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Thoughts to Nosh OnNovember 2006From the Desk of Rabbi SharffSome of my earliest and best memories are of celebrating Shabbat together with my family. We would gather together around our table and light the candles, bless the wine, and enjoy challah. It was one of those rituals of childhood that I will always cherish, and will continue with my own family here in Tucson as well. Many of us observe these same customs in our own homes. We sing the melodies and taste the fruit of the vine, but before we all do that, we gather to light the Shabbat candles. The tradition of lighting the candles for Shabbat seems simple enough -- light the candles and then recite the blessing. But many questions arise about this timeless mitzvah. So as part of an ongoing series, we will endeavor to answer some of your questions about home and synagogue rituals. Why do we light the candles before reciting the brachah when in almost every other instance we say the blessing first? Lighting fire is one of the thirty-nine forbidden categories of work on Shabbat. We light the candles first because once we say the blessing, Shabbat officially begins. When should we light the candles? According to Moses Maimonides, the great twelfth century Jewish thinker, the candles should be lit no more than eighteen minutes before sunset. Why do women traditionally light the candles? The mitzvah for lighting the candles applies both to men and women, but tradition states that the obligation falls more upon the shoulders of women because they are viewed as the center of Jewish life in the home. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 31b). Why do we light two candles? Some of the tradition that in the fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments there are two terms used with regards to how one is to observe Shabbat. The first, Zachor -- which means "remember", is in Exodus 20:8. The second rendition in Deuteronomy 5:12, the term Shamor used, which means to keep or to guard. However, two is not the only number for candles. Some light seven candles, a favorite number in Judaism, because of the seven days of creation. Some families start with two and add a candle for each new member of the family. Why do we wave our hands three times and close our eyes when we recite the blessing? The waving of the hands and the closing of the eyes are related to inviting the spirit of Shabbat to dwell in our midst. Closed eyes also symbolize an intense concentration or kavanah, focusing the body and mind on the wonderful experience that is Shabbat. Rabbi Ben Sharff |
