A Little Bit of Light

A Little bit of Light

Olga Fin shared the story of her mother's arrival at Auschwitz and how she would count the days until Shabbat. Every Friday, she crafted two small candles from the margarine she had saved and refrained from consuming. She also took some threads from the bottom of her dress and used them to ignite the candles.

"My mother encouraged all the other women in the barrack to do the same, and they all followed suit. As a result, the barrack was illuminated every Friday night with these candles. She never wavered in her faith, and even after the war, she maintained her connection to her Jewish identity and observance. She insisted that she survived solely because of her Shabbat candles," Olga recounted.

On October 7, 2023, Rachel, a Jewish woman in Ofakim, was ambushed in her home by terrorists armed with Kalashnikovs and grenades.

With incredible resourcefulness, she sat them down for coffee and cookies and then offered them food so they wouldn't be edgy from hunger.

"You're pale, eat something sweet and you'll feel better," she told them. She distracted them for long enough to allow the Israeli forces to eliminate them and saved her and her husband's lives, and many more.

Just a few days later, Rachel shared a powerful message on social media encouraging Jewish women around the world to counter the unspeakable evil acts of the terrorists by lighting Shabbat candles.

The act of lighting Shabbat candles, a Mitzvah observed by Jewish women for thousands of years, symbolizes more than just a seemingly ordinary weekly tradition. It embodies faith, resilience, and a mission that continues to inspire us to bring more light and warmth into our lives and the world around us, especially in the face of profound darkness.

Just the other week, I was inspired to learn about a grassroots effort by local Jewish residents of the Rivertowns to set up a Shabbat table, in merit of the safe return of our hostages, on Main Street in Hasting-on-Hudson. Dozens of Jewish women, some experiencing this for the first time, came together to light Shabbat candles and welcome the holy Shabbat.

Similar initiatives have been launched across the globe, creating a ripple effect of positive energy that resonates throughout the world.

In this week's Torah portion we learn about the marriage between our patriarch and matriarch Isaac (Yitzchak) and Rebecca (Rivka). After a series of miraculous and exceptional events leading up to their encounter, Isaac finally meets Rebecca and invites her into his mother Sarah's tent through which he finds comfort following his mother's untimely death.

The verse states, “Isaac then brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he took Rebeccah as his wife. Isaac loved her, and thus found comfort after his mother's death.” -Genesis 24:67

Rashi, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105 Troyes, France), explains the significance of these words, “He brought her to the tent, and behold, she was Sarah his mother; i.e., she became the likeness of Sarah his mother, for as long as Sarah was alive, a candle burned from one Sabbath eve to the next, a blessing was found in the dough, and a cloud was attached to the tent. When she died, these things ceased, and when Rebecca arrived, they resumed.”

These three miracles correspond to the three commandments that G-d entrusted specifically to Jewish women: lighting the Sabbath lights, separating challah from the dough, and observing the laws governing a married couple's intimate relations by immersing in a Mikvah following menstruation. The fact that these three miracles all occurred for Sarah, indicates that her life was the quintessential expression of Jewish womanhood.

A person's essential physical needs can be divided into two categories: internal needs, such as air and food, and external needs, such as clothing, shelter & family. These are alluded to through the miracles associated with dough (food) and the divine presence in the tent (shelter & family). 

Yet, there is a third human need: light. Lighting up a dark room adds nothing per se to the room, yet the entire ambience has been transformed.

Confusion, disorientation, and gloom are replaced by clarity, direction, and joy. Similarly, we can go through the motions of Jewish rituals and traditions but without light, warmth, and vitality. This is the third miracle represented by the Shabbat candles: our ability to invigorate our work with warmth, enthusiasm, and vitality. We merit this third miracle performing Mitzvot and studying Torah, especially the study of the inner dimensions of the Torah.

This Mitzvah is especially given to women since, for they are given the unique ability of bringing warmth, clarity, and proper values into our homes and family life.

In 1974, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, launched a campaign to encourage every Jewish woman and girl, from the age of three years old and on, to light Shabbat candles. This campaign breathed new life into this age-old Mitzvah which has been practiced throughout history.

Today millions of Jewish women and girls around the world light Shabbat candles each Friday afternoon before sunset bringing the warmth of G-dly light into a world which so desperately needs it.

In the Zohar, the seminal work on Kabbalah, it affirms, “When a woman lights the Shabbat candles with joy in her heart, she brings peace into the world, health and happiness to her family, and is blessed with children who brighten the world”.

As the Midrash declares, “If you keep the lights of Shabbat, I [G‑d] will show you the lights of Zion (i.e. Moshiach).” Just as Shabbat candles brings light and warmth to our lives, so too, the time of Redemption will bring light and warmth to the entire world.

Every Shabbat candle lit, every Jewish home bathed in the tranquility and sanctity of Shabbat, is one step closer to the ultimate Redemption, the era that will be “entirely Shabbat and rest".

Let us encourage our family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to light Shabbat candles before sunset in merit of the safety of our brave soldiers fighting in Gaza, for the return of our hostages, and for our brothers and sisters around the world. May we merit the ultimate peace and prosperity for all nations on earth with the coming of Moshiach now!