Hundreds of Jewish women and girls who do not usually light Shabbat candles are expected to do so this Friday night in memory of a member of Denmark’s Jewish community, who was killed last year while standing guard outside the Great Synagogue in Copenhagen.

The mitzvah initiative is being sponsored by Chabad of Denmark to mark the one-year anniversary of the passing of 37-year-old Dan Uzan, who had volunteered to help provide security at the synagogue while a bat mitzvah celebration was being held inside. As Uzan was standing guard on Feb. 15, 2015, he was shot by a terrorist and died. Police later killed Uzan’s attacker, a lone gunman who had also killed a man at a cafe earlier in the day.

This Friday, Feb. 5, coincides with the Hebrew date of the attack, the 26th of Shevat. The first yahrtzeit is on Monday.

“Because of the timing of the first yahrtzeit, we felt that we should do something connected with Shabbat,” says Rabbi Yitzchok Loewenthal, director of Chabad of Denmark in Copenhagen. “There have been different events marking this day, but we wanted something specifically connected with a mitzvah in his memory.

“As we have heard many times from the Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory] ‘Vehachai yiten el liboi.’ Don’t just talk about remembering someone who has passed, but do something that is eternally, spiritually valuable—that is the currency of mitzvot.”

“And as we know,” adds Loewenthal, “one mitzvah leads to another, and to many more.”

Visit here for Shabbat candle-lighting times in your city.