Zmanim · Shabbat and the candles
What time does Shabbat end?
Shabbat ends at nightfall — tzet hakochavim, the emergence of three stars in the sky. In practice many wait forty-two or seventy-two minutes after sunset before treating the day as over, and the close is marked with Havdalah (the blessing of separation).
Nightfall, not sunset, is the sign
Shabbat does not end when the sun dips below the horizon. It ends a little later, when the sky has darkened enough that three medium stars stand out — the tradition's own clock for nightfall. The gap between sunset and that darkness is why waiting forty-two, or according to a longer reckoning seventy-two, minutes after sunset became the common practice. The idea is generous: we let the holy day linger rather than clip its edges.
What the Shulchan Aruch teaches
The Shulchan Aruch, in Orach Chaim 293, sets the close of Shabbat at tzet hakochavim, and directs that the day be sent off with Havdalah over a cup — the blessing that names the boundary between the sacred and the everyday, between the seventh day and the six days of work. Ending Shabbat is not simply letting time pass; it is an act with words of its own.
What to do
Wait until nightfall for your city — three stars, or the minute-count your community keeps after sunset — and then recite Havdalah before returning to weekday work. If you are unsure which count your community follows, ask your rabbi; both the forty-two and the seventy-two minute customs are honored ones.
Source: Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 293.
For the exact nightfall on your street and the moment Shabbat departs, let Kimá (the Jewish clock: your city's zmanim and candle times) tell you when the stars are due.
Open Kimá