13. The Auspicious Moment of Lighting Shabbos Candles

There are moments in Judaism that don’t just feel holy. They’re wired into the world as an עֵת רָצוֹן (et ratzon — an auspicious “window” when gates are more open).

Rav Shlomo Katz and the women of Shirat David take one of the most familiar moments in a Jewish home — הַדְלָקַת נֵרוֹת (lighting Shabbos candles), and reframe it as a spiritual turning point. Not just “a mitzvah to do,” but a moment that pushes away the week, clears the inner noise, and pours light into the home and into the hearts of everyone inside it.'

We explore a stunning teaching on וַתַּעַל שַׁוְעָתָם… מִן הָעֲבוֹדָה (“their cry rose up… from the avodah” — meaning: sometimes the tefillah rises דווקא from the mitzvah you’re doing), the hidden power of tefillah said with simplicity, and why the candle-lighting moment is uniquely given to women — because she is the ikar haBayit (עִיקָר הַבַּיִת — the heart/core of the home).

If you’ve ever felt the Friday pressure, the chaos, the rush… this is a reminder: that exact moment can become the biggest opening of your week.
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Concept of Eis Ratzon
01:27 Pasuk from Parshas Shemos and Biala Rebbe Insight
03:49 Auspicious Times: Bris Milah and Hafrashas Challah
05:27 Channah’s Three Mitzvos and Focus on Candle Lighting
08:02 Personal Story: Lighting Shabbat Candles in Rav Soloveitchik’s Apartment
10:38 Why Candle Lighting Is a Weekly Opportunity for Everyone
12:42 Text Begins: Hadlakat Nerot as a Special Eis Ratzon
15:03 Zohar: Candle Lighting as a Segulah for Holy Children
17:18 Why This Mitzvah Is Given Specifically to Women
19:45 Boi Kallah: The Queen Enters and Darkness Leaves
23:14 Shabbos Candles Illuminate Hearts, Not Just Homes
26:06 Sidduro Shel Shabbos: Chitzonim and Weekday Worries Leave
30:16 Practical Tension: Candles vs Getting to Shul
33:02 Choosing to Believe the Shift Is Happening
35:38 Starting With Gratitude Before Requests
38:01 The Power Given to a Mother at Candle Lighting
41:12 Rabbeinu Bachya: “The Good Woman Is a Reason for Torah”
44:03 Use the Moment: Daven for Shlichus + Nisyonos of This Dor
47:05 Stories of Simple Women Whose Candle Tefillos Built Gedolim
49:21 Continuing the Lesson on Es Ratzon