The Moment Before Shabbos Begins
After the rush of Friday afternoon cooking and cleaning, standing in front of the Shabbos candles brings a profound sense of calm. Lighting these candles and reciting the bracha marks the official beginning of Shabbos in the home.
Lighting Shabbos candles is one of the most cherished moments in Jewish life. It is a mitzvah that holds a special place in the hearts of Jewish women. The Gemara in Shabbos (31b) lists hadlakas neiros (lighting the Shabbos candles) as one of the three mitzvos given especially to women. Saying this bracha draws the Shechinah (Hashem’s presence) into your home. You are turning on the light of Shabbos.
This bracha is short — just one line.
Before You Say This Bracha
Before lighting the candles, many women take a moment to pause and speak to Hashem from the heart:
Ribono Shel Olam, I am about to bring the light of Shabbos into my home. Please let this light carry Your peace into every corner of our house. Watch over my family, guard their health and their neshomos, and help us feel Your closeness around our Shabbos table tonight. In the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, God of Meir, answer me.
If giving tzedakah, add:
In the merit of the tzedakah I am giving through Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, please let the light of these candles bring blessing, protection, and sholom into our home. Ribono Shel Olam, I am caring for Your children — please watch over mine.
The Full Bracha for Shabbos Candles
[rmbh_prayer_tabs]The custom in most communities is to light two candles, corresponding to the two ways the Torah speaks about Shabbos — Zachor (remember) and Shamor (observe). Many women light an additional candle for each child. The bracha is said after lighting the candles, because once you say the bracha you have accepted Shabbos and can no longer strike a match. So you light first, cover your eyes with your hands, say the bracha, and then open your eyes to see the Shabbos light for the first time.
Understanding the Words
Asher kideshanu “Who has sanctified us”
The word kideshanu comes from the root associated with holiness and consecration. It is the same root found in Kiddush and kedushah. When you say asher kideshanu, you are acknowledging that Hashem sanctified us through His mitzvos. Every time you light these candles, you are stepping out of the weekday and into the kedushah of Shabbos.
B’mitzvoisov “With His commandments”
The word here comes from the root meaning to command. A mitzvah is not just a good deed; it is something Hashem commanded. When you say b’mitzvoisov, you are saying: I am doing this because Hashem asked this of us. That itself is a comfort. Shabbos candle-lighting is not only a family custom, but a mitzvah.
L’hadlik ner “To kindle the light”
The blessing says l’hadlik — to kindle or light. This wording matters. The mitzvah is not only that there be light in the home, but that the light be kindled in honor of Shabbos. Chazal connect this to the fact that the Shabbos command appears twice in the Torah: in one place the Torah says Zachor — remember the day of Shabbos — and in another place it says Shamor — guard the day of Shabbos. From Zachor we learn the active side of Shabbos: to mark it, sanctify it, and speak about its holiness. From Shamor we learn the guarding side of Shabbos: to protect its kedushah by refraining from melachah. The custom of lighting two candles reflects those two dimensions of Shabbos. Shabbos is something we both welcome with love and guard with care.
Ner shel Shabbos “The light of Shabbos”
Ner means a lamp or candle. The Gemara teaches that the Shabbos light is an obligation because it brings peace into the home, and Rashi explains that where there is no light, people stumble in the dark: Shabbat 25b, Rashi on Shabbat 25b. When you say ner shel Shabbos, you are asking Hashem for the kind of light that makes a home peaceful and livable on Shabbos.
How to Say This Bracha
The bracha for lighting Shabbat candles is said on Friday afternoon at candle lighting, as Shabbos is welcomed into the home. The standard time to light is eighteen minutes before sunset, though customs vary by community. Lighting earlier within the accepted time can itself be an added zechus, as a result of extending Shabbos, which is the source of bracha. Set your candles in a place where they will burn safely and where their light will be visible during the Shabbos meal.
Light the candles first, then draw your hands inward over the flames to cover your eyes. With your eyes covered, say the bracha. Many women linger in this moment — eyes still covered — and pour out their hearts to Hashem for their family, their children, their husband, and anyone who needs a yeshuah. This is widely treated as an eis ratzon — a special time for tefillah — as a woman performs one of her most precious mitzvos and brings the light of Shabbos into her home. When you are ready, open your eyes and see the Shabbos light.
Set your kavanah (intention) before you strike the match. You might think quietly: “Hashem, I am about to bring Your light into my home. Please let this Shabbos be one of peace, closeness, and kedushah for my whole family.”
There has long been a special inyan to give tzedakah before candle lighting, joining tefillah with an act of chesed just before this auspicious moment. When you give tzedakah before lighting your Shabbos candles — in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness — you are pairing your tefillah with a concrete act of care for another Yid. RMBH Charities has a special donation arrangement that allows your credit card to be charged each week shortly before candle lighting in your time zone, so the zechus of tzedakah is given right before this eis ratzon. By giving tzedakah to RMBH Charities, you are asking Hashem to hear your tefillah in the merit of this great tzaddik and in the merit of your own ma’aseh of tzedakah.
Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness
The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 18a-18b) tells how Bruria asked Rabbi Meir to rescue her sister, who had been condemned by the Romans to a house of shame. There seemed to be no way out. Rabbi Meir approached the guard with a bribe, teaching him to say “Eloka d’Meir aneni!” — “God of Meir, answer me!” — if he was ever in danger. When the guard asked for proof, Rabbi Meir threw a clod of earth at nearby man-eating dogs. They lunged to devour him, and he called out the words — the dogs turned away. The guard was convinced and released her, later using these powerful words to miraculously save his life. When we daven with these words, we are asking Hashem to answer our prayer in the merit of this great tzaddik and the miracles he merited.
Giving tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness before lighting candles is a time-honored minhag. We ask Hashem to hear our tefillos in the combined merit of this great tzaddik and our own act of chesed.
Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities, founded in 1799, supports Torah scholars and the poor in Eretz Yisrael. Torah scholars at the tomb of Rabbi Meir in Tiberias daven by name for those who reach out to them. When you give before Shabbos, your tzedakah and your candle lighting rise together — light upon light.
[rmbh_faq]A Blessing for Your Shabbos
When you light Shabbos candles, you are continuing a mesorah that goes back to Sarah Imeinu, connecting you to generations of Jewish mothers who stood before their candles and poured out their hearts to Hashem.
May your candles burn with peace. May the light that fills your home on Shabbos push away every shadow of the week — the tiredness, the worry, the things left undone. May your family gather around your table and feel the true kedushah and menuchah of Shabbos. And may Hashem hear every word you whisper with your hands over your eyes, and answer you with sholom, with brachah, and with light.
You can submit a prayer request to the scholars at the kever of Rabbi Meir in Tiberias at no cost — they will daven for your family by name through Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities. And if you would like to give tzedakah in Rabbi Meir’s zechus as well, your kindness will rise together with your prayer.
