Light Shabbat candles

Every Friday, about twenty minutes before sunset, Jewish homes around the world do the same small thing: they light candles and welcome Shabbat (shah-BAHT), the day of rest. It takes two minutes. It’s been done for over three thousand years. And this Friday, it can happen in your home.

In 1974 the Rebbe made these candles a worldwide campaign — Neshek (NEH-shek) — and entrusted it, deliberately and publicly, to Jewish women and girls: he asked that girls light too, from as young as three, one candle of their own beside their mother’s two. (In a home without women, men light.) The custom is two candles, though even one is a real beginning.

The How

Get two candles that will burn a few hours — Shabbat candles from a Judaica shop or many supermarkets, or tea lights. Somewhere safe, ideally near where you’ll eat.
Check the time. Candles are lit 18 minutes before sunset on Friday — search “candle lighting time” plus your city; chabad.org shows it for anywhere on earth.
Light, then draw your hands around the flames toward yourself three times, and cover your eyes.
Say the blessing (eyes still covered):

Baruch atah Ado-nai, Elo-heinu melech ha’olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner shel Shabbat kodesh.

“Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who has made us holy with His commandments and instructed us to kindle the light of the holy Shabbat.”
Uncover your eyes and look at the light. This is considered a powerful moment for a quiet personal prayer — any language, for anyone you love.

The Light

The Rebbe spoke about these candles the way generals speak about strategy: every flame pushes back darkness far beyond the room it burns in. One candle, in one window, is a real answer to a dark world — and a girl who grows up lighting her own candle grows up knowing the light of the world is partly her job.

What the candles open is a palace in time — twenty-five hours that don’t belong to anyone’s schedule. The library page on Shabbat has the whole idea.