Jewish Candle Symbolism
Candles are also incorporated into the religious services in Judaism. Before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the menorah, a seven-branched ceremonial candlestick, was lighted ritually by the temple priests. The seven branches of the Jewish menorah symbolize the seven planets, the seven heavens, the seven days making up the week, the seven archangels, and, by extension, the seven “Ages of Man.”
The Jewish Shabbat Ceremony
The correct time to light the Shabbat candles is l8 minutes before sunset every Friday evening. Young girls should light before this time. A married woman customarily lights two candles. An unmarried girl should light one candle in deference to her mother.
According to Chabad House in Austin, Texas, the lighting of the Jewish Shabbat (or Sabbath) candles is “something that inspires you, offers hope and provides peace. It's something that bestows the blessing of light to illuminate the world above you.
“Look back to biblical times, to Sarah, our matriarch, whose miraculous lamp gave light to her husband Avraham [Abraham], her son Yitzchak [Isaac], from Shabbat to Shabbat. Refer to Rivkah [Rebecca] who, after Sarah, blessed the Shabbat lamp from the time she was only three years old. It is this 3,700 year-old tradition which Jewish women remember and observe in welcoming the Shabbat Queen. It is this mitzvah that rekindles the Divine spark in every Jewish being.”
