Festival Candle Lighting

FESTIVAL CANDLE LIGHTING

On festivals, say the following blessing (without the words in parentheses), and then light the candles from an existing flame.

If it is also Shabbat, cover your eyes with your hands after lighting the candles and say the following blessing, adding the words in parentheses:

רֶשֲׁא םָלוֹעָה ךֶלֶמ וּניֵהֹלֱא הוהי הָתּאַ ךוּרָבּ לֶשׁ רֵנ קיִלְדַהְל וּנָוִּצְו ויָתוְֹצִמְבּ וּנָשְׁדִּק .בוֹט םוֹי (לֶשְׁו תָבַּשׁ) Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Majesty of the world, who has made us holy with Your commandments, and instructed us to kindle (the Shabbat and) the festival light.

Baruch Atah, Adonai, Eloheinu, Melech ha’olam, asher kideshanu bemitzvotav, vetzivanu lehadlik ner shel (Shabbat veshel) yom tov.

Then say the Shehecheyanu blessing:

הוהי הָתּאַ ךוּרָבּ םָלוֹעָה ךֶלֶמ וּניֵהֹלֱא .הֶזַּה ןַמְזַּל וּנָעיִגִּהְו ,וּנָמְיִּקְו וּנָיֱחֶהֶשׁ Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Majesty of the world, who has given us life, and sustained us, and brought us to this time.

Baruch Atah, Adonai, Eloheinu, Melech ha’olam, shehecheyanu vekiyemanu vehigiyanu lazman hazeh.

THINK

Shabbat is like a period “inserted into an otherwise endless runon sentence.”5 Just as Shabbat punctuates the week, Jewish holidays punctuate the year; and like Shabbat, we create holiday light to honor these moments of meaning, these moments that allow us to pause and open a window of opportunity for a specific kind of spiritual growth.For example, Rosh HaShanah invites us to imagine who we would like to be in this new year.Yom Kippur offers us a moment of reflection for mistakes we have made and the opportunity to apologize and chart a different course.

CONNECT

The root of the word shehecheyanu is chaim, life. The Shehecheyanu blessing is recited when we experience something for the first time this year and we want to acknowledge simply being alive to have reached this moment, this holiday, this milestone. We are elevated and humbled.

REFLECT

What is humbling about the blessing of Shehecheyanu? There is a story told about a barracks of Jews who, in the midst of the Holocaust, scrounged a bit of margarine and a thread to fashion a crude candle to light for Hanukkah. It burned for a moment before dying out, but gave them enough time to quickly whisper the Shehecheyanu blessing and to weep for those no longer alive to recite it. As Jews, our history goes back thousands of years and passes through us to bring light to the future. We don’t just kindle a light; we are a light. How can you make this holiday light memorable for your family? What will you do to affirm that your children will whisper these blessings to their children?

PERSONAL PRAYER

As I kindle these holiday lights, I graciously accept this mitzvah, and the holiness it brings to my life and the world. I thank You for giving the gift of Your holy Torah and its celebrations to my ancestors before me. Please grant me the wisdom and understanding to teach and pass down Your Torah to my family, and to partake in its celebrations with meaning and beauty.

— Janel Herman,

Rockville, Maryland

5 Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi with Joel Segel, Jewish with Feeling: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Practice.