Havdalah is a practice in Judaism when a sabbath ends or a Jewish holy festival ends. Blessings are spoken to declare the end of a sabbath or Jewish holy day. It is used as a way to separate a Jewish holy day from the rest of the week.
Havdalah takes place on Saturday night. The sabbath is from Friday night to Saturday. (A day starts at night and continues to the next day: “And there was evening and there was morning, one day” (Genesis 1:5). So instead of counting morning and evening as one day, the Bible counts evening and morning as one day. So the sabbath begins on Friday night and ends at sundown on Saturday.)
During the Havdalah, which occurs on Saturday night, blessings are spoken to end the sabbath and bless the rest of the week. In Jewish tradition, a leader recites verses from the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament) and says blessings. A cup of wine or grape juice is filled to the brim to symbolize blessings overflowing. A candle is lit and the blessings are said over the flame. People huddle close to the flame, close enough to see the flame on their fingernails. They smell fragrant spices to symbolize a rejuvenizing of their spirits to meet the demands of the next week. Finally, the leader sits down to drink the wine that represents blessings overflowing.
The significance of Havdalah is to have a partition between a holy day and common days. Havdalah is also celebrated to represent an extension of the holiness of sabbath or festival over to the next week.
Many Jewish customs have symbolism and meaning that are quite beautiful. Perhaps many Jewish people do not understand that the meanings of the customs and festivals point to Christ.
For example, in the Havdalah, the intent is to extend holiness from a sabbath or holy day to the rest of the week through the blessings that are spoken. Jesus also extends the sabbath day for us in that He said:
“The Son of Man [Jesus] is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:5)
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
We can find rest in Jesus every day (not just on sabbath day). There is no longer a division between a holy day and a common day, but every day is the Lord’s because Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath.
Just as Jewish people want to carry over the holiness from a holy day to common days, Christ sanctifies every day for God.
"Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." (Colossians 2:16-17)
A Christian can choose to celebrate with Jews the sabbath and Havdalah. Or a Christian can choose not to celebrate these days. As Christians, we are not under obligation to celebrate special days (Acts 15:5-11,22-29). However, it is good to understand and know them, because the customs and festivals of God all point to His plan of salvation for the whole world through Jesus Christ. When Christ comes again, many of these festivals will be celebrated to commemorate what Christ has done.
God has given days and festivals to the Jewish people as perpetual statutes, because God wants us to remember His goodness to the Jewish people whom He set free from slavery in Egypt, and His goodness to all who believe whom He set free through God the Son. So in the future, Jews and Gentiles will most likely be celebrating these festivals in God's kingdom in remembrance of what God did.
To learn more about the seven feasts of Israel, please see:
https://www.gotquestions.org/Jewish-feasts.html
One beautiful custom of the Jews during the feast of Passover is to take three pieces of unleavened bread, and break the middle piece and hide it. Later on, the middle piece is taken out again. This symbolizes the Godhead of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in which God the Son (Jesus) is broken for us and buried and resurrected.
“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)