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Talk:Shabbat

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New Sabbath spinout
Having considered the state of Sabbath articles closely, I think there is still one topic to create, namely Biblical Sabbath. Currently this phrase redirects to the summary article "Sabbath" even though that article includes many other Sabbath adaptations that are not Biblical. A new article would compile the Biblical references to Sabbath in a thorough, orderly way, and give all the main viewpoints and interpretations of each passage (compare creation according to Genesis, figs in the Bible, wells in the Bible, etc.). None of the current articles do either of these, because they are quite rightly focused on Sabbath in this or that mainstream viewpoint. However, the notion of "Sabbath as the Bible describes it, without making judgments in favor of any viewpoint" is a topic frequently discussed but lacking. No need to warn me about POV risks, because I am already on duty policing those. It is just my observation that, very often, a WP editor wants to refer just to that notion, "Biblical Sabbath with essentially no POV", and has no recourse to do so (as noted, the summary "Sabbath" article is not Biblically limited, and the Biblically based articles give only one POV each). Particularly, there are many links to "Sabbath" that should very clearly, in context, be directed to Biblical Sabbath, and permitting the weaker link is suboptimal and easily remediable. Also, many of the IP contributors to "Sabbath" would do better to have such a separate article; and some of the debates about where to put this or that apologetic (if at all) would be more readily solved if there were a central article. I will be happy to move this forward, but I wanted to get a couple more opinions first, to confirm my belief that this is a good division of topics. Cross-posted to Shabbat, Sabbath in Christianity, and Sabbath in seventh-day churches. JJB 05:43, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

Lunar Sabbath/"Some prominent rabbis"
I've moved the following section to Talk: for further discussion: "Some prominent rabbis believe Shabbat was originally dependent upon the lunar cycle, with one or two additional unreckoned days." As is obvious, the first sentence is pure weasel worded POV. Who are these rabbis? What makes them "prominent"? As it happens, I'm the person on Wikipedia who has written the closest thing to a biography on one of them, Isaac Landman. Landman was, in his time, moderately well known known for a combination of things, including his ecumenical work, his political stances, his editing of American Hebrew Magazine, and his publication of his New Universal Jewish Encyclopedia. He was not "prominent" in any particularly scholarly way. The fact that this single, 65 year-old work seems to be the only source for this "lunar sabbath" theory should be a big WP:REDFLAG to editors here that they are giving WP:UNDUE weight to a WP:FRINGE theory. If there are other, scholarly (and more recent) sources that also promote this theory, then I would be happy to re-evaluate. But, as it stands, the material is highly problematic. Jayjg (talk) 00:07, 24 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Hi Jayjg, thanks for that! Actually as you could see I posted that on behalf of a "drive-by" editor who sourced it thoroughly. My goal is simply to collect all POVs, and it seems that two rabbis in a (liberal?) Jewish encyclopedia is a significant POV. I don't think it's useful to classify it as fringe or not. If my words were weasely it's only because I don't know one encyclopedia-publishing rabbi from another. If you'd prefer it as "Two rabbis in NUJE suggest", that seems to stand scrutiny. Or we could group it with the tag I used later in the Sabbath disambiguator, that, "In a distinct minority, some European Reform Jews have moved Sabbath observances to Sunday", which also appears to be an includible POV that should work its way into this article sooner or later.
 * While I happen to disagree with Landman's conclusion rather vehemently, I don't think it's a theory that should be totally banished from listing. "Writing for the enemy", I leave it ripe for the possibility of demolishing itself by its minority status. By the way, a close version of this theory also appears in the landmark Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, as I documented at Babylonian calendar (ignore the repetition of your objected sentence, of course). They reliably link Sabattum with Shabbat, but I could not see them coming all-out on Landman's view that the Babylonians came first; but both Landman and ERE give the same calendrical calculation details. Your statement that this "seems to be the only [Jewish] source" is an argument from silence. From what I know of liberalism in various religions, the IP editor's position, that this is an includible POV, seems entirely credible to me. What would you say is proper weight? JJB 03:45, 24 March 2009 (UTC)
 * While it is interesting that there may be theories that are, in your view, similar to Landman's, I'm looking for sources that actually have the same theory. As for an "argument from silence", the onus in this case is to still find sources that support it - again, please see WP:UNDUE, WP:REDFLAG, and WP:FRINGE. Jayjg (talk) 23:29, 24 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Well Jay, I hope we're not going to pretend that Judaism is monolithic in some way unlike every other religion. We've established that Landman and his contributors, Joseph and Cohen, believe and propound this POV. I've given further unequivocal evidence that ancient lunar-cycled weeks did in fact exist and were named cognate to Shabbat. The issue of weasel words is easily remedied, as above; while your issues of undue weight, red flags, and fringe theory all seem to me to be the same issue, apparently that you don't believe the POV is significant enough to list in any article, even the root "Sabbath" article or the Babylonian article, which has very happily contained all POVs for a long time now. Look, you're saying that the NUJE is an unreliable source, and that burden is really on you, because it would ordinarily be given the benefit of doubt. Really, if you intend to keep this up, it may begin to sound like you refuse WP to report the fact that not all Jews believe in the unbroken Shabbat, as if the much unlikelier claim, monolithic faith, has been proven. JJB 02:50, 25 March 2009 (UTC)
 * User:Dlabtot at WP:RSN stated that you did not in fact say that the (N)UJE is an unreliable source. Either it's an RS and thus an includible POV, or it's unreliable and thus there is sourceable evidence of its unreliability. Which? I know you're not really saying to delete an RS just because it's turned 65. Also "New" is not in the title. If I don't hear back I will reinsert in all the articles as follows:

In a minority Jewish view, the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia states that Shabbat'' was originally dependent upon the lunar cycle, with one or two additional unreckoned days. ''

 * Ummm, in a word, no. Just because a viewpoint has been published in a reliable source, does not mean it needs to be included. That's why your colleagues are pointing you to WP:UNDUE, which is just a section of WP:NPOV.  Because that is the relevant and applicable policy here. Dlabtot (talk) 02:26, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

Proposing an origin paragraph
Well, I guess I thought that the majority view was obvious. In that case, all you need is a full and balanced paragraph on "origin of Shabbat". No problem, try my next. JJB 05:21, 26 March 2009 (UTC)
 * As Dlabtot has explained, you are presenting a false dichotomy. Please review WP:UNDUE again. Jayjg (talk) 01:14, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

Putting aside all the discussion above, which is important in itself, but I have read and re-read the section on Origin and I find it incomprehensible. I am still trying to work what is the point that is being made.Ewawer (talk) 03:38, 27 March 2009 (UTC)
 * OK help me understand here. Which proposition is at fault?

 * Jewish views on where Shabbat came from are encyclopedic.
 * The Shabbat article is the proper article for these views to appear on WP.
 * These views include an origin at creation (literal/fundamentalist), an origin by Mosaic legislation (conservative), a later temple origin attributed backwards to Moses (liberal), or an origin by adapting a Babylonian custom (textual critical).
 * "Undue" only applies if a view is held by "an extremely small (or vastly limited) minority". You have produced no evidence as to how the views are distributed. I have. What gives?
 * I came here and I saw a gap and filled it with sourced material, and weighted it "duly" the second time. Generally the decision goes in favor of retaining properly weighted sourced material rather than deleting it because of unstated rationales. Thank you for your consideration. JJB 14:45, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

 * One of the problems, as I see it, is that the article is not about a seven-day week, which has its own article, but about the special status of the Shabbat in the Jewish weekly cycle. In that respect it is a particular issue, not open to a full discussion whether it is appropriate to have those observances, etc. or whether other cultures have other customs etc. As to whether material is sourced or not is immaterial, because it should still fit into the subject matter and scope of an article, not go off on a tangent.Ewawer (talk) 17:38, 27 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Now it's my turn to have trouble comprehending. But I think it's appropriate for this article to document how Shabbat came to have special status in the Jewish weekly cycle (and that may involve history that predates the Jewish people). This article has long had a "Biblical source" section, but that section is what WP calls an in-universe description, and is several paragraphs of promotion of only the fundamentalist, literal view (which I happen to hold)— except in the case of people who already have a nonliteral interpretation of the words anyway. The Biblical source needs to be balanced by the other views, and I originally did so in that section, but a separate section is fine. Some of the Biblical source section should be condensed and moved to my new spinout Biblical Sabbath anyway.
 * If a paragraph on some custom's origins actually succeded in opening a new discussion on the appropriateness of the observances, the custom must be pretty weak. Shabbat is very strong. Similarly, the relationship of Shabbat to other observances is appropriate to touch on, insofar as it sheds light on Shabbat itself and does not create a WP:COATRACK to cover up other, unduly weighted Sabbath views. So I must reject the idea that these points are tangential. The whole cluster of Sabbath articles has suffered long from delineation errors, and that is what we are all about resolving. Each article should focus on all aspects relevant to its particular Sabbatical observance, including its origin and its place among other Sabbatical observances. And my paragraph is not about origin of a seven-day week but origin of Shabbat itself. Now that there is a much better scheme for segregating other observances into their own articles, your concern about tangents has a ready-made solution: true tangents move to their own extant articles. Thank you also for your other improvements, but please watch out for grammar errors. JJB 00:37, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

The 4 Lunar Phases of the 29.53 day Lunar month are roughly 7 days (~7.4 days) each. The Hebrew Calendar - like the Arabic Calendar - is a lunar calendar that alternates between 29 and 30 days. This explains the prominence of the in Holy Scriptures. The Hebrews' Genasis Creation Story was an alternate version of previous Egyptian Religion Creation Stories. Whoever conceived of the ancient Hebrews' version - Moses? - knew the precept of sacred geometry: "As above, so below" and connected the 7-Day Creation Story to the heavens. They also knew the GOD=7_4 Code and made sure that on the 4th Day, "And God said, 'Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day and the night, and let them serve as signs, and to mark seasons, days, years and omens." The seventh(7 letters) day Shabbat(7)/Shabbos(7)/Sabbath(7) and 4 weeks in a 'moonth' encodes something really BIG! - Benjamin Franklin 75.74.157.29 (talk) 22:51, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

International date line
We simply must cover the international date line debate, which is highly relevant from various perspectives, and one of the great debates in modern halacha. This should be either in this article or in a separate split-off. JFW | T@lk  13:05, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

Three stars
Can you elaborate more on how the end-of-Sabbath line is drawn? Three stars as end-of-Sabbath - are they specific named stars or just any stars? What happens on cloudy, starless nights? Polar nights? TIA, NVO (talk) 19:25, 4 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Three stars is symbolic. Shabbat is over when it is dark enough to see several stars. It doesn't matter which ones. Anyway, the rabbis figure out the exact "end of Shabbat" times a year in advance, and all Jewish calendars supply that information, so you don't actually have to look for the stars. And, as you say, it could be cloudy.--Gilabrand (talk) 16:58, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

Discussion??
Should there be a bit of discussion? for example these beliefs are accepted as historic artefacts from a different era - like those concerning safe eating in the desert, clean feet etc. It would add balance to the article to find references to some discussions on the relevance of this stuff to modern life. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.150.48.235 (talk) 16:23, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

Serious question: not likely worthy of mention in article though
this line "Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from sundown Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact time, therefore, differs from week to week and from place to place, depending on the time of sunset at each location."

What are the rules north of the arctic circle, if it is night time always, or conversly day time always. Seems like a dumb question but if there is an actual rule for such a sitiuation it may be informative in the article. I really doubt there is an actual rule for this. Smitty1337 (talk) 22:00, 14 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Interesting question. I found this site that addresses the question rather extensively. From a quick skim, one recommendation is that Jews in those areas observe the shabbat times of the location they were in before traveling north of the Arctic Circle. Equazcion  ( talk ) 22:08, 14 Feb 2010 (UTC)

Guess my question isnt as dumb as i thought lol Jewish law in the polar regions google found me a wiki article on it....imma go link it here after i read it and make sure its relevent.Smitty1337 (talk) 22:22, 14 February 2010 (UTC)

Adaptations
I've removed this para from the article because it's both untrue and unsourced:

The principle of weekly Sabbath has also been adopted, instituted, or modified in other beliefs: compare the Babylonian calendar, the Buddhist uposatha, the Islamic jumu'ah, the pagan sabbat, the Bahá'í calendar, the Unification Church Ahn Shi Il, and the parody-religion Pastafarian weekend.

I don't know about all of these religions, but I do know it's untrue for the Babylonians and Buddhists. Buddhists don't give any particular note to Sundays or to any other day of the week. As for the Babylon, the influence works the other way round - it was the Jews who adopted Sabbath-observance from the Babylonians. The whole thing is unsourced in any case. Either find sources for each of these, or leave it out. PiCo (talk) 02:29, 6 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Hi again. The sources are in the individual articles, of which this is a summary. Your bald assertion of who adopted Sabbath from whom is not backed up by those sources. Further, the Buddhist case is a lunar week (usually 7 or 8 days), also related to early Sabbath. Your statement "I do know it's untrue" is not any more sourced than the text you deleted. Also, please don't repeat your deleting (and imbalancing the POV, toward Judeo-Christian in this case) when another party undoes it: that is contrary to WP:BRD recommendations and is also considered warring. On this article I'll wait to see who else chimes in. JJB 02:55, 6 October 2010 (UTC)
 * JJB, the Buddhist cycle isn't based on 7 days, it's based on the phases of the moon - full moon, new moon, and half way between. A 7 day cycle, in contrast, gives exactly 28 days, which means it soon gets out of sync with the lunar cycle (which has 28.25 days). Lunar cycles are based on the fact that the moon is there in the sky - everyone all over the world can see and use it, and they do; no connection with the biblical sabbath is needed, and there's no question of it being an adaptation by one culture from another. As for the babylonian connection, that's in the literature - I think you need to read more widely. PiCo (talk) 03:19, 6 October 2010 (UTC)
 * You have just said that the Biblical mathematical week was adopted from the Babylonian lunar week, and also that the lunar week is unquestionably unrelated to the mathematical week. You have also just said that the lunation of 29.53+ days is actually 28.25 days. JJB 03:45, 6 October 2010 (UTC)
 * The situation is more complicated than that. I'll find some sources for you. (And yes, there are 28 and a quarter days in a lunar month).PiCo (talk) 04:03, 6 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I must say the article as a whoile looks pretty good - it could do with some more sources, perhaps, but the topic seems to be well covered. Now that the references to the Babylonians and, of all people, Buddhists, are gone I have no problems with it. But I promised you some sources, which you can use as and if you please: The Mercer Bible Dictionary, about p.776 for the entry on Sabbath; the Oxford Bible Commentary p105 has a brief description of history and the Sabbath and seems to say that it's no longer held that the Jews got it from the Babylonians, so it seems I was wrong on that point. It might be useful to use these and similar modern sources to re-do the small section on the history of Sabbath, but that's up to you. Thanks for removing the piece that offended me (mostly the Buddhism reference) PiCo (talk) 05:36, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

Further reading section
The entire "Further reading" section is real marginal and perhaps should go; there are probably thousands of books about Shabbat history, practices, etc; what's so special about these? --jpgordon:==( o ) 02:44, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

 * I agree wholeheartedly. carl bunderson (talk) (contributions) 03:39, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

 * Done. carl bunderson (talk) (contributions) 02:28, 21 March 2011 (UTC)

 * Agree. The important sources should be cited. JFW | T@lk  12:42, 21 March 2011 (UTC)

non-Jews
Shouldn't there be some mention of Non-Jews not being permitted to keep Shabbos? And that someone who publicly desecrated Shabbos cannot be counted in a minyan? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.252.3.157 (talk) 01:11, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

No. First, Shabbos is Yiddish. In Hebrew, it's Shabbat and in English: Sabbath: it's the 'seventh day of rest'. If a Christian choses to observe their Sabbath on Saturday or even Friday sunset to Saturday sunset - like many do - that is certainly "permitted" by GOD! Note: Shabbat(7 letters)/Shabbos(7)/Sabbath(7) on the seventh(7) day. - Benjamin Franklin 75.74.157.29 (talk) 22:16, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

Friday night section
What the heck does this mean?

 * Unlike on Shabbat day, one can partake in all the suggested activities on Friday night. There is an idea that the Jews who partake in Shabbat should not only have Shabbat, but they also make Shabbat. Through this opportunity to do all the encouraged activities, Friday night often is when a Jew will "make" Shabbat.[15]

 * With this idea in mind one might also assert that Friday night is not just a large part of Shabbat, but really is a full half of it.

It doesn't make much sense to me. --194.176.105.147 (talk) 15:24, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

 * Whatever it means, ??????, the footnote "[15]" should be in main text as a bracketed primary source "(Shabbat 119b)" not masquerading as a WP:RS "[15]". In ictu oculi (talk) 00:26, 13 September 2011 (UTC)
 * That would go against practice in all Judaism-related articles. In addition, where did you dig up such a rule? Debresser (talk) 01:41, 13 September 2011 (UTC)

 * I also don't understand what this is supposed to mean. But it seems to me it was rightfully removed. Debresser (talk) 01:42, 13 September 2011 (UTC)

Marital relations
This seems somewhat suggestive and possible prurient, not to mention confusing. Wouldn't it be more sensible just to say 'sexual relations'? Harburg (talk) 18:04, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

 * What's wrong with the current version? The sources are quite clear that this is marital/conjugal rather than any kind of contact. JFW | T@lk  15:57, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

 * To answer your question, JFW, what's wrong with the current version (current as of 6 June 2012, that is) is that it violates WP:EUPHEMISM – if "marital relations" here means sex between a husband and wife (I'm not Jewish, so I don't know). If "make love" is a euphemism for sex (the one given as an example in the MOS), certainly "martial relations" is too.

 * In order to remove the taint of euphemism, "marital relations" should be changed to "marital sex", or something similar. Changing it to just "sex" (or "sexual relations", as Harburg suggested) might make it too broad for this context. Someone who is both Jewish (or knows enough about the subject to speak with authority) and is interested in following the MOS advice to avoid euphemism in WP articles should change the wording in this bullet point. I'll copy that bullet both as it stands today and the proposed change here:
 * Current:"::*Enjoying Shabbat (oneg Shabbat): Engaging in pleasurable activities such as eating, singing, spending time with the family and marital relations."

 * Proposed:"::*Enjoying Shabbat (oneg Shabbat): Engaging in pleasurable activities such as eating, singing, spending time with the family and marital sex."

 * I suppose it is possible that "marital relations" is not used here as a euphemism for sex but as a description of the married relationship in general, and that what is encouraged on Shabbat is for a married couple simply to reflect on how happy they are to be married to one another. In that case, a different term should be used, since, as Harburg noted, there is definitely a hint of something sexual in "marital relations".

 * On second thought, I'm going to assume that JFW's statement "The sources are quite clear that this is marital/conjugal ..." means that this is talking about sex. Therefore, I'm going to make the change I just proposed. If it turns out that someone who knows better says that this bullet point isn't talking about sex at all, then that person can change it to some better phrase – but, please, one that does not carry the sexual connotation "marital relations" carries.--Jim10701 (talk) 03:47, 20 June 2012 (UTC)

 * Just as a side note, this exact conversation took place on Talk:Tisha_B%27Av this week. Just to make consensus clearer should this issue reemerge, I think the correct decision was made to drop the phrase marital relations as it clearly violated WP:EUPHEMISM. --Bachrach44 (talk) 06:06, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

 * The term "marital relations" is clear enough, and is hardly a euphemism. And please, no need to refer to a discussion where nobody commented. Debresser (talk) 09:08, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

 * How is it hardly a euphemism? It's a euphemism for sex (usually), and a confusing one at that. See Jim's comment above where he is unsure if the phrase actually means sex or something else. When it means sex, we need to say sex. When it means something else, we need to say that. It doesn't matter how many people commented here or not, wikipedia policy is very clear on this matter. --Bachrach44 (talk) 09:22, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

 * Here are some examples I found doing a quick search on wikipedia. On tisha b'av, mikvah, or others it's used in place of the word sex. On ketubah it's used in place of "living together in the same house". On Conservative Halakha it's used in place of "the rules regarding marriage". On Paphnutius of Thebes the phrase is used to mean "marriage". In You shall not commit adultery I honestly can't tell what it's supposed to mean. Why? Because it's an ambiguous phrase. We need to say what we mean. --Bachrach44 (talk) 09:33, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

 * In fact, "marital relations" covers it perfectly. Clearly "marital sex" is not a recognised combination, while "sex" without a modifier would imply that any kind of intercourse is encouraged. JFW | T@lk  10:55, 22 June 2012 (UTC)
 * There isn't really a need to qualify it with "marital" since sex outside of mariage would be banned regardless of the day of the week. "Marital Relations" needs to go. If it is a euphemism for sex then policy says it must change. If it is not a euphemism for sex, then it is a euphemism for some other thing, because if I take it as a literal phrase "Marital Relations" I'm banned from being married on shabbat!? Smitty1337 (talk) 09:02, 23 June 2012 (UTC)

WP:naming conventions (use English)
It looks as if this article title may not be following WP naming policy, or WP:RS such as www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12962-sabbath etc? In ictu oculi (talk) 19:25, 11 November 2011 (UTC)
 * This article is about the Jewish Sabbath. We have a separate article on Sabbath. Shabbat is a term widely used in English language texts to refer to the Jewish Sabbath and is therefore appropriate here. See WP:PRECISION.--agr (talk) 20:15, 11 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Hi Arnold, thanks, yes of course, but "Jewish Sabbath" (hence WP:PRECISION) is English, that doesn't bear directly on WP:EN; is it possible that you or someone else could run a Google Scholar or Google Books advanced search to demonstrate that "Shabbat" is more common than "Sabbath" in English-language WP:RS when relating to Judaism? It may well be that is, but the Jewish Encyclopedia suggests that it isn't, or at least wasn't in 1911. Anyone willing to check this? In ictu oculi (talk) 01:31, 16 November 2011 (UTC)

Resistor Network
In the section "Technology in the service of Shabbat" the article mentions a "resistor network" to store energy from elevators. I get the general idea, but resistor networks don't store energy. I presume what you are talking about here is some kind of big capacitor or rechargable battery, or maybe even an enormous flywheel. This is a point about physics, not Judaism, but it could stand some reconsideration. Rob Burbidge (talk) 00:34, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

Link to 'Activities prohibited on Shabbat'
I added a link under the 'Prohibited activities' section to the 'Activities prohibited on Shabbat' page because for some reason it took me ages to find that particular page from this one and it also seemed to make sense. This is the first time I've edited wikipedia, so hope that was ok and sorry about having to correct what I was doing a couple of times :=]

118.149.61.13 (talk) 02:18, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Discussion about the 54 Shabbat parshas

 * REQUEST: Please see the centralized discussion about this subject, relating to sources, links, content, etc at Talk:Chayei Sarah (parsha). Thank you, IZAK (talk) 09:43, 30 July 2012 (UTC)

interwiki

 * Could someone correct the Turkish interwiki please. It is linked to a wrong page. The correct one is Şabat. Thank you.--Abuk SABUK (talk) 18:20, 18 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Already done. After I merged these together yesterday, a bot went and (incorrectly) changed. it.  I guess they're still ironing the wrinkles out over at Wikidata.  StevenJ81 (talk) 18:29, 18 March 2013 (UTC)

(English: Sabbath)
Hebrew: Shabbat, Yiddish: Shabbos, English: Sabbath. - Benjamin Franklin 75.74.157.29 (talk) 22:08, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

 * If this is the case why isn't the article named Sabbath? Or Sabbath (Jewish)? Marcocapelle (talk) 06:39, 29 May 2014 (UTC)

 * Because the traditional name is shabbat. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.100.46.169 (talk) 11:46, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

Yiddish spelling
Although the Yiddish pronunciation is Shabbos/Shabbis, it is written as שבת, the same spelling as in Hebrew.
 * Well, yes and no. In the real Yiddish-speaking world (pre-war Europe, for example, and even modern charedi communities), that's correct.  But according to YIVO standardized spelling rules, it's probably the other way.  I wouldn't bother fussing with it.  StevenJ81 (talk) 21:27, 29 October 2014 (UTC)
 * Both spellings are now in place. StevenJ81 (talk) 22:13, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

days
so it is on friday-saturday but is the 7th day of the week? i'm confused McTreevil (talk) 11:50, 31 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Jewish days start in the evening. It's about the most longstanding tradition you can find - check out the first chapter of Genesis, "and it was night and it was day, one day". --Dweller (talk) 11:52, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

Content on Siddur Nashim moved
I moved this content to the article Siddur, as the content was about the siddur, not about Shabbat per se. To the original (IP) author, please keep in mind: I moved the content, I did not purge nor suppress it.

I would add: Content about Shabbat-specific prayer books probably belongs more in the Siddur article than here in any event. But if someone disagrees, adds content discussing Shabbat-specific prayer books broadly, and includes information on this siddur, that would be a legitimate approach. Information only about this siddur in this article would not be. StevenJ81 (talk) 14:40, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

IPA Pronunciation as added by User:Moscowonthehudson
today added a number of pronunciations for Shabbat using IPA. (Thank you for a useful addition.) My question to you and others is: I hear it both ways. I'd say that on the whole, people who are more knowledgeable/more involved tend to use a, or at least something that's closer to a than to ə, even when speaking English. But I do know people who do the opposite; maybe it's the larger number of people, even if less knowledgeable/less involved. I don't know. I basically just want to figure this out and get it right before we forget it's here. StevenJ81 (talk) 14:28, 9 June 2015 (UTC)
 * What reliable source do you have for choosing that pronuncation, especially in English?
 * If you're de facto using WP:BLUE—that is, pronunciation is obvious, so doesn't need explicit sourcing—do people really think that most people pronounce in English with a schwa (ə) rather than the equivalent of a pataḥ (a)?

 * Hi, . I am still new to Wikipedia, so please correct me if I have made any mistakes. I think that the "IPA-en" on wikipedia must use phonemes that are in the english language - here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English. Now besides the Schwa, the only other suitable phoneme for for "Shabbat" is aː, which is a variable vowel, (either ɑː or æ). and pronouncing Shabbat with an æ is completely incorrect. Additionally, most people I have heard pronounce it have done so with the Schwa sound, so I think it is more appropriate. Let me know if anything is off. Moscowonthehudson (talk)

 * Hi back at you, (great movie!) and welcome to Wikipedia. (On talk pages, start using colons to indent responses progressively, like I did here.)
 * I agree it clearly can't be æ, so therefore the variable aː doesn't work.
 * The phoneme I would use (and the way most of my friends pronounce) would be ɑː. But that could be influenced by the facts that (a) many of my friends and I have "some-to-a-lot-of" Hebrew, so may tend to pronounce like Hebrew, and (b) also often hear the Yiddishized pronunciation, where that syllable gets the stress and is therefore never ə.
 * Curious: where do you live? (Based on WP:ANONYMOUS, you don't have to answer that at all. But even if you do, I'm more interested in a big-bucket, linguistic-variation sort of answer, not something by which I can pin you down.)
 * I also suspect that even if ə is most common in the US, it's far less commonly used outside the US.
 * I'm going to recommend that we let some others weigh in on this, hoping we get people from a variety of geographies. I will ask at WT:WikiProject Judaism for input as well. Thanks for your contribution, and good luck here! StevenJ81 (talk) 15:16, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

 * I am from the Greater New York area and am Jewish, and live around Jews. The reason why i don't think it should be ɑː, is because the second "ɑː" after the "b" in "Shabbat" is much longer than the first. Putting an ɑː before and after the "b"s would mean that they are of equal length.
 * On the pronunciation of "Shabbat" outside of the US, we would need Canadians, British, or Australians to weigh in. That is an interesting question. Moscowonthehudson (talk) 16:21, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

 * Ditto, and ditto, and ditto. Where I live, the second one is usually equal to, or only very slightly longer than, the first, even though the stress is on the second.
 * I did a little looking up, BTW. Dictionary.com cites the Random House Dictionary from the US and the Collins English Dictionary from the UK, and both use ɑː. But Merriam-Webster, usually my go-to dictionary of US English, uses ə.
 * If I had to guess, we'll end up with both included, somehow. StevenJ81 (talk) 16:30, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

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Original research and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Netems2050 has twice added material based on an image of a calendar found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, writing that it "reveals" the Essenes celebrated Shabbat on the 4th day. Unfortunately, that novel interpretation does not appear to be supported by reliable secondary sources.

According to Lawrence H. Schiffman's article about the Sabbath in Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Oxford University Press, 2000; Lawrence H. Schiffman and James C. VanderKam, eds.), "The Damascus Document ... had much in common with rabbinic legal rulings, but often it tended to be stricter. Both prohibited talking about business, walking in fields to discuss might be done after the Sabbath, allowing non-Jews to do work prohibited to Jews on behalf of Jews, and preparing on the Sabbath for the following workdays. Both systems required that Sabbath observance begin somewhat earlier than sunset on Friday afternoon, and it is possible that the Qumran sect was stricter than the later rabbis. Walking beyond the Sabbath limit was prohibited, based on Exodus 16.29. The rabbis fixed the limit at 2,000 cubits while the sectarians limited it to 1,000 allowing one to walk 2,000 cubits beyond the settled area only if pasturing an animal. The sect did not allow the breaking of an airtight seal on a jar, or any preparation of food, even the peeling of vegetables that were to be eaten raw on the same day, but the rabbis only prohibited actual cooking." (p. 805, emphasis added)

Surely if the Qumran sect observed Shabbat on the 4th day of the week and not the 7th day, Schiffman would note that significant difference between Qumran and rabbinic observance of Shabbat, but instead he only points out that the Qumran sect likely started to observe Shabbat earlier on Friday afternoon than rabbinic Jews.

Relying on one's own interpretation of primary sources is a bad idea, especially in a topic area as well researched as the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Qumran community. — Malik Shabazz Talk/Stalk 03:43, 11 July 2018 (UTC)

 * Firstly this is not my own research or interpretation and secondly Shiffman has not answered any questions through you regarding why the Essene calendar shows the first Sabbath on day 4. I have cited The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered by Eisenman and Wise both scholars of note publication date 1991. The Essenes were as perfect as you can get to the remnant church of that day that broke away from the Jerusalem Pharasaic leaders and in fact as written in the Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered though they broke away the Temple heirachy was using their calendars. In Genesis we find the Shabbat happened 3 days after the creation of the moon and in the Essenes who now have shown that the new moon of Abib was the first day and 3 days later fell the true Shabbat the 7th day of Genesis though designated as day 4. This information is so important and needs to be included in the article thankyou. The Shabbat now in existance is a later alienation stemming from the 4th century AD agreement between the leading Sanhedrins and Rome where the Roman calendar took precedent under duress due to the enforcement of the Christian Roman 7th day Sunday. In the beginning there were no day names the Hebrews used number days commencing from the first new moon of the Holy year of Abib. The 4th day as cited by the Essene calendar is the true 7th day thats why the Essenes did it that way. And the evidence from that calendar also showing a Sabbath on day 2 of the second month speaks clearly as to how they proceeded for the remainder of the year. They reveal that a new moon was used to commence the Holy year clock in the passover month and then all subsequent Shabbots after the 1st initial 4th day calendar Shabbot happened every 7 days. This is in contradisticntion to the many false lunat Shabbot theories circulating on the net where ignorant people unwise to what has been revealed in the DSS are telling people to recalculate the new moon each month causing a non 7 day Shabbot to happen — Preceding unsigned comment added by Netems2050 (talk • contribs) 04:42, 11 July 2018 (UTC)

 * Netems2050, I believe you're citing a photo in The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered. If what you've written isn't your own interpretation, please cite secondary sources that describe it. Thank you. — Malik Shabazz Talk/Stalk 01:48, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

I am not citing a photo I am citing page 192-193 of the calendar that was translated, the facts without what you believe is my interpretation is it shows the Sabbath as day No 4, 11, 18, 25 then 2nd month day 2, 9, 16 and so on. This is very important. We all know as Jews that the first day of Abib is the new moon and thats been that way for thousands of years. We must get back to Truth of God, I leave it to you, lastly according to this Essene calendar in 2018 the new moon of Jerusalem for Abib (Nisan) fell on Sunday 17th March starting at sunset and 3 days later is sunset Tuesday which the Essenes would have kept for the rest of the year. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Netems2050 (talk • contribs) 13:02, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Look, at the moment, even if everything you say is true, the best that can be said about this is that it is a minority or emerging opinion. So don't try to make it more than it is for now. And please sign your posts. StevenJ81 (talk) 13:22, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

 * Netems2050, I apologize for attributing your edits to a photo. I can't access those pages. Relying on your interpretation (including what "we all know") of a translation (a primary source) is still impermissible original research. As I wrote, please cite a secondary source in which a scholar describes what you see in the calendar. — Malik Shabazz Talk/Stalk 20:02, 14 July 2018 (UTC)

I am sorry there are no secondary sources as I am the first to see the link of the Dead Sea Scroll Calendar to Genesis and decode its mechanics. I have searched to see if there are others but I am alone but what I have stated is true I cannot even give you my nameUser:Netems2050 —Preceding undated comment added 09:54, 15 July 2018 (UTC)

Info on Sephardic and other non-Ashkenazic Jewish Shabbat practices needed
This article is incomplete in that it lacks info on various different Sephardic and other non-Ashkenazic Jewish Shabbat practices.Pokey54 (talk) 03:35, 2 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Probably true. Thank you for flagging this issue. Much is the same, of course, and certain differences are going to be relatively esoteric (at least to the average reader of enwiki), and perhaps not even material at the level of detail of this article. I can certainly think of a couple of things that are worth adding. But is there something specific you had in mind? StevenJ81 (talk) 17:33, 3 December 2018 (UTC)

My tradition is Western Sephardic, and my comments aren't meant to apply to other minhagim. Our rule is to use the most lenient interpretation of Jewish law that is consistent with the Torah. I agree that some relatively esoteric, minor issues probably have no place in this article. This might be one of them: Some Sephardim welcome Shabbat by lighting oil lamps, not candles. Whether using candles or oil lamps, the number of flames is usually 2 or 3, irrespective of family size. Only the woman of the house recites the prayer.

I think that we place more importance on intent over result than other Jews. For example, we don't unscrew the refrigerator light bulb for Shabbat because (1) when we open the door, the intent is not to light the bulb; and (2) many of us follow the rule that electricity is not fire and that turning an electric appliance on or off is like opening or closing a door, so is allowable. Cooking is, of course, forbidden, but reheating food is allowed. Adding water (up to 50% of the volume of the food in the pot) that's heating on a hotplate ("blech" in Yiddish) is allowed, as often as is needed, if water is needed to prevent the food from being ruined. We are not allowed to adjust the heat, however.

Some Mizrahi, Maghrebi and Iranian minhagim also differ, but I can't speak to them.

Pokey54 (talk) 22:49, 12 March 2019 (UTC)

 * As long as you can support what you want to add with reliable sources, and not just on the basis of your experience, feel free to add what you want. What I would not like to see happen, though, is for this to become a battleground of competing halachic opinions or perspectives. So, for example,
 * Don't add things like oil lamps. They make no halachic difference, it's not required, and for that matter some Ashkenazim use them, too. Ditto on "only women..."; this is true as a rule in many communities, and unless you can provide a source that in your community a single man without a living mother still doesn't recite the blessing, I'm not sure you can say it is any more than a custom.
 * Where you are following halachic opinions that are decidedly different from what currently exists in the article, please add a source. Ideally, this would be in the nature of, "Based on the opinion of [Rav Ploni](ref to halachic source), many members of this community [act as follows ...](ideally, a source describing the practice in the community)". Perhaps slightly inferior, but still very workable, would be, "Unlike members of many other communities, [this community] widely [acts as follows...](ref to unimpeachably reliable source that describes the practice)".
 * Any other questions, please let me know. You can draft in my sandbox if you'd like, or create your own. StevenJ81 (talk) 14:39, 13 March 2019 (UTC)

@StevenJ81 Hello, I know this is late but I hope is still around for this - my background is sepharadi in the traditional, religious sense. For halachot like this we have two views across all of mena and europe, which follows: there is a general halachic tradition of am yisrael, ie all jews follow these authorities, and then it goes down to community custom. I will open a new topic on this but I also want to change the page to reflect a non-specific community point of view to depict a more general and non restricted understanding of Shabbat that is universal, and then delves into community traditions. What I have issue with in this regard however is the understanding of history on custom. I won't be citing here because I don't have the time but when I make the new topic and re-work the article I will always provide reliable sources.

 * First, there is a halachic difference in using oil vs candles. The commandment by context of the language of torah and talmud is to use pure olive oil to light the lights as it is pleasing to hashem, and the custom of candles arose in areas where olive oil was more expensive or non existent, and this was especially in europe due to the lack of olive trees north of the mediterranean. So in places like morocco where olive oil was produced, many families used candles as a custom due to cost, and many used oil due to tradition. In Ashkenazi lands, almost everyone used candles for this reason. then in Iraq, nobody used candles (before the 1900s when ashkenazi customs began to be spread across Jewish communities) because they had oil available.

 * Second, it is preferable in all Jewish communities for women to light the candles as it is a halachic obligation that women are particularly beneficial from, which is understood in every community whether ashkenazi or sepharadi. when you get into the communities that don't particularly study or adhere to the customs in torah-talmud this becomes less of an issue.

 * Finally, I agree with your position that we must always cite which community does what practice where it diverges from the general custom of the past 2,000 years across the mediterranean (the major jewish regions of north africa, europe, and the middle east which have been deciding the future of judaism for 2,000 years). I think your suggested clarifications for how to cite community traditions is great, however I disagree with ""Unlike members of many other communities, [this community] widely [acts as follows...]", because this creates an othering or biased feeling in the text, that the custom or community may be undesirable or in the minority, when in that community itself their customs are not the minority, if that makes sense. a more non-biased approach like your first suggestion ""Based on the opinion of [Rav Ploni](ref to halachic source), many members of this community [act as follows ...]" should be followed strictly as it provides context of customs and specific communities that perform them, so that if someone comes here to know how other places observe things they can find the information, as is the original goal of an encyclopedia, is it not?

 * I look forward to your correspondance and hope we can work together to make this a fantastic article for all those looking to learn!

66.142.221.236 (talk) 18:04, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Plural
What is the English plural for Shabbos? Shabbosim? In Hebrew it is "Shabbat -> Shabbatot", but I am asking about the Yiddish-influenced English convention. Debresser (talk) 15:16, 22 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Since you call it an "English convention" I'd suggest "Shabboses?" But "Shabbosim" works too, I think. Why not? (Disclosure: I myself do not use the "English convention" though. I just use the Hebrew terms.) Thank you, warshy (¥¥) 17:04, 22 March 2022 (UTC)
 * I use both Shabboses and Shabbosim. The the first sounds more English, the latter Yiddish jargon. But since I do not live in America, I wouldn't know. Debresser (talk) 21:31, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

Sourcing
If an editor challenges non-English terms, or words or phrases in non-Latin character sets, per WP:V, must another editor supply a reliable secondary source that indicates the translation, spelling, and orthography as reflected in the article? Elizium23 (talk) 19:01, 18 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Comment: You really don't need an RFC yet: You need to talk about this in the Talk page rather than thru edit comments. In general, you should not need to provide a citation in the lead ¶ for a non-English term. You should be able to hash out any difference of understanding or opinion on the Talk page. If it's actually complicated, a section later in the article (probably not the lead ¶) on terminology might be in order. Pathawi (talk) 16:13, 23 November 2022 (UTC)
 * We're past that, @Pathawi, we've had discussions on talk pages and even the Village Pump, and if the non-English terms aren't anywhere else but in the lede ¶ then that's where the cite needs to be. If the non-English terms are introduced somewhere other than the lede ¶, and are the same terms as the ones in the lede ¶, then cite in the article body and that suffices for the lede. But they must be cited somewhere, don't you agree, @Pathawi? Elizium23 (talk) 22:08, 23 November 2022 (UTC)
 * No, I don't agree: If it's complicated or contentious enough that a citation is necessary, then the name itself deserves a section. If it's not actually contentious, then a single editor's wanting a citation doesn't make a citation necessary. I can't figure out from the edit history the reason that a citation has been requested for this article. At present, I can't see the editors who are in dispute talking about this issue anywhere other than edit comments. I do see an ongoing conflict between Elizium23 & Zhomron across many articles, the nature of which I find hard to work out. Pathawi (talk) 22:43, 23 November 2022 (UTC)
 * I agree with Pathawi, that this is not a question for an Rfc. A talkpage discussion should be able to resolve such issues, based on the various Wikipedia rules and guidelines. Starting with the rule saying to use the most common English spelling. And the answer to the question itself IMHO is a resounding "no". Debresser (talk) 20:42, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

Pronunciation
There's been some discussion about pronunciation in edit summaries so I wanted to clarify: In colloquial Ashkenazic Hebrew almost every word is penultimately stressed. Because stress affects vowel length, a two-syllable word like Shabbat, which is ultimately stressed in Tiberian/Sephardic/Modern Hebrew, becomes Shobbis. However, this isn't typically reflected in English spellings. So, while I don't think it should be the main spelling on wiki, this pronunciation certainly isn't "local" and certainly is "mainstream". Almost all Orthodox Jews in America pronounce it this way, and about half of Jews worldwide. GordonGlottal (talk) 18:54, 1 December 2022 (UTC)

 * That's WP:OR. Please cite sources. Elizium23 (talk) 21:39, 1 December 2022 (UTC)

Samaritans
I think it's significant enough to mention in the lead that Samaritans also observe Shabbat. Synotia (talk) 20:50, 20 December 2022 (UTC)
 * All kinds of marginal groups, like Christians who keep Shabbat and Samaritans, are not lead material. The request is probably POV inspired, because even Christians who are keeping Shabbat are not in the lead, and that section is significantly larger than the one short sentence about Samaritans. Debresser (talk) 23:19, 20 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I do like the "Samartian" spelling in the title. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 00:07, 21 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Fixed. Thanks. Debresser (talk) 01:24, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

Whats POV is to call Samaritans a marginal group. This article is about a religious concept not a religious group. Pngeditor (talk) 02:26, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

Should be about a concept not a group! Pngeditor (talk) 02:30, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

 * Since we're on a talk page, it's alright for Debresser to say the truth about the group. I think it is objectively true to say that Samaritans are marginal(ized) and have been since Biblical days, or "The Woman at the Well" wouldn't make sense, would it? This article is about a topic, but since Shabbat is observed by groups with different interpretations, that makes for different concepts as well. So we need to take the groups one-by-one to compare and contrast their particular concept known as "Shabbat". Elizium23 (talk) 02:33, 21 December 2022 (UTC)
 * The claim that Samaritans are marginalised is POV, and dismissive. Marginalised in what sense? Reference to stories in the Hebrew Bible doesn't change that. It is not an appropriate statement for wikipedia. I agree with the rest of what you are saying.Pngeditor (talk) 09:09, 21 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I think you're the one who's being dismissive about this. By what POV are Samaritans not marginalized? If you asked a Samaritan (or a Roma or the Uyghurs if they were marginalized, would they be offended or tell you you're wrong? Have you even seen the reliable scholarly sources that discuss at length the way Jews marginalized Samaritans for over 2,000 years??? Elizium23 (talk) 09:30, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

 * Samaritans are a small and insignificant group compared to Judaism. No personal offense intended. Debresser (talk) 11:05, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

Insignificant is even worse than marginalised. All you had to say was numerically smaller. Pngeditor (talk) 18:28, 21 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Well, there is power in numbers (and by the same token insignificance in the lack of numbers). Now please stop telling me what to say and how to say it, because I don't really care about your supersensitivity here. Debresser (talk) 20:26, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Shabbat


text:
East Lothian

East Lothian (Aest Lowden; Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921.

In 1975, the historic county was incorporated for local government purposes into Lothian Region as East Lothian District, with some slight alterations of its boundaries. The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 later created East Lothian as one of 32 modern council areas. East Lothian lies south of the Firth of Forth in the eastern central Lowlands of Scotland. It borders Edinburgh to the west, Midlothian to the south-west and the Scottish Borders to the south. Its administrative centre and former county town is Haddington while the largest town is Musselburgh.

Haddingtonshire has ancient origins and is named in a charter of 1139 as Hadintunschira and in another of 1141 as Hadintunshire. Three of the county's towns were designated as royal burghs: Haddington, Dunbar, and North Berwick.

As with the rest of Lothian, it formed part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Bernicia and later the Kingdom of Northumbria. Popular legend suggests that it was at a battle between the Picts and Angles in the East Lothian village of Athelstaneford in 823 that the flag of Scotland was conceived. From the 10th century, Lothian transferred from the Kingdom of England to the authority of the monarchs of Scotland. It was a cross-point in battles between England and Scotland and later the site of a significant Jacobite victory against Government forces in the Battle of Prestonpans. In the 19th century, the county is mentioned in the Gazetteer for Scotland as chiefly agricultural, with farming, fishing and coal-mining forming significant parts of the local economy.

Early history
Following the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, Lothian was populated by Brythonic-speaking Ancient Britons and formed part of the kingdom of the Gododdin, within the Hen Ogledd or Old North. In the 7th century, all of the Gododdin's territory fell to the Angles, with Lothian becoming part of the kingdom of Bernicia.

Bernicia united into the Kingdom of Northumbria which itself became part of the early Kingdom of England. Lothian came under the control of the Scottish monarchy in the 10th century.

The earliest reference to the shire of Haddington, or Haddingtonshire, occurred in the 12th century, in two charters issued by King David. The shire covered the eastern part of Lothian.

Medieval and early modern period

Haddingtonshire was heavily involved in several medieval and early modern conflicts and several fortified castles and buildings such as Dunbar Castle, Tantallon Castle and Dirleton Castle date from this period.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Palace of Haddington was one of the seats of the Kings of Scotland. King William the Lion of Scotland used the palace from time to time and it was the birthplace of Alexander II in 1198. The palace and town were burned and pillaged in 1216, by an English army under the command of King John of England. In 1296, the Battle of Dunbar was a decisive victory for the forces of Edward I of England against the forces of John Balliol, the Scottish king who was Edward's vassal.

Haddingtonshire was also the site of conflict during the war of the Rough Wooing, with many houses and villages burnt by the English in May 1544 after the sacking of Edinburgh, the Scottish defeat at the battle of Pinkie, Dunbar Castle burnt in 1548, and the siege of Haddington. Haddingtonshire lairds supported the English cause, including John Cockburn of Ormiston, Alexander Crichton of Brunstane, and Regent Arran demolished their houses.

During the War of the Three Kingdoms, another Battle of Dunbar took place in 1650 between Scottish Covenanter forces and the English Parliamentary forces under Oliver Cromwell. The Parliamentary forces were victorious and able to march on to take Edinburgh.

Following the Restoration of the monarchy, Glorious Revolution and Acts of Union, Jacobite forces conflicted with Government forces, with the main conflict taking place as part of the 1715 Rising and 1745 Rising. Under the command of Sir John Cope, the British Army met with the Jacobites under Charles Edward Stuart at the Battle of Prestonpans in the west of the county in September 1745, with the Jacobite side gaining a significant victory before being defeated at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746.

Modern history
Haddingtonshire County Council was created in 1890 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, which established elected county councils across Scotland, taking over most of the functions of the Commissioners of Supply, which had been the main administrative body of the shire since 1667. The county council was based at County Buildings in Court Street, Haddington, which had been built in 1833 and also served as the county's sheriff court.

In April 1921 the county council voted to request a change of the county's name from Haddingtonshire to "East Lothian". The government agreed and brought the change into effect as part of the East Lothian County Buildings Order Confirmation Act 1921, which received royal assent on 8 November 1921. The act also transferred ownership of the County Buildings to the county council.

In 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, Scotland's county councils were dissolved and a new system of regional and district councils was created. East Lothian District was created within the wider Lothian region. The district comprised the historic county of East Lothian plus the burgh of Musselburgh and the parish of Inveresk (which included Wallyford and Whitecraig) from the county of Midlothian.

When further reforms in 1996 moved Scotland to a system of 32 unitary local authorities, the modern council area of East Lothian was created.

Geography
East Lothian is predominantly rural. It has 40 mi of coastline where the towns of Musselburgh, Prestonpans, Cockenzie and Port Seton, Longniddry, Gullane, North Berwick and Dunbar lie along the coast of the Firth of Forth. The coast has several headlands and bays, most notably Gosford Bay, Aberlady Bay, Gullane Point, Sandy Hirst, Tyne Mouth, Belhaven Bay, Barns Ness, Chapel Point and Torness Point. There are several small islands off the coast north of North Berwick, the largest of these being Fidra, Lamb, Craigleith and Bass Rock.

Only two towns are landlocked, Tranent and Haddington. To the south are the Lammermuir Hills along the boundary with Berwickshire; it is here that Meikle Says Law, the highest point in the county at 535 m, can be found. The River Tyne flows through Haddington and several of East Lothian's villages, reaching the Firth of Forth near Belhaven. The River Esk flows through Inveresk and Musselburgh where it empties at the north of the town into the Firth of Forth. Major bodies of water include Pressmennan Lake, the Whiteadder Reservoir, Hopes Reservoir, Stobshiel Reservoir and Lammerloch Reservoir.

Road
The A1 road travels through East Lothian where it meets the Scottish Borders southbound and Edinburgh northbound. The A1 throughout East Lothian is dual carriageway and major junctions include Dunbar, Haddington, Tranent, Prestonpans and Musselburgh.

Starting in Leith, the A199 road also travels through East Lothian beginning at Musselburgh and passing through Wallyford, Tranent, Macmerry and Haddington before joining the A1 in West Barns.

Some non-primary routes in East Lothian are the A198, A1087, A6093 and A6137 roads.

Public transport
East Lothian is served by eight railway stations: East Linton (opened December 2023), Dunbar and Musselburgh on the East Coast Main Line; and North Berwick, Drem, Longniddry, Prestonpans and Wallyford on the North Berwick Line. Rail service operators which travel through and stop at stations in the area include: ScotRail on both lines; and CrossCountry and London North Eastern Railway on the East Coast Main Line.

Bus operators in East Lothian are: Lothian Buses and its subsidiary East Coast Buses, Eve Coaches of Dunbar, Prentice of Haddington and Borders Buses. East Coast Buses is the main bus service provider connecting the towns and villages of East Lothian to Edinburgh. The company has depots in North Berwick and Musselburgh.

Demography
The population of East Lothian as of 2019 is 105,790. This is an increase of over 6,000 since 2011 and this is projected to reach over 120,000 by the 2030s. The fastest growing district in East Lothian is the Tranent, Wallyford and Macmerry ward which is expected to see its population of just over 20,000 increase to just under 30,000 by 2026.

Politics
In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, a majority of voters in the East Lothian council area opted for Scotland to remain a part of the United Kingdom - with 61.72% casting their ballots for the Union and 38.28% voting for independence.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
East Lothian is a constituency in the House of Commons, electing one Member of Parliament. It is one of only 4 UK Parliamentary Constituencies in Scotland which matches the boundaries of its Local Authority area. The other examples being Inverclyde, Moray, and Na h-Eileanan an Iar, East Lothian is one of the few UK Parliamentary Constituencies which fully covers the boundaries of its Council area.

The current MP for East Lothian is Kenny MacAskill of the Alba Party, who has represented the constituency since the 2019 general election when he was elected for the SNP.

Former UK Prime Minister Arthur Balfour was born on 25 July 1848 at Whittingehame House in what is now the East Lothian constituency.

Scottish Parliament
Most of East Lothian is in the East Lothian Scottish Parliament constituency and South Scotland region with the exception of Musselburgh which is in Midlothian North and Musselburgh and the Lothians region.

Local government
East Lothian Council is based in the historic county town of Haddington, with the council meeting at the Haddington Town House and offices at nearby at John Muir House. The unitary local authority contains six wards, electing 22 councillors.

Places of interest

 * Aberlady Bay
 * Bass Rock
 * Dirleton Castle
 * Dunglass Collegiate Church
 * Fa'side Castle
 * Fenton Barns Retail & Leisure Village
 * Hailes Castle
 * Hopetoun Monument
 * Lennoxlove historic house
 * Longniddry Bents
 * Muirfield Golf Links
 * Museum of Flight, East Fortune
 * North Berwick Harbour
 * North Berwick Law
 * Preston Mill
 * Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum
 * Scottish Seabird Centre, North Berwick
 * Seacliff Beach
 * Seton Collegiate Church
 * Tantallon Castle
 * Chesters Hill Fort
 * Torness Nuclear Power Station
 * Traprain Law
 * Yellowcraigs, a beach and conservation area

Settlements
Largest settlements by population:

 * Aberlady
 * Athelstaneford
 * Auldhame
 * Ballencrieff
 * Bara
 * Belhaven
 * Biel
 * Bilsdean
 * Bolton
 * Broxburn
 * Canty Bay
 * Cockenzie
 * Dirleton
 * Drem
 * Dunbar
 * Dunglass
 * East Fortune
 * East Linton
 * East Saltoun
 * Elphinstone
 * Fenton Barns
 * Fisherrow (historically within Midlothian)
 * Garvald
 * Gifford
 * Gladsmuir
 * Glenkinchie
 * Gullane
 * Haddington
 * Humbie
 * Innerwick
 * Inveresk (historically within Midlothian)
 * Kingston
 * Longniddry
 * Luffness
 * Macmerry
 * Markle
 * Monktonhall (historically within Midlothian)
 * Musselburgh (historically within Midlothian)
 * North Berwick
 * Oldhamstocks
 * Ormiston
 * Peaston
 * Pencaitland
 * Phantassie
 * Port Seton
 * Preston
 * Prestonpans
 * Samuelston
 * Scoughall
 * Spittal
 * Spott
 * Stenton
 * Tranent
 * Tyninghame
 * Wallyford (historically within Midlothian)
 * West Barns
 * West Saltoun
 * Whitecraig (historically within Midlothian)
 * Whitekirk and Tyninghame
 * Whittingehame

Civil parishes
In 1894, John Martine published Reminiscences and Notices of Ten Parishes of the County of Haddington.

 * Aberlady
 * Athelstaneford
 * Bolton
 * Dirleton
 * Dunbar
 * Garvald
 * Gladsmuir
 * Haddington
 * Humbie
 * Innerwick
 * Morham
 * North Berwick
 * Oldhamstocks
 * Ormiston
 * Pencaitland
 * Prestonkirk
 * Prestonpans
 * Saltoun
 * Spott
 * Stenton
 * Tranent
 * Whittingehame
 * Whitekirk and Tyninghame
 * Yester

Education
There are a range of schools in the county, including six state secondaries: Dunbar Grammar School, Knox Academy (formerly the Grammar School) in Haddington, Musselburgh Grammar School, North Berwick High School, Preston Lodge High School in Prestonpans and Ross High School in Tranent.

There are two independent schools in the county. Loretto School is a day and boarding school in Musselburgh founded in 1827 and Belhaven Hill School, established in 1923 is a smaller preparatory school in Dunbar also providing boarding.

In 2007, Queen Margaret University began its move to a new, purpose-built campus in Musselburgh within East Lothian, providing it with its first university.

Symbols
In November 2017, a county flag competition was launched in East Lothian to register an official flag of East Lothian. Anyone willing to enter this competition was allowed to enter, which resulted in 623 entries to the competition. The end of the entry submission time was the 28th of February 2018. Four final flag designs will be placed in a vote to the residents of East Lothian. In December 2018 the winning design was announced, designed by Archie Martin, a local man from Musselburgh and residing in Gifford who had worked for the council for 23 years. Martin died in July 2018. The flag features a saltire representing East Lothian as the birthplace of Scotland's flag. A gold cross signifies the wealth of East Lothian's farmlands and reputation as the granary of Scotland with a lion in the centre representing the Haddington lion along with blue stripes to represent the rivers Esk and Tyne.

Local media
East Lothian is served by a local paid-for weekly newspapers, the East Lothian Courier.

The East Lothian Courier (often locally "The Courier") began as the Haddingtonshire Courier in 1859, before changing its name in 1971. It was owned by D&J Croal, based in Haddington, until its purchase by the Dunfermline Press Group in 2004. It is now owned by Newsquest

The East Lothian News was first published in 1971, as part of Scottish County Press Group, with editorial offices in Dalkeith and printing at Bonnyrigg (both in Midlothian). The Scottish County Press Group was acquired by Regional Independent Media in 2000, which was in turn bought by Johnston Press in 2002. The East Lothian News closed in 2015.

There are two local community radio stations in East Lothian, broadcasting on FM and online. East Coast FM, based in Haddington, has been broadcasting since 2009. Radio Saltire, formerly East Lothian FM, is now based in Tranent.

Notable people (by date of death)

 * Gospatric II, Earl of Lothian, d.1138
 * Gospatric III, Earl of Lothian, d.1166
 * Waltheof, Earl of Dunbar, d.1182
 * Alexander II, King of Scots, 1198–1249
 * Black Agnes, 4th Countess of Moray, c.1312-1369
 * Abbot Walter Bower, ca.1385–1449, canon regular of Inchcolm Abbey, chronicler, born about at Haddington
 * Sawney Bean, cannibal and outlaw, 15th to 16th century
 * William Dunbar, medieval poet, 1460–1520
 * John Mair or Major, philosopher, 1467–1550
 * John Knox, leading Protestant reformer in Scotland and founder of Presbyterianism, c.1510-1572
 * John Cockburn of Ormiston, (d.1583) early supporter of the Scottish Reformation
 * Ninian Cockburn (d.1579), soldier, an officer of the Garde Écossaise, political intriguer
 * Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun (1655–1716), writer, politician, soldier and patriot
 * Adam Cockburn, Laird of Ormiston, Lord Ormiston (1656–1735), administrator, politician and judge
 * John Cockburn, agricultural improver, 1695–1758
 * Andrew Meikle, inventor of the Threshing machine, 1719–1811
 * John Brown of Haddington, 1722–1787
 * Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon, a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence, 1723–1794
 * George Brodie (1786?-1867), historian
 * Robert Cadell (1788–1849), bookseller and publisher, closely associated with Sir Walter Scott
 * Robert Moffat 1795–1883, Congregationalist missionary to Africa, and father in law of David Livingstone
 * Jane Welsh Carlyle, 1801–1866, letter-writer, and wife of Thomas Carlyle, 1801–1866
 * Sir William Fergusson, 1st Baronet, surgeon, 1808–1877
 * Samuel Smiles, author of Self-Help, 1812–1904
 * Mary Balfour Herbert, watercolour painter, 1817–1893
 * Samuel Morison Brown, chemist, poet and essayist, 1817–1856
 * John Muir, father of the US National Parks, 1838–1914
 * Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick, Principal of Newnham College, 1845–1936
 * James Porteous, inventor of the Fresno Scraper, 1848–1922
 * Peter Hume Brown, historian, 1849–1918
 * Arthur Balfour (1848–1930), Prime Minister, 1902–1905
 * Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick (1845–1936), mathematician and co-founder of Newham College, University of Cambridge
 * William George Nicholson Geddes 1913–1993, civil engineer
 * Maureen Mollie Hunter McIlwraith, commonly known as Mollie Hunter 1922–2012, Scottish writer
 * Peter Kerr b.1940, best-selling author of travel books and fiction
 * John Bellany, painter, 1942–2013
 * Rhona Cameron, comedian and activist, b.1965

A number of sports personalities also have links with East Lothian:

 * Willie Anderson, golfer, four times U.S. Open Golf Champion, 1901, 1903–05
 * Ian Black, professional footballer
 * Callum Booth, professional footballer
 * Billy Brown, football coach
 * Kenny Miller, professional footballer
 * Colin Nish, professional footballer
 * Jim Calder rugby union player
 * Gary Anderson, Darts player
 * Andrew Driver, professional footballer
 * Danny Handling, professional footballer
 * Jason Holt, Professional footballer
 * David Huish, professional golfer
 * Allan Jacobsen, rugby union player
 * Jim Jefferies, football manager
 * John McGlynn, football manager
 * Catriona Matthew, golfer
 * Mathew Dawson, racehorse trainer
 * Euan Burton, judoka and 2012 Olympics contender
 * Finlay Calder, rugby union player
 * Ross Muir, professional snooker player
 * Scott Murray, rugby union player
 * Garry O'Connor, professional footballer
 * Willie Ormond, footballer and manager
 * Jock Taylor, World Champion motorcycle sidecar racer
 * Ben Sayers, professional golfer & club maker
 * John White, footballer
 * Willie Wood (bowler), professional bowler
 * Dean Brett, footballer
 * Josh Taylor, boxer

Freedom of the County
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the County of East Lothian.

Individuals

 * John Bellany: 2004.
 * Catriona Matthew: 2009.

Military Units

 * 1st Battalion The Royal Scots Borderers: 2012.
 * E Squadron The Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry: 6 July 2019.

Church and parish histories: Presbytery of Haddington

 * The Lamp of Lothian; or, The History of Haddington. James Miller (new edition, 1900).
 * Reminiscences of the Royal Burgh of Haddington. John Martine (1883).
 * Reminiscences of the County of Haddington. John Martine (1890).
 * Reminiscences of the County of Haddington. Second Series, ed. E. J. Wilson (1895).
 * The History of Morham. David Louden (1889).
 * North Berwick and its Vicinity. George Ferrier (1875).
 * The Bass Rock, its Civil and Ecclesiastical History. Thomas M'Crie, D.D. (1847).
 * Emeralds chased in Gold. Rev. John Dickson (1899).
 * Prestonpans and Vicinity. P. M'Neill (1902).
 * Tranent and its Surroundings. P. M'Neill (1884).
 * East Lothian Studies. Louden and Whitfield (1891).
 * East Lothian. Charles E. Green (1907).
 * Sketches of East Lothian. D. Croal (1873).

Presbytery of Dunbar

 * Coldingham: Parish and Priory [notices of Cockburnspath, etc.]. A. Thomson (1908).
 * The History of Dunbar. James Miller (1859).
 * An Old Kirk Chronicle. Peter Hately Waddell, D.D. (1893).
 * The Churches of St Baldred. Rev. A. I. Ritchie (1880).
 * Saint Mary's, Whitekirk. Rev. E. B. Rankin (1914).
 * History of Berwickshire Naturalists' Club [for Cockburnspath, Oldhamstocks, etc.]

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: East Lothian


text:
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) is the major congregational organization of Conservative Judaism in North America, and the largest Conservative Jewish communal body in the world. USCJ closely works with the Rabbinical Assembly, the international body of Conservative rabbis. It coordinates and assists the activities of its member communities on all levels.

History
Representatives of twenty-two Jewish congregations in North America met at the Jewish Theological Seminary on 23 February 1913. The representatives formed the United Synagogue of America to develop and perpetuate Conservative Judaism. The group elected Rabbi Dr. Solomon Schechter the first president.

At its executive council's April 1913 meeting, the organization's purpose was defined as loyalty to the Torah; to promote observance of Shabbat and Jewish dietary laws; to preserve Israel's past and promote its restoration; to maintain traditional Jewish prayer in Hebrew; to promote traditional Judaism in the home; and to encourage the establishment of Jewish religious schools whose instruction includes the study of the Hebrew language and its literature as a bond that unites Jewish people worldwide.

The name of the organization was changed to the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in 1991.

Role and description
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism has 572 affiliated congregations.

Programs
USCJ sponsors the following programs:
 * United Synagogue Youth (USY) is the youth movement of USCJ. The organization's mission is to empower Jewish youth to develop friendships, leadership skills, a sense of belonging to the Jewish People, a deep engagement with and love for Israel, and a commitment to inspired Jewish living through meaningful and fun experiences based on the ideology of Conservative Judaism.
 * Nativ is USCJ's academic gap year program in Israel for in-bound college freshmen.
 * The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem is USCJ's learning community in Israel.


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Louis Finkelstein

Louis Finkelstein (June 14, 1895 in Cincinnati, Ohio – 29 November 1991) was a Talmud scholar, an expert in Jewish law, and a leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) and Conservative Judaism.

Biography
Louis (Eliezer) Finkelstein was born into a rabbinic family in Cincinnati on June 14, 1895. He moved with his parents to Brooklyn, New York as a youngster and graduated from the City College of New York in 1915. He received his PhD from Columbia University in 1918 and was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) the following year. He joined the JTS faculty in 1920 as an instructor in Talmud and went on to serve as an associate professor and professor of theology. He later became provost, president, chancellor and chancellor emeritus.

Chancellorship at JTS
Finkelstein was appointed chancellor of JTS in 1940 and remained chancellor until 1972. He positioned JTS as the central institution of Conservative Judaism, which experienced extraordinary growth during those years. Thousands of Jews living in America's cities moved to the suburbs and joined and built Conservative synagogues, and the movement emerged as the branch of Judaism with the largest number of synagogues and members. Finkelstein's leadership led Ari L. Goldman, in his obituary for Finkelstein in the New York Times, to describe Finkelstein as "the dominant leader of Conservative Judaism in the 20th century." During the years of Finkelstein's leadership, the seminary flourished, growing from a small rabbinical school and teacher training program to a major university of Judaism. Finkelstein also established the seminary's Cantor's Institute, the Seminary College of Jewish Music, the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (predecessor of the Graduate School), and a West Coast branch of the seminary that later became the University of Judaism (now the American Jewish University).

In a personal conversation, Finkelstein called the Conservative movement "a gimmick to get Jews back to real Judaism." His personal problems with the movement were reflected in his practice of coming to Conservative synagogues after having already prayed morning prayers, apparently regarding the synagogues' liturgical practices to be religiously flawed.

Public outreach was among Finkelstein's top priorities. One of his signature programs was a radio and television show called The Eternal Light, which explored Judaism and Jewish holidays. Interfaith dialogue was a particular priority. Finkelstein established the Institute for Religious and Social Studies, which brought together Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish scholars for theological discussions. His efforts were considered so significant that an article about him was featured in Time Magazine including his picture on its cover on the edition of October 13, 1951. In 1986, the name of the institute was changed to the Finkelstein Institute in his honor.

Finkelstein's contacts went well beyond the religious community. He was an intimate of leading political and judicial figures and in 1957, enticed Chief Justice Earl Warren of the United States Supreme Court to spend a Sabbath at the seminary in the study of the Talmud. Finkelstein served as the official Jewish representative to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's commission on peace, and in 1963 President John F. Kennedy sent him to Rome as part of an American delegation to the installation of Pope Paul VI. He also offered a prayer at the second inauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Scholarship
Even at his busiest, Finkelstein left time for scholarship. Friends said he rose every morning at 4 A.M. to study and write until he went to synagogue at 7 A.M. He was the author or editor of more than 100 books, both scholarly and popular. He described the major influences upon his scholarship as Rabbi Professors Solomon Schechter, Louis Ginzburg, Alexander Marx and Saul Lieberman.

Finkelstein authored a number of books, including Tradition in the Making, Beliefs and Practices of Judaism, Pre-Maccabean Documents in the Passover Haggadah, Introduction to the Treatises Abot and Abot of Rabbi Nathan (1950, in Hebrew with English summary), Abot of Rabbi Nathan, (a three volume series on the Pharisees), and Akiba: Scholar, Saint and Martyr. He also edited a four volume series entitled The Jews: Their History, Culture and Religion in 1949; in 1971, it was renamed and published as three volumes, The Jews: Their History; The Jews: Their Religion and Culture; and The Jews: Their Role in Civilization. Among his other works were "New Light from the Prophets," published in 1969.

His major scholarly pursuits were works on the Pharisees, a Jewish sect in second Temple times from which modern Jewish tradition developed, and the Sifra, the oldest rabbinic commentary on the book of Leviticus, which was completed in Palestine in the fifth century. Even in his retirement he continued writing, working at the dining room table of his Riverside Drive apartment to complete several annotated volumes of the Sifra.

When he became frail in his later years and had trouble walking to the synagogue, his former students turned his home into a synagogue on Saturday mornings, assembling the quorum of 10 needed for prayer. After his death in 1991 this group evolved into Kehilat Orach Eliezer (KOE), which means "Congregation of the Way of Eliezer" (Eliezer Aryeh was Louis Finkelstein's given name in Hebrew), and became notable for being a large halakhic congregation that nevertheless strives to accommodate women's participation in public prayer services as much as possible within the parameters established by Jewish law as the group understands it. It meets on Manhattan's Upper West Side. After Finkelstein's death, Rabbi Professor David Weiss Halivni served as rabbi of the congregation until emigrating to Israel in 2005.

title: Louis Finkelstein


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Queen Silvia of Sweden

Silvia (born Silvia Renate Sommerlath; 23 December 1943) is Queen of Sweden as the wife of King Carl XVI Gustaf. She has held this title since her marriage to Carl Gustaf in 1976. The king and queen have three children: Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl Philip, and Princess Madeleine.

Childhood and parentage
Silvia Renate Sommerlath was born in Heidelberg, Germany, on 23 December 1943, the only daughter of Alice (née Soares de Toledo) and Walther Sommerlath. Her father was German and her mother was Brazilian.

She has one older brother: Ralf Sommerlath (born 1929). Her other brothers were Walther Sommerlath, who died in 2020, and Jörg Sommerlath, who died in 2006. The Mother-Child House Jörg Sommerlath in Berlin, operated by Queen Silvia's World Childhood Foundation, is named after her brother.

She attended grammar school in Düsseldorf, finishing her Abitur in 1963; and attended the Munich School of Interpreting from 1965 to 1969, majoring in Spanish.

She has some fluency in Swedish Sign Language, a national sign language used by the deaf community in Sweden. She is a trained interpreter and Swedish is her sixth language. She speaks her native German, her mother's language of Portuguese, as well as French, Spanish, and English.

Marriage and family
During the 1972 Summer Olympics, Silvia Sommerlath met Crown Prince Carl Gustaf. At the time, she was leading a marketing campaign for the city of Munich. Sommerlath and the other Olympic hostesses wore sky-blue dirndls to promote Bavarian cultural identity. After the death of King Gustaf VI Adolf on 15 September 1973, Carl XVI Gustaf succeeded to the throne.

He and Silvia announced their engagement on 12 March 1976 and were married three months later, on 19 June 1976 in Stockholm Cathedral ("Storkyrkan Cathedral") in Stockholm. It was the first marriage of a reigning Swedish monarch since 1797. The wedding was preceded, the evening before, by a Royal Variety Performance, where the Swedish musical group ABBA performed "Dancing Queen" for the very first time, as a tribute to Sweden's future queen.

The King and Queen of Sweden have three children and eight grandchildren:
 * Crown Princess Victoria, Duchess of Västergötland (born 14 July 1977), who is married to Daniel Westling and has two children
 * Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland (born 13 May 1979), who is married to Sofia Hellqvist and has three children
 * Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland, (born 10 June 1982), who is married to Christopher O'Neill and has three children

In February 2021, Silvia was taken to hospital after she fractured her right wrist in a fall.

Father's Nazi links
In July 2002, the Queen became the subject of international curiosity when an article published in the syndicalist newspaper Arbetaren reported that German state archives record that the Queen's father, Walther Sommerlath, joined the Nazi party's foreign wing, the NSDAP/AO, in 1934, when he was living in Brazil and working for a German steel company. In December 2010, Queen Silvia wrote a letter of complaint to Jan Scherman, the CEO of TV4, the network that had aired a documentary about her father's alleged Nazi past.

Queen Silvia commissioned a report from World War II expert Erik Norberg, a choice that was criticised due to Norberg having ties to the royal family. In his report, Norberg argued that the Queen's father had in fact helped the owner of the steel-fabrication plant, a Jewish businessperson, escape from Germany by taking over the factory. In a December 2011 interview for Sweden's public service broadcaster Sveriges Television, Silvia called the media's handling of the information about her father "character assassination".

Charity involvement
Queen Silvia established Mentor International in 1994 in collaboration with the World Health Organization. Her vision was to offer mentoring as inspiration, empowerment, and motivation for young people to make healthy life choices and view their futures more positively. Mentor's work has been recognized by the United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime, the Organization of American States, and the Council of Europe. She is now an honorary board member of Mentor Foundation.

She was also a co-founder of the World Childhood Foundation in 1999, having been inspired by her work as Patron of the first World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children held in Stockholm. She has also been involved in the Global Child Forum, which she helped initiate, as a keynote speaker in several forums.

Her commitment to the work with dementia and the care of the elderly at the end of life is also well known and respected. On her initiative, Silviahemmet was established in Stockholm. It works to educate hospital personnel in how to work with people suffering from dementia, and also initiates research in the area.

She chairs the Royal Wedding Fund, which supports research in sports and athletics for disabled young people and the Queen Silvia Jubilee Fund for research on children and disability.

Queen Silvia holds honorary positions in the Swedish Amateur Athletic Association, the Children's Cancer Foundation of Sweden and Save the Children Sweden.

National

 * 🇸🇪 Sweden:
 * Order of the Seraphim - Ribbon bar.svg Member and Commander of the Royal Order of the Seraphim, in diamonds (LoKavKMOmbr)
 * Order of the Seraphim - Ribbon bar.svg Member of the Royal Family Decoration of King Carl XVI Gustaf
 * Order of the Seraphim - Ribbon bar.svg Recipient of the 50th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf
 * Order of the Seraphim - Ribbon bar.svg Recipient of the Wedding Medal of Crown Princess Victoria to Daniel Westling
 * Commemorative Ruby Jubilee Medal of His Majesty The King (15092013).png Recipient of the Ruby Jubilee Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf
 * SWE King Carl XVI Gustaf Jubilee Medal III.png Recipient of the 70th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf
 * Commemorative_Golden_Jubilee_Medal_of_His_Majesty_The_King_(15092023).png Recipient of the Golden Jubilee Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf

Foreign

 * 🇦🇷 Argentina: Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator General San Martín
 * 🇦🇹 Austria: Grand Star of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
 * 🇧🇪 Belgium: Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold
 * 🇧🇷 Brazil: Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross
 * Brunei: Member of the Family Order of Laila Utama
 * 🇧🇬 Bulgaria: Grand Cross of the Order of the Balkan Mountains
 * 🇨🇱 Chile: Grand Cross of the Order of Bernardo O'Higgins
 * 🇭🇷 Croatia: Grand Cross of the Grand Order of Queen Jelena
 * 🇩🇰 Denmark:
 * Knight of the Order of the Elephant (3 September 1985)
 * Recipient of the Silver Anniversary Medal of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik
 * 🇪🇪 Estonia:
 * Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana
 * Grand Cross of the Order of the White Star
 * 🇫🇮 Finland:
 * Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland
 * 🇩🇪 Germany:
 * Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
 * Member of the Decoration of Merit (Baden-Würtemberg)
 * Member of the Decoration of Merit (Bavaria)
 * 🇫🇷 France:
 * Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honour
 * Grand Cross of the Order of National Merit
 * 🇬🇷 Greece: Grand Cross of the Order of Honour
 * Holy See:
 * Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Pope Pius IX
 * Recipient of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice
 * 🇭🇺 Hungary: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
 * 🇮🇸 Iceland: Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon
 * 🇮🇹 Italy: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
 * 🇯🇵 Japan: Grand Cordon (Paulownia) of the Order of the Precious Crown
 * 🇯🇴 Jordan: Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance
 * 🇱🇻 Latvia:
 * Commander Grand Cros of the Order of the Three Stars
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Cross of Recognition
 * 🇱🇹 Lithuania:
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Merit
 * 🇱🇺 Luxembourg: Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau
 * 🇲🇾 Malaysia: Recipient of the Order of the Crown of the Realm
 * 🇲🇽 Mexico: Grand Cross of the Order of the Aztec Eagle
 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands
 * 🇳🇴 Norway:
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Olav
 * Recipient of the Silver Jubilee Medal of King Harald V
 * 🇵🇱 Poland: Knight of the Order of the White Eagle
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal:
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Christ
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry
 * 🇷🇴 Romania: Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania
 * 🇸🇮 Slovenia: Member of the Decoration for Exceptional Merits
 * 🇰🇷 South Korea: Grand Gwanghwa Medal of the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit
 * 🇪🇸 Spain:
 * Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (15 October 1979)
 * Dame Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III (16 November 2021)
 * 🇹🇭 Thailand:
 * Dame Grand Cross (1st Class) of the Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao (2003)
 * Recipient of the Boy Scout Citation Medal (2009)
 * Recipient of the Commemorative Medal on the Occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Accession to the Throne of H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej (2006)
 * 🇹🇳 Tunisia: Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit
 * 🇺🇦 Ukraine:
 * Member 1st Class of the Order of Merit
 * Member 1st Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise

Awards

 * 🇸🇪 Sweden: Grand Cross of the Social Order of the Amaranth
 * 🇩🇪 Germany: The National German Sustainability Award
 * 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates: Recipient of the Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Motherhood and Childhood Award (November 2016)

Honorary doctorates
Queen Silvia has been awarded a number of honorary doctorates, most recently for her work on dementia.

 * 1990 – University of Turku
 * 1993 – Karolinska Institute
 * 1994 – Linköping University
 * 1999 – University of Gothenburg
 * 2023 – University of Stirling, UK

title: Queen Silvia of Sweden