Between Domestic and Urban Spaces: Preparing for Shabbat in Ashkenazic Communities, 13th–15th Centuries

In 12th -15th century Ashkenazic Jewish communities, preparing candles and food created a sanctified domestic space for Shabbat but required Jews to interact with urban spaces, often shared with Christians. The preparation of Shabbat candles demonstrates the porous boundaries between synagogue and home. The physical, ritual, and symbolic aspects of Shabbat candles emphasized their domesticity, especially when viewed against Christian ritual uses of candles. However, Shabbat candles were symbolically present in
synagogues through liturgy and in the reckoning of candle-lighting time. Keeping food warm over Shabbat without kindling fire demonstrates the importance of urban settings. Jews used urban or communal ovens to insulate food, despite being able to do so at home. The urban settings of Shabbat preparations reveal how the entire community, regardless of age, gender, and status, fashioned a temporal – but tangible – “Jewish space” between homes, synagogues, streets, and ovens.