Shabbat Candles

Question

Dear Rabbi,

What is the reason for lighting Shabbat candles? I saw a Jewish neighbor light for last Shabbat and was both inspired and curious about why and what she was doing. Maybe I could ask her but I would like to hear the answers from a Rabbi.

Thanks!

0

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    Lighting candles for Shabbat and Festivals, while not a mitzvah from the Torah, is one of the seven mitzvahs introduced several thousands of years ago by our Jewish Sages and leaders.

    One reason for lighting Shabbat candles is that in a place where there is no lamp, there is no Shalom (peace and peace of mind) since a person will trip over things and will be walking around in the dark. A similar reason for lighting is to to honor Shabbat, just like setting the table and cleaning the home are ways to honor the upcoming Shabbat.

    One may light either wax candles or oil lamps.

    Although a person fulfils the obligation of lighting Shabbat candles by lighting just one, the accepted custom is that at least two are lit. Why two? Our Sages explain that one represents the word Zachor (Remember) and the second represents the word Shamor (Guard). In the first set of the Ten Commandments found in the Torah, God used the word Zachor, and in the second set He used the word Shamor (the differences in language are to do with the spiritual level of the Jewish People before and after the sin of the Golden Calf).

    The reason why women cover their eyes when lighting Shabbat candles is so that they should not get any benefit from the light until they have made the blessing. I have not been able to find any source for the universal custom
    of waving ones hands before lighting. When I asked my wife why she did it, she said because her mother does!

    There is a beautiful custom that many people have which is to light an additional candle for every child in the family, because the flame of a candle is compared to a Soul. Just as a flame is never still, so too the Soul continuously strives to “reach up” to God. However, one of the repercussions of the sin of Adam and Eve is that death was introduced into the world. Yet, by lighting Shabbat candles, we are symbolically reintroducing life in to the world since Shabbat brings with it an extra Soul called the “Neshama Yeteira” to those who honor and guard it.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team