The Artistry of Shabbat Lights
For Jewish women, the moment of lighting the candles on a Shabbat or holiday eve (in Hebrew “hadlakat nerot;” in Yiddish “lichtbentchen”) is one of profound spirituality and powerful emotion. After waving their hands over the flames and whispering the berachah with covered eyes, many women say an intense prayer for their family’s welfare, for their personal needs or for Am Yisrael in general.
The earliest text to mention Shabbat lights is the well-known second chapter of Mishnah Masechet Shabbat, which begins with the words “Bameh madlikin—With what are we to light?” But while it lists in great detail the types of oils and wicks that may or may not be used, there is scarcely any mention of the type of lamps used to hold them as they burn.
We can assume that in the time of the Mishnah, and for centuries both before and after, Shabbat lights were lit in the everyday clay oil lamps that archaeologists have unearthed in Israel in large numbers. Some of the lamps that were found with Jewish symbols on them may have been reserved especially for Shabbat use.
As techniques for working with different materials evolved through the ages, bronze and brass lamps, as well as lamps made of glass, known as ashashiyot, which Rashi (Shabbat 23a) translates as “lanterns,” became more common.1
During the Middle Ages in Germany, an oil lamp specifically designated for Shabbat lighting gained popularity. Known as the “Judenstern” (Jewish star), because of the six or more spouts arrayed in a star-like pattern around its base to hold the wicks, it was hung from the ceiling, often by means of a ratchet that could be raised or lowered in order to light it. Originally simply made of brass, the Judenstern spread across Europe and wealthy individuals commissioned silversmiths to create ornately detailed hanging lamps, adorned with figurines depicting Biblical or holiday scenes.
By the fifteenth century, with wax candles increasingly more affordable, the use of candlesticks became widespread. Typically made of brass, with a varying number of candle holders, they often featured motifs of animals mentioned in rabbinic sources—such as lions or deer—and sometimes bore the inscription “lehadlik ner shel Shabbat—to kindle lights for Shabbat.”
Wealthy Jewish families would purchase or commission silver candlesticks, often of great beauty, which were out of the reach of the common folk. But unlike other Jewish ritual objects, which call for unique designs based on the requirements of the specific mitzvah, candlesticks are household items used by people around the world. Recognizing a niche, two nineteenth-century Polish silversmiths, Fraget and Norblin, began to market their relatively inexpensive silver-plated candlesticks to Jewish consumers.
Embellished with elegant flourishes and often decorated with embossed leaves or grapevines, many styles had a removable “bobeche” at the top that would catch any dripping wax and could be easily taken off to be cleaned. Candlesticks such as these became the most treasured possessions of European Jewish households and would be the first items to be packed when fleeing oppression, often being handed down as family heirlooms.
In the twentieth century, master Judaica designers such as Ludwig Wolpert and Moshe Zabari created striking designs in silver and other metals that have become museum pieces and sought-after collectibles. At the same time, the custom grew of adding one candle for each child in the family, resulting in the popularity of large and more flamboyant candelabra.
Still more recently, the use of compact candles known as neronim, set in glass containers on top of the candlesticks, became widespread as a safeguard against the danger of fires. And responding to contemporary needs, the Zomet Institute developed rabbinically-endorsed electric candles for use in hospital and hotel rooms or other locations where open flames are prohibited.2
Yet for all the evolving styles and materials, the essential mitzvah remains unchanged. The flickering flames continue to illuminate the Jewish home each week, just as their glow has illuminated Jewish life throughout the ages.
A woman waves her hands around the Shabbat lamp as it hangs over the table. Woodcut from Sefer HaMinhagim (1723). Courtesy of the Education Center of the National Library of Israe
Painting by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, “Ushering in the Sabbath” (1865). Dressed in her silk gown and fur-trimmed jacket, the mother lights the hanging Shabbat lamp, while her husband checks the time and takes his son’s hand as they leave for shul. Photo: The Jewish Museum, New York/Art Resource, New York
Typical brass “Judenstern” lamp with six spouts and drip tray. The lamp would hang from the ceiling by an adjustable ratchet. Photo: Yaal Herman
One of a pair of brass candlesticks, probably nineteenth century, with the Polish eagle on top. One of the words of the berachah “lehadlik ner shel Shabbat” is inscribed on each of the deer. Courtesy of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
A pair of large nineteenth-century German silver lion-form Shabbat candlesticks. The lions, on domed bases chased with Biblical scenes, hold flowers that support the candle holders. Courtesy of Sotheby’s, New York
Eighteenth-century silver hanging Shabbat lamp by Johann Adam Boller (1679–1731), one of a family of celebrated silversmiths who produced works for the Frankfurt Jewish community. This lamp has ten oil spouts and also five candle holders. Human and animal figurines on each level represent Biblical characters and the various Jewish holidays. Courtesy of Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York
Gold Shabbat lamp from the island of Djerba, Tunisia, early twentieth century, with a two-tiered tray system for the candles above and a drip tray below. The pierced backplate features floral motifs around the words “Shabbat Kodesh.” At the top, a stylized hamsa holds a red glass inlay. Courtesy of Sotheby’s, New York
Not all Shabbat lamps were placed on or over the table. A pair of rococo-style silver two-light sconces, probably early twentieth-century Italian. One of the candle holders is missing. Courtesy of Sotheby’s, New York
Silver Shabbat candlesticks manufactured in nineteenth-century Warsaw that belonged to a family in Kiev (then Russia). During a pogrom in the late 1880s, shots were fired at the family home, fatally wounding some family members and leaving a bullet hole in the base of the candlestick on the left. Those who escaped brought the candlesticks to America in 1892. Courtesy of the American Jewish Historical Society
A pair of nineteenth-century classic “petticoat”-style silver-plated Shabbat candlesticks by Fraget of Warsaw, each topped by a bobeche to catch the drips of wax. Photo: Yaal Herman
Sleek Shabbat candlesticks fashioned in silver by master craftsman Moshe Zabari in 1977. Pierced in the disks around the top are the words “melei’im ziv umefikim nogah—full of luster and radiating brightness” from the Zohar. Photo: The Jewish Museum, New York/Art Resource, New York
“Reflections,” a twenty-first-century Shabbat candelabra crafted from a sheet of sterling silver by Israeli-Italian artist Luigi Del Monte. The prize-winning design is composed of five elements: the curved base, two supporting tubes and two detachable candle holders, which tend to disappear into the reflection. Photo: © 2002, Luigi Del Monte
Side view.
Battery-operated Shabbat lights produced by the Zomet Institute, intended for use in hospitals, hotels and other locations where the use of an open flame is prohibited. Photo: Yaal Herman
* My grateful thanks for their help in preparing this article to Dr. Susan Nashman Fraiman, Sharon Liberman Mintz of Sotheby’s, Professor Shalom Sabar of the Hebrew University, Dr. Abigail Rapoport of the Jewish Museum in New York, and Rabbi David Aronson. My gratitude also to Joyce Faust of Art Resource, Inc., Warren Klein of Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York, Megan Malta Scauri of the American Jewish Historical Society, and Sarah Weiner, associate editor of Jewish Action, for their help in obtaining the photographs.
Notes
1. For a fuller historical account, see Susan Nashman Fraiman, “The Candlestick Collection of Dr. Rimma Bobava,” in Art and Research 3 (Bar-Ilan University, 2017).
2. The packaging includes references to endorsements by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, zt”l, and Rabbi Yehoshua Neuwirth, zt”l. For a full halachic discussion, see https://zomet.org.il/product/רניל/.
David Olivestone is a contributing editor of Jewish Action.
More in this section:
The Artistry of Shabbat Lights by David Olivestone
Shabbat Candles: Halachot and Customs by Rabbi Dr. Ari Z. Zivotofsky
The Sacred Pause: Finding Shabbat in a World That Never Stops by Charlene Trino
The Shabbat Table That Found Me: Filling the Silence with Women’s Voices by Shirley Parker
Shabbat in a Changed Israel: How Israelis Have Embraced Shabbat Since October 7 by Carol Ungar