Candle Lighting

Why Shabbat Candles ... Who Lights ... Times for Candle Lighting ... Charity before Lighting ... Kindle the Lights ... The Blessing ... Welcome the Shabbat ...

The wick would flare and die. The oil is difficult to ignite at all. But when brought together in the lamp, they produce a steady flame. And so it is in the of the "a lamp of G-d" that is our soul

Everything had changed. What was holy and productive one minute, was negative and destructive the next. It is not just about the action, it is about the timing...

The single wicks of the Shabbat candles, exuding calmness, repose and homeliness; the braided torch accompanying the departing queen, lighting the darkness that becomes more marked in her absence...

It is in the power of women to ignite the souls of all human beings—to be the catalyst for their emerging out of spiritual dormancy and to become beautiful expressive flames that rises upwards toward their Creator.

I attended Catholic school, and I was instructed by my parents not to believe anything they taught me but to follow along. To say the least, I was a spiritually confused child...

In the endless conflict between earth and spirit, sheer weight often wins out. Shabbat is a reunion with our inner selves, a return to the primal oneness of our souls

Suddenly I saw a kaleidoscope-like view of all the individual candles, but they were no longer individuals. Each flame had burst into a circle of light, glowing within itself while extending outward...

Friday afternoon rolls around and I unplug my phones, shut down my computer and as I light the Shabbat candles and welcome the holy day of rest, I suddenly find myself connected...