The Shabbos Tradition of Gefilte Fish

by Rabbi Katz, Exec Director

5/26/2026, 5:11:06 PM

Most people don’t realize there’s a story behind the gefilte fish we serve on Shabbos.

Fish holds a special place at the Shabbos table. It’s one of the foods traditionally eaten at all three Shabbos meals: Friday night, Saturday morning, and the late-afternoon Third Meal. Jewish law encourages eating fish on Shabbos, and Jewish mystics explain that fish symbolize blessing and abundance — they multiply quickly and are covered by water, which represents protection.

So how did we get from “fish on Shabbos” to “gefilte fish”?

In the old European towns, housewives would buy a whole carp, pike, or whitefish from the market. They’d slice it into thick, bone-in steaks. Then came the work: carefully remove all the flesh from the skin and bones, chop or grind it with onions, eggs, and spices, and mix it into a seasoned filling. That mixture was then stuffed back into the hollow ring of skin and bone from each slice. The stuffed slices were simmered in a broth with onions, carrots, and sometimes beets.

That’s the key: gefilte is Yiddish for “stuffed.” So gefilte fish literally means “stuffed fish.” It was a clever way to stretch one fish to feed a large family, remove the bones to avoid sorting food on Shabbos, and still present something beautiful for the meal.

Eventually, life got busier. The meticulous stuffing step was dropped. Instead, the seasoned ground fish was simply shaped into ovals, balls, or patties and poached in the same sweet broth. No skin, no stuffing — but the name gefilte fish remained.

So next time you see those fish patties on the table, remember: you’re holding onto a centuries-old custom. The name preserves the old method, and the dish preserves the Shabbos ideal of honoring the day with foods we enjoy, three times over.