Why

The history of a tradition

The history of
a tradition

For centuries, Jewish women have experienced a weekly moment of inner peace through the ancient practice of lighting Shabbat candles. By Lighting Up each and every Friday night, you will not only bask in a personal moment of inner peace, but also connect to a larger community of women everywhere who together hold the power to foster global peace.

With the flicker of millions of flames each and every Friday night, we can bring light into the darkest places on earth and usher in peace throughout the world.

Young adult lighting shabbat candles

With the world so shrouded in darkness and confusion, it is imperative that (women) illuminate it with the holy lights of the Shabbat candle. In the words of our tradition, 'A little light dispels much darkness.'

Lubavitcher Rebbe

Color of the flame

Colors of
the flame

Traditions passed down over centuries and across generations -- traditions that are a part of the collective conscious of the Jewish tribe -- contain meanings that reverberate in the collective unconscious of Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah.

Strike a match and hold it to the wick of a plain white candle. Behold the flame. Dressed in yellow and blue, surrounded by a shadow glow, the flame dances. It whispers. It holds secrets. Fire holds us captive in its magic, its mystery, its mutability. Without it we would perish. It is a metaphor for our relationship to G-d.

There are secrets inherent in the Hebrew prayers that fill our hearts with the light of the flame of the soul.

The blue of the flame pulses around the wick like a heart burning with love.

Surrounding the blue heart is the yellow...which the soul embodies the essence of each being. The yellow of the flame never touches the wick just as our soul is never connected to our physicality.

The glow or aura surrounding the flame has the most power, the most might. The aura is a fusion of the blue and yellow, of the heart and soul, of the Shabbat flame.

Heart. Soul. Might.

A phrase of from a Hebrew prayer recited each day translates as: "And you shall love G_d with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might."

The essence of this prayer, the essence of any prayer, connects each of us to the Source of all energy, far above any name we might give It. Consider the flame of a lit candle as an emblem of that energy, around us and within us.

Heart. Soul. Might.

Young adult lighting shabbat candles