Who Lights The Shabbat Candles?

While lighting Shabbat candles is considered a “woman’s mitzvah,” and is traditionally performed by the woman of the house, it is actually an obligation of the entire household. If a man is living alone or the wife of the family is away, candles must still be lit. In fact, the Talmud encourages every husband to be involved in preparing for Shabbat and assuring that the Shabbat candles are properly arranged. Many men, therefore, have the custom of preparing the candles for their wives.

One could mistakenly surmise that the custom of candle lighting as the woman’s mitzvah is based on practicality. After all, in most households, women are most active in creating the Shabbat atmosphere of the home.

Tradition states, however, that the connection of women to candle lighting dates back to the matriarch Sarah. According to the Midrash (cited by the great sage Rashi on Genesis 24:67), a candle burned miraculously in Sarah’s tent from one Friday evening to the next. When she died, the candle and its glow vanished. When Isaac’s bride Rebecca moved into Sarah’s tent, however, the miracle of the light returned. This then, is the first allusion to the lighting of a candle for Shabbat. Just as the matriarchs lit a candle on Friday evening to welcome Shabbat, so too have Jewish women welcomed Shabbat with the lighting of the candles, from ancient times until the present.


Twebrew School: Shabbat is brought to you on behalf of Shabbat Across America and Shabbat Across Canada, the only cross-continental celebration of Shabbat. The fourteenth annual SAA/C will take place on March 5, 2010. To learn more, click here.

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