The Havdalah service should create a special mood, through the service as well as the ambiance of your surroundings. There is a mixture of sadness that Shabbat is over as well as happiness that a new week is beginning. We also hope for the coming of the Messianic era.

Think about the following:

• where you hold your service - indoors or outdoors

• how you want participants to sit - circle, spiral, holding hands, etc.

• how you want to begin the service - singing, silent, holding hands, etc.

• songs you wish to use to set the mood - Bim Bam, Eli Eli, Eliyahu ha Navi, Shavuah Tov

• readings you wish to use to set the mood - reflecting the translations of the blessings, reflections on the past week, the week to come, thoughts about Shabbat, etc.

• creativity - how can you creatively create a spice box or Havdalah candle

Opening Song / Reading
an opportunity to thank God for Shabbat and everything that God has given us

Light Candle

Blessing over the wine
Sanctifies the Havdalah ceremony and symbolizes the goodness and sweetness of Shabbat and our lives in the coming week

Blessing over the spices
There are many explanations for the use of spices. On Shabbat, you are supposed to have an extra soul, and we say goodbye to this extra soul until next Shabbat. The spices help revive us so you can begin the week refreshed and enlivened. We can also carry the sweet smell of Shabbat with us during the week.

Blessing over the candle
The candle symbolizes the idea that all things are intertwined (God, the world and the Jewish people). Many people hold up their hands to the light during this blessing to see the separations between the light and the shadows reflected in their fingernails.

Extinguish the candle in the wine
This symbolizes the separation (the main theme of Havdalah) of Shabbat from the rest of the week.

Sing Eliyahu haNavi
This reflects our hope for the Messianic era – a time when all days will be like Shabbat. 

Shavua Tov