Why holiday candles are lit from a flame that is already burning — and exactly how to do it.
On a Jewish holiday (Yom Tov) we may use fire, but we may not create a new fire. So we don’t strike a match. We take a flame that is already burning and pass it on to our candles.
“No work at all shall be done on them; only what every person is to eat, that alone may be prepared for you.”
“One may not produce fire, neither from wood… nor from stones…”
“You shall kindle no fire throughout your settlements on the sabbath day.”
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לְהַדְלִיק נֵר שֶׁל יוֹם טוֹב
Say it: Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner shel Yom Tov.
“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who made us holy with His commandments and commanded us to light the holiday candle.”
Source: Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 263:5 (Direct Source). When the holiday falls on Friday night, the ending is “ner shel Shabbat v’shel Yom Tov.” Customs differ on details — ask your rabbi about your family’s practice.
נֵר יְהוָה נִשְׁמַת אָדָם
Ner Adonai nishmat adam — “The soul of a person is the lamp of the Lord.”
Our Synthesis On a holiday we don’t create a new light — we receive one that is already burning and pass it on. That is how Judaism itself has reached us: no one invents it from scratch. A flame was handed to our parents and grandparents, and they handed it to us. Lighting from an existing flame is a small picture of the whole Jewish story — and of what we are each asked to do next.
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