Network of Spanish Jewish Quarters. Spanish Leg of the European Routes of Jewish Heritage

Gastronomy

By Débora Chomski

Wine and bread, two basics of Shabbat

Wine and bread are two elements of food that cannot be missing on a Shabbat table. Shabbat wine is sweet, casher¹ and of low alcohol content, so that the whole family can share it. It is blessed by the man of the house through the Kidush, which is the blessing with which Shabbat is received, and which expresses the spirit of this weekly celebration: "Remember the creation of the world, remember the exit from Egypt as slaves and remember the holiness of the Shabbath amongst all days."

Shabbat bread, which is actually two loafs of bread, or one lejem mishne (double loaf), symbolizes the double portion of manna that had fallen from the sky every Friday during the Jewish people's journey through the desert. Custom has it that the bread is covered with a cloth until it is blessed, representing the dew that covered the manna when it was gathered in the morning. Before eating the bread, once it has been blessed, it has to be salted. This is because, ever since the disappearance of the Second Temple, the wise men have said that the Shabbat table is like an altar, and the food therefore is an offering. But in order to be an offering it has to have salt, because the Torah says: "With every offering you shall bring salt".

¹Pure. Supervised product.