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thumb|Havdalah candle, [[kiddush cup, and spice box]]
thumb|Grand Rabbi Judah Wolff Kornreich, the [[List of Hasidic dynasties and groups#S|Shidlovtzer Rebbe, reciting Havdalah]]
Havdalah (, ) is a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat and ushers in the new week. The ritual involves lighting a special candle with several wicks, blessing a cup of wine, and smelling sweet spices (). Shabbat ends on Saturday night after the appearance of three stars in the sky. If one forgot or was otherwise not able to recite Havdalah earlier, it may be performed as late as sunset of the Tuesday following Shabbat; however, when it is recited after Saturday night the blessings of the spices and candle are omitted, and only the blessings on the wine and the havdalah itself are recited.
Havdalah is also recited at the conclusion of the biblical holidays.
Customs
thumb|Havdalah candles in the collection of the [[Jewish Museum of Switzerland]]
Like kiddush, havdalah is recited over a cup of kosher wine or grape juice,
Either right before or right after reciting the words "," it is customary for the participants to hold their hands up to the candle and gaze at the reflection of the light in their fingernails. and the ().
At the conclusion of Havdalah, some or all of the leftover wine is poured into a small dish and the candle is extinguished in it, as a sign that the candle was lit solely for the mitzvah of Havdalah; some pour directly onto the candle. Based on , "the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes," some Jews dip a finger into the leftover wine and touch their eyes or pockets with it. Because it was used for a mitzvah, the wine is considered a "segulah," or good omen.
After the Havdalah ceremony, it is customary to sing "Eliyahu Hanavi" ("Elijah the Prophet") and/or HaMavdil Bein Kodesh LeChol ("Who separates Holy from ordinary/weekday"), and to bless one another with ' (Hebrew) or ' (Yiddish), meaning "Have a good week".
Havdalah is also recited at the conclusion of the following biblical holidays: Rosh Hashanah; Yom Kippur; the first days (first day in Israel) of Sukkot; Simchat Torah; Passover (Pesach), both its first and last days; and Shavuot. It is omitted, however, if the Sabbath falls immediately after the Festival. At the conclusion of a Festival that is not at the conclusion of the Sabbath, on the blessings over the wine and the blessing separating the holy from the everyday, but the spices and the havdalah candle are omitted. At the conclusion of Yom Kippur, when the blessing over the candle is recited, if it was lit from a candle that was lit all of Yom Kippur; when Yom Kippur falls on a weekday, the blessing on spices is not recited, and when it falls on the Sabbath customs differ.
When a major holiday follows Shabbat, the Havdalah service is recited as part of the holiday kiddush and the blessing over spices is not said. The special braided Havdalah candle is not used since it may not be extinguished after the service, but rather the blessing is recited over the festival candles. The prayer "distinguishes holiness from the everyday" is changed to "distinguishes holiness from holiness" signifying that the holiness of the holiday is of a lesser degree than the holiness of the concluded Shabbat.
Significance
right|thumb|upright|Observing the Havdalah ritual, 14th-century Spain
Havdalah is intended to require a person to use all five senses: feel the cup, smell the spices, see the flame of the candle, hear the blessings and taste the wine.
Following a normal Shabbat, the order of the prayers corresponds to the acrostic יבנ"ה Yavneh. This acrostic consists of the initials Yayin (wine), Besamim (spices), Ner (candle), and Havdalah (the Havdalah prayer). This acrostic consists of the initials Yayin (wine), Kiddush HaYom (blessing the day), Ner (candle), Havdala (the Havdala blessing) and Zman (time, i.e. shehechiyanu). However, when the eighth day of Passover (outside of Israel) falls on Saturday night, the order is יקנ"ה Yakneh, since shehechiyanu is never recited on the last days of Passover.
Near the Qaddesh section in some Ashkenazic versions of the Haggadah (e.g. Mantoba 1560, Prague 1526, Venice 1609 and the Goldschmidt Edition), there is a picture of a hunter chasing a hare. The verses are omitted at the conclusion of Festivals (except when coinciding with the Sabbath), when Havdalah is not recited immediately at the conclusion of the Sabbath (including when Tisha Bav falls on Sunday, and Havdalah is delayed until Sunday night at the conclusion of Tisha Bav), and in the Ashkenazic rite they are omitted also when Havdalah is recited as part of the Synagogue service. The four blessings over the wine, spices, candle and praising God for separation between holy and profane are virtually identical between the traditions. The phrase בין ישראל לעמים, bein Yisrael l'amim 'between Israel and the nations' is based on . In Reconstructionist Judaism, however, the phrase is omitted, as part of founder Mordechai Kaplan's rejection of the Biblical idea of chosenness. Modern tunes for Havdalah are based on melodies by Shlomo Carlebach, Neshama Carlebach and Debbie Friedman.
The Ashkenazi liturgy for havdala after a festival or Shabbat is as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
! Blessing
! Hebrew
! Transliteration
! English
|-
| colspan="4" | The following paragraph omitted by most communities at all times other than the conclusion of Shabbat.
|-
|Introductory Verses
|
|