How to Light Shabbat Candles

Learning how to light Shabbat candles is less about performance and more about a clear sequence: prepare the candles, light at the right time, say the blessing, and accept Shabbat. This page owns the ritual. For when to light in your city, use Shabbat candle lighting times or the live countdown.

Pair this with the erev Shabbat checklist so the moment is prepared, not improvised.

Who lights

In many homes, the woman of the household lights Shabbat candles. Men light when there is no one else to do so, when traveling alone, or according to family custom. Girls often begin lighting when they reach the age their community teaches. Households differ. If your situation is blended, new, or complex, ask a rav rather than guessing from the internet.

Guests sometimes light in addition to hosts, or refrain to avoid confusion—follow the host’s minhag when you are at someone else’s table.

How many candles

A widespread custom is a minimum of two candles. Many families add one candle per child, or keep a number that became family tradition. The number is not a contest. Two candles done with intention outrank a crowded candelabra lit in resentment.

Use candles that will last through the meal if that is your practice, and place them somewhere safe—away from curtains, drafts, and curious hands. Safety is part of honoring the day.

Order and covering the eyes

A common Ashkenazi sequence: light the candles, move the hands around the flames, cover the eyes, recite the blessing, then uncover the eyes and accept Shabbat with the light. Some communities recite the blessing before lighting on weekdays for other candles but reverse the order for Shabbat for specific Halachic reasons. Do not invent a hybrid. Follow the order your teacher or family uses.

Covering the eyes is not theater. It separates the act of lighting from the verbal sanctification in the way many poskim describe. If you were never taught this and feel lost, learn once with a friend or video from a trusted source before Friday’s deadline.

Sephardi and other traditions may differ in gesture and timing. The respectful move is to ask someone who shares your minhag—not to average every custom into a confused middle. Guests should follow the host unless told otherwise.

The blessing

The candle lighting blessing (bracha for kindling the Shabbat light) appears in Hebrew, transliteration, and English on Guide → Candle lighting. Learn the words during the week. On Friday, speak them slowly. You do not need perfect pronunciation on day one. You need sincerity and a willingness to improve.

Some add personal prayers for family after the bracha—quiet words with the eyes still closed. That custom is beloved in many homes. Keep it personal. It is not a performance for guests.

If Hebrew feels distant, start with transliteration and English meaning together. Move toward Hebrew as comfort grows. The mitzvah is not a diction contest. Still, communities treasure accurate wording—study with a friend or teacher when you can.

On the eve of yom tov, blessings and timing can differ. Do not assume the Friday night formula transfers unchanged. Check your holiday calendar and Guide notes before the festival arrives.

After the bracha

Once you have accepted Shabbat with the candles, weekday melacha stops according to your practice. That includes phones and planning apps. Wish Shabbat Shalom. Move toward Kabbalat Shabbat, shul, or the table. The ritual’s success is not measured in photos.

Common questions in practice

• Electric lights: Some use them in hospitals or constrained settings; ask a rav for your case. Traditional candle flame remains the classic form at home.
• Yom tov: Candle lighting on the eve of festivals has related but not identical rules and blessings. Check holiday guidance and your calendar.
• Late start: If you are delayed, do not casually light after the deadline without guidance. Better to ask in advance what to do when traffic or illness interferes.

Get the clock right

Ritual without timekeeping becomes stress. Open candle lighting times, pick your city, and know this week’s number before the last hour. Then return here in your mind for the sequence: light, bless, accept, disconnect.

Print or write the time once on Friday morning if screens distract you near sundown. Many homes keep a small card by the candles. The card is not holiness. The margin it protects is.

Teaching children: narrate the steps out loud the first few times. “We light. We cover our eyes. We say the bracha. We look at the lights. Shabbat Shalom.” Repetition builds muscle memory faster than a lecture about Halacha they are not ready to hold.

For the wider beginner arc, see how to keep Shabbat. For meaning, see what is Shabbat. For Friday logistics, keep the erev Shabbat checklist nearby during the day. The candles are the doorway. Walk through them with peace.