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Where does the phrase Motzi Shabbath come from? Grammatically i don't understand how it works.

Motzi means the bringing forth-er, or the bringing-out-er right? Ha-motzi lechem min ha-aretz, "the one who brings forth/out bread from the earth" Is it trying to say that Shabbath has been brought out?

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    it should be motza'ei shabbat I think
    – rosends
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 16:48
  • Ah, well everyone here keeps saying "motzi shabbos" or "motzi shabbath," hence my confusion
    – Aaron
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 16:52
  • @Aaron Yes, in common speech we tend to slur words or just say them wrong. Like "Shkoyach" instead of "yi-yasher kochacha"
    – Daniel
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 17:01
  • Seems that people named Aaron are very interested in this question: judaism.stackexchange.com/q/35131/1713. Is this a dupe?
    – Daniel
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 17:25
  • @Daniel It's a bit eery that the person who asked the same question is also named Aaron. But that person is not me ;) So yeah it looks like a dupe, although i appreciate having the answers here as they provide the nekkudoth for proepr pronunciation
    – Aaron
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 17:45

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The term is not מוֹצִיא שַׁבָּת‎ (Motzi Shabbat) but rather מוֹצָאֵי שַׁבָּת‎ (Motzaei Shabbat).

Both words comes from the shoresh י.צ.א.‏ which has to do with going out. מוֹצִיא is a verb in the הפעיל (causative) binyan. It means "cause to go out" or more concisely, "bring out." I am not entirely sure of the grammatical form of מוֹצָאֵי but it appears to me to be a gerund: "the going out of Shabbat"; more information is available on the phrase.

Motzaei Shabbat is the time when Shabbat "goes out."

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  • מוצאי is the plural of מוצא, such as מוצא שפתיך תשמור ועשית (this week's parsha) or מוצא שפתיה לנדריה or מוצא פי ה יחיה האדם
    – Double AA ♦
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 17:41
  • @DoubleAA Ok, so that makes מוצאי שבת "the things that go out of Shabbat." That makes me want a better answer to this question
    – Daniel
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 17:45
  • @Daniel Same here. The term doesn't fit right to me, i'm glad to know what the proper term is, of Motzaei, but even Motzaei doesn't make much sense to me
    – Aaron
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 17:46
  • @Aaron After thinking about it a bit, I do kind of feel like I understand it a bit. Think about the feeling of Saturday night. It has a different kind of feeling from the rest of the week. It's not Shabbat anymore, but there is a bit of the feeling of Shabbat left over. You're probably still wearing your Shabbat clothes and you have a melaveh malkah. Maybe that feeling is what goes out of Shabbat?
    – Daniel
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 18:01
  • I'll see if I can research the use of the plural. I think it may have some connection to the Melava Malka idea, i.e. a metaphoric reference to escorting the Shabbat "Queen", and the "going out" refers, somehow, to OUR (the people) going out to escort her. Just a "crazy" thought.
    – DanF
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 18:05

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