogue.
Ashkenazi Jews refer to a Shabbos like this as having Rosh Chodesh bentschen or bentschen Rosh Chodesh. It is a custom that women make an extra effort to attend synagogue to hear and recite this prayer.
There are Hasidic communities, such as the Chabad community, who wake early in the morning on Shabbat to recite the entire Tehillim in shul, and who hold a gathering of extra rejoicing, in honor of Shabbat Mevarchim.
If the day following Shabbat is Rosh Chodesh, a special haftarah is generally read; if Shabbat itself falls on Rosh Chodesh, both a special maftir and haftarah are generally read, along with Hallel and a special Mussaf. These haftarot may be overridden by another special Shabbat, such as Shabbat Shekalim or Shabbat HaChodesh. Even so, in some communities the haftarah is concluded with the first and last lines of the haftarah of Machar Chodesh or Rosh Chodesh.

Shabbat Chol HaMoed

Each Shabbat during Chol HaMoed, the "intermediate days" of Passover and Sukkot, is known as Shabbat Chol HaMoed which occurs up to twice a year during the week-long festivals. It can occur once during Passover and once during Sukkot or in both.
The regular weekly Torah portion is not read on these Sabbaths and instead there are special Torah readings based on the uniqueness of each holiday and the Three Pilgrim Festivals. There are also special maftirs and Haftarot See Haftarot for special Sabbaths, Festivals, and Fast Days.