Every Friday 18 minutes before the sun sets, Jewish women light the Shabbat candles. This is one of the three Mitzvahs of a Jewish woman. The other two are Challah and Taharat Hamishpacha (Family Purity).
The verse says “Ner Hashem Nishmat Adam” -the candle of G-d is the soul of man- (Mishle 20:27). A light never reduces its flame by lighting other candles, one candle can light millions of other candles without extinguishing itself.
When a woman lights her candles to usher in the Shabbat, she is bringing light and peace to her home and to the world. The way in which we get rid of the darkness around us is by lighting a light. You can go into a very dark room, but if you light a match the darkness will dissipate.
When a woman gets married she lights two candles, one for her and the other one for her husband (costumes vary amongst communities. Some add an extra candle every time a new child is born and Some Chassidim encourage girls three years and older to light one candle).Her light represents the internal light and his light represents the external light. The oil represents the woman, the wick represents the husband and the flame represents G-d. A woman’s job in her marriage is to be the fuel that helps the husband (wick) connect to G-d.
When the husband does kidush he should look at the candles his wife lit, Kabbala teaches that during the week we loose 1/60th of our vision (spiritual vision). We get caught in the mundane, forgetting our purpose in this world. This is why when lighting the candles the wife covers her eyes with her hands, to leave some light for the husband. When he looks at the candles his spiritual vision is restored for the week to come.
Shabbat Shalom
www.livealittlehigher.come
