Global Campaign to Light Shabbat Candles for Israel
by Faygie Levy Holt – chabad.org
A global campaign to encourage women to light Shabbat candles this week in solidarity with Israel is underway using the hashtag #LightForIsrael.
“Right now, everyone feels a little alone and helpless and this is a way to come together and bring light to the dark world,” said Nicole Schottenstein, a mother of four young girls who is helping to spearhead the campaign. “They say that lighting Shabbat candles can bring miracles, and that is what we need right now.”
The #LightforIsrael campaign is being driven largely through social-media posts and word-of-mouth messages. As part of the campaign challenge, women are being encouraged to reach out to a local Chabad center for a set of Shabbat candles and take a selfie with the candles. Participants should then post the photo on social media and tag three other people using the campaign’s hashtag.
The final part of the campaign is to light the candles 18 minutes before sunset. Shabbat start times vary in every locale.
One of those taking part in the campaign and helping to spread the world is social-media influencer Ellie Zeiler, who has 10.7 million followers on TikTok and grew up going to a local Chabad House.
Zeiler told Chabad.org she’s supporting #LightforIsrael because “the most important thing I know about being Jewish I learned from growing up in the Chabad community, it is that our purpose is to put kindness and light into the world.
“By lighting a candle in solidarity, we become closer to one another while continuing to share our light,” she continued.
But it is not just official “influencers” who can help spread the word. As the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of rightous memory, would often repeat “if one knows alef, he should teach alef,” making everyone an “influencer” to bring light into the world.
On any given Friday afternoon, lighting Shabbat candles is a “great opportunity to reflect on one’s week and to pause and pray for what we need and what we would like to have,” says Schottstein. That is even more true this week as women all over the globe will pray for peace in Israel and for the safety of members of the Israel Defense Forces and the people taken hostage by Hamas.
For anyone who may be worried that they won’t know what to think about and pray for during candle-lighting, Schottenstein said: “There’s no wrong thing to say and ask, just pray.”
For more information, inspiration and insights on the Gaza War visit Chabad.org’s Israel at War home page, which includes 7 Things You Can Do for Israel Now and instructions on how to Donate to the Israel Emergency Relief Fund.
