Lighting Candles, Part I

1. Separating Challah,

2. Shabbat Candle Lighting, and

3. Laws of Niddah (Family Purity).

We also talked about Sara Emanu, the first mother, and the miracles that occured because she observed these mitzvot very carefully, BEFORE the giving of the Torah (for nobody had to keep the mitzvot of the Torah before Matan Torah (giving of the Torah). )

1. There was a bracha (blessing) in her challah dough,

2. Her candles were always lit from one Erev Shabbat to the next Erev Shabbat,

3. There was the cloud of the Shechina (G-d's presence) over her tent, (visibly), and,

4. Her doors were always open for Hachnasat Orchim (mitzvah of honouring guests). (This last one Rashi does not mention for it is not obvious to us why she merited this last miracle.)

Today, we are just going to start talking about the mitzvah of Lighting Shabbat Candles. Before we delve into it, we are going to talk about a Midrash regarding Sarah Emanu. In Tehillim (Rebbetzen Jaeger did not mention which one!), it says, "Yodaya Hashem yimay tmimim" - Hashem knows the days of people called "Tmimim", "whole", "complete". The word 'yodaya', does not only mean 'knows', as in "Yes, I know who you are talking about", it is deeper than that. Yodaya also means a bonding, physical and spiritual, as in Bereshit when it says "Adam knew Chava". So, just as they were whole to their relationship to Hashem, so were their years whole (Tmimim).

What does this mean? It means that Sarah's relationship to Hashem was totally the same, whether in times of simcha (happiness), or in times of hardship. No matter what was happening, her relationship did not change one bit. How do we know this? When we look in parsha Lech Lecha, Hashem tells Avraham to "pick up and go!" That's it! They did not prepare, and were tested with hunger. Then, twice, Sarah was taken into captivity, first by Pharoah and then by Avimelech.

Then, at the end of her life, it was totally the opposite. Avraham was considered a king ,even among the rest of the nations, she had security, and she had Yitzchok. Those last years were considered the best years of her life. The first word in the parsha Chaya Sarah is "Viyihu", (elluding to 'the life of Sarah was one hundred and twenty seven........), and the numerical value of it is 37, the age of Yitzchok when Sarah died.

BUT, through her whole life, no matter what was happening, her relationship to Hashem never changed.

Avraham was tested 10 times. The number 10 is described as being complete. Avraham was tested in every part of life. Why? We are told that whatever happened to our fathers (Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaacov,) and however they came out of that challenge was repeated again and again throughout history, even today. Avraham was tested in every way possible, and came out victorious, for his trust and love for Hashem remained the same.

In Shir Hashireem (Song of Songs), it says "Ani Choma", I'm an invincible wall, a fortress. A man without a woman is discribed as being without Torah, without simcha, and without choma. We are discribed as being choma. So, just as Sarah was Tmimim (whole, complete), so were her years. Her relationship to Hashem was a choma.

When we look in Eshet Chayil, it says (line 3) "She does good, not bad, all the days of her life."  We now can see that on one level (we will get to another level later), it means that she did good - she was steadfast, a fortress, in her relationship with G-d, never "why me?", or "such a terrible day!" We do not always understand why G-d puts us in certain situations, which _SEEM_ bad, but are, in fact, good. The Eshet Chayil trusts G-d, and therefore does not complain.

How does this relate to lighting candles on Shabbat?

Our ner (candle) is related to our neshama (soul), which is related to our intellect. Just as when we are in a dark room we cannot see, we have no clarity, there is no relationship between us and the other objects/people, when we light a candle, we can SEE everything, and only then can there be a relationship. Even in the dark times in our lives, our 'candle', our intellect is still lit and we can 'see'.

When we light Shabbat candles, we should request from Hashem that our intellect remain 'lit', during the light and the dark, so that when we come across darkness we can still see, for our relationship with Hashem to always remains the same.

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Bibliography:
Rebbetzen Tehilla Jaeger - Tape
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Rivkah Harper

p.s. Feel free to pass this on to anyone you think might be interested.