Each Friday, 18 minutes before sunset, everything stops and we usher in the Shabbat with the lighting of the candles. Rebbetzin Rivkah Denburg of Boca Raton shares ... More
Each Friday, 18 minutes before sunset, everything stops and we usher in the Shabbat with the lighting of the candles. Rebbetzin Rivkah Denburg of Boca Raton shares some personal thoughts on the meaning of lighting the Shabbat candles
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That is a lovely video of the women lighting the candles. I am a christian but I look forward to looking more at this site. After WW2 in England I went to school with many jewish girls. I remember them with affection even though it was many years ago as they were so kind to a very shy little girl. I think their parents got out of Germany before the Holocaust or got out of Europe somehow during the war. After the war also we say many items on the news about the camps when they were opened up and it gave me terrible nightmares as a young child to see the terrible things people can do to each other. Best wishes for your site
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This video depicted an individual woman's reflection on lighting shabbat candles with her daughters. It did not exclude the idea that men are obligated to light if there are no women in the household. Traditionally, this mitzva is a woman's mitzva.
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In a home with no females, either "yet", or "anymore", the male lights the candles and says the blessing. It seems a little disingenuous to say that it's only a female's job, as did this video. Feminism never works both ways, does it?
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Lighting a Shabbat candle is an essential part of Shabbat, because Shabbat is a day of delight, and nobody enjoys sitting in the dark! Since you can't light a fire on Shabbat, the woman of the house would always light the lamp before Shabbat began. In later times, the rabbis made this a formal obligation, quite likely so that people would not try to skimp on oil and say they were enjoying Shabbat when they weren't.
That's the story in a nutshell. A longer response is in the works and will be posted soon, G_d willing, on this site. Stay tuned.
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I would like to know where does Torah specifies to light candles on Shabbat. Thank You and Shalom.
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Lighting Shabbat candles is one of the seven rabbinic commandments.
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I think this is a beautiful tradition and want to learn all I can about it. However, is it actually written in Torah to light a candle or does it only say to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy?
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