Jewish women and girls: the world needs your light

As a married man, I can confidently declare that women are better than men in many aspects (my wife told me to write this! LOL, just kidding). When it comes to doing mitzvot, there is one mitzvah that highlights the power of the Jewish woman like no other: the mitzvah of lighting the Shabbat and holiday candles.

Since one of the main themes in this week’s parsha is candle lighting (in the holy temple), let’s use this opportunity to discuss this special mitzvah.

Who was the first woman who light the Shabbos candles? The Midrash tells us that it was a woman whom we might refer to as the first Jewish woman, Sara Imeinu, our matriarch Sarah. Rebecca, the second Jewish woman, followed the same tradition at the very young age of 3!

Here are the words of the Midrash: “As long as Sarah was alive, a candle was lit from one Shabbat that miraculously stayed lit until the following Shabbat (together with other miracles). When Sarah died, it ceased. And when Rebecca came, they returned.”

Jewish women continued lighting candles throughout the generations, often under dangerous conditions. During the Spanish Inquisition, the zealous Christian police, eager to expose the “hidden Jews,” would look for signs of candle lighting: preparing wicks or lighting candles behind closed doors was enough for the poor Jews to be exposed and persecuted. That didn’t stop the devoted Jewish women from continuing this sacred tradition.

And even in Auschwitz! Olga Fin, a daughter of a Holocaust survivor, told one such witness. In a story on Chabad.org, she wrote:

“My mom arrived in Auschwitz on the second day of Shavuot, and from that day, they were counting the days to Shabbat.

“Every Friday, she made two little candles from the margarine she saved and did not eat and took some threads from the bottom of her dress and lit them. My mother encouraged all the other women in the barrack to do the same, and they all did it, so the barrack was lit every Friday night with these candles.

“She never lost her faith. She claimed that she survived only due to her Shabbat candles.”

In 1974, the Rebbe initiated the Shabbat and holiday candle-lighting mitzvah campaign, calling upon all Jewish women and girls over the age of three to light the candles. That sparked a revival of this mitzvah, with many women and girls, even those who had not done so before, committing to light on a regular basis.

And finally, here is a cute anecdote: In the 1980s, Chabad sponsored an ad on the front page of the New York Times. The ad said: JEWISH WOMEN/GIRLS LIGHT SHABBAT CANDLES. The ad included the weekly times for the N.Y. area and a phone number for more information. After a while the funding ran out, and the ad stopped appearing.

But a few years later, something fascinating happened. Here is what Esther Sternberg, the director of the Shabbos candle campaign, a division of the Lubavitch Women’s Organization, told Jewish Educational Media:

“New Year’s Day fell on Shabbat, and no sooner had Shabbat ended than I got a call from Mr. J.J. Gross (our publicist) asking me if I had seen the New York Times that day. I had not. ‘Well, then you must get a hold of the paper.’ ‘Why?’ I asked.

“‘I won’t tell you why — just go out and get it.’

“I ran out and borrowed a copy from a neighbor, and then I saw what had gotten him so excited: On January 1, 2000, The New York Times created a fake front page, anticipating the news of the year 2100.

“Weather manipulation, robots demanding equality, sports being played on flying broomsticks, and all other kinds of futuristic stuff appeared. The reader was supposed to touch the page to expand to the full article. And there, on the bottom — in the spot where we usually printed the candle-lighting times, it read:

“‘JEWISH WOMEN/GIRLS LIGHT SHABBAT candles today 18 minutes before sunset. In New York 4:39 PM. Elsewhere touch for local times and information.’

“Curious how it happened, Mr. Gross called up the Times people to ask how this came about.

“They told him: ‘We worked for a long time on this mock-up, and we spent a lot of time thinking what could be the news a hundred years from now. One thing we knew for sure — Jewish women and girls would still be lighting Shabbat candles!’”

Do you light the Shabbat and holiday candles? If not, please consider doing so. And if you know other Jewish women and girls, encourage them to do it as well.

This is such a beautiful mitzvah that will enhance your world and the entire world. Check out Chabad.org/candlelighting for the exact times and instructions (the candles cannot be lit after sunset). And from all of us to all the Jewish women and girls: thank you for being the light.

Rabbi Mendy Kaminker is the Rabbi of Chabad of Hackensack and an editorial member of Chabad.org. He looks forward to your comments at rabbi@chabadhackensack.com.

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