GOOD MORNING! Back in the mid-nineties, a Jewish advertising executive in New York came up with an idea: What if the New York Times – considered the world’s most prestigious newspaper – listed the weekly Shabbat candle lighting time each week? Sure, someone would have to pay for the space, but imagine the Jewish awareness and pride that might result from such a prominent mention of Shabbat each week!

He got in touch with a Jewish philanthropist and sold him on the idea. It cost almost two thousand dollars a week, but he did it. For the next five years, each Friday, Jews around the world would see “Jewish Women: Shabbat candle lighting time this Friday is...”

Eventually, the philanthropist had to cut back on a number of his projects. In June 1999 the little Shabbat notice stopped appearing in the Friday edition of the Times, and from that week on it never appeared again, except once.

On January 1, 2000, the New York Times ran a Millennium Edition, a special issue that featured three front pages. The first had the news from January 1, 1900. The second was the actual news of the day, January 1, 2000. The third was projecting the future events of January 1, 2100.

This fictional page included things like a welcome to Cuba, the fifty-first state, a discussion on whether robots should be allowed to vote, and so on. But in addition to the articles trying to imagine the future, there was one more thing: at the bottom of the year 2100 front page was the candle lighting time in New York, for January 1, 2100.

Nobody paid for it; it was just put in by the Times. The production manager of the New York Times, an Irish Catholic, was asked about it. His answer was right on the mark, and it speaks to the eternality of our people and to the power of Jewish ritual: “We don’t know what will happen in the year 2100; it is impossible to predict the future. But of one thing you can be certain: that in the year 2100 Jewish women all over the world will be lighting Shabbat candles.”

In this week’s Torah reading we find:

“Isaac brought her (Rebecca) into his mother Sara’s tent […]” (Genesis 24:67).

The Torah goes out of its way to comment on a seemingly mundane event. Why is this significant? What was special about this tent? According to our sages (Bereishis Rabbah 60:16), while Sarah was alive three miracles occurred in her tent each week.

The first of the miracles was that the candles Sarah lit for Shabbat would burn throughout the week and only extinguish the following Friday in order to be lit again for Shabbat. The second was that Sarah’s dough would always miraculously increase. The third was that a protective cloud (representing the Divine Presence) was stationed above her tent (according to rabbinic tradition, Sarah was a greater prophet than Abraham – see Rashi’s comment on Genesis 21:12).

When Sarah died all these miracles ceased. When Isaac brought his bride-to-be into his late mother’s tent, all the miracles immediately returned to that tent. Rebecca thus took her place as the next matriarch of the Jewish people. One of the concepts that we learn from this story is that the matriarchs of the Jewish people lit candles every Friday for Shabbat. Thus, the women of the Jewish nation have been lighting Shabbat Candles for about 4000 years! (In the absence of a woman, a man may light Shabbat candles.)

According to our sages, lighting candles on Friday night in honor of Shabbat is of utmost importance. The reason given for this is because the light ushers in shalom bayit – peace within the home. In fact, Maimonides, the great codifier of Jewish law, (Laws of Hanukah 4:14) rules that if on a Friday night of Hanukah a person only has enough money for either Shabbat candles or Hanukah candles, he foregoes Hanukah candles and lights Shabbat candles instead.

At first blush this seems odd. Hanukah candles take precedence over many other mitzvot – commandments. For example, on a Friday night of Hanukah, if a person only has enough money to either purchase Hanukah candles or wine for the kiddush blessing, he must forego the wine and purchase Hanukah candles. So why do Shabbat candles take precedence over Hanukah candles?

Moreover, the reason given for Shabbat candles taking precedence over Hanukah candles is for achieving the very laudable ideal of shalom bayit, because light in the home provides harmony in the home. But if this is true then why is this only important on Friday nights? Isn’t shalom bayit important on Tuesday or Wednesday nights as well? Every night of the week we should be obligated to forego Hanukah candles in order to light candles in the home! Why is this only a law on Friday night?

In fact, one may ask an even more basic question: Why did the sages mandate the lighting of candles only on Friday night, rather than on every night of the week? If shalom bayit is indeed such a great Jewish value, then shouldn’t there be a requirement to have one’s home illuminated every night?

The answer to this is that the very essence of Shabbat is about peace and therefore the theme of Shabbat is shalom – harmonious coexistence. On a simple level, that is because Shabbat was the time when the creation of the world was completed, and all the elements of the world began to function together as parts of a unified whole. The reason that the Almighty ceased to create after six days wasn’t because He had created “enough” things, but rather that all the components of the world were finally able to work together in harmony.

On a regular weekday, the ideal of shalom means the absence of conflict. When we are engaged in our occupations and focused on the things we do, the highest level of peace we can achieve is the suppression of our natural animosity toward our rivals. As long as we are not actively quarreling with others we will have achieved some modicum of peace, however the natural animus may still exist beneath the surface.

On Shabbat it is possible to achieve a much higher level of peace; we can achieve true shalom, a term derived from the Hebrew word “shaleim – whole,” for it denotes the blending of individuals into a single entity. It is a time when we can look past our actions and occupations and see ourselves and others for what we are: the embodiment of the strengths and character traits that define us as individuals. In fact, this is exactly what enables us to become one with each other. By recognizing the differences between us we are able to see to it that we complement each other and finally merge into a single whole – a unified Jewish nation.

The only instance where the Torah mentions the Jewish people as unified was when the Jewish nation received the Torah; they are described there as “one man and one heart” (see Rashi Exodus 19:2). In order to receive the Torah, the Jewish people had to be absolutely unified. This is the reason why everyone agrees the Torah was given on Shabbat – the two are imperative to one another.

I have previously written that the horrors of Oct 7th undoubtedly came as a direct result of the terrible discord and disharmony within the Jewish nation (you can find it here). This is why God found it appropriate to allow the evil to occur on the Shabbat that we celebrate the completion of the Torah. The terrible strife within the Jewish nation had reached a fever pitch and the Almighty was reminding us how badly we needed one another.

We had lost sight of a very important axiom of life. Our greatest gift as human beings is our ability to be different from each other. When we learn to validate the differences of others, and to grow from that experience, then we will achieve the ideal of unity that is represented by Shabbat. The very atmosphere of Shabbat enables us to perceive each other’s differences, while the Shabbat candles convey the message that we all have the same origin and are capable of coming together as a single unit.

I am going to make what some might consider a radical suggestion. Based on an initiative publicized by Cena Abergel of Los Angeles, I’d like to propose the following. We have a few hundred of our brethren kidnapped by the animals of Hamas and they have no sense of Shabbat nor can they light Shabbat candles. For those readers who do not yet light Shabbat candles, perhaps take on a commitment to begin lighting Shabbat candles eighteen minutes before sunset on Friday night? This will underscore your commitment to the harmony of Shabbat and the Jewish people.

For those readers who already light Shabbat candles, I have consulted with several leading decisors of Jewish Law and they have agreed that it would be appropriate to consider adding an extra Shabbat candle as a symbol of the incompleteness of our own Shabbat when we have our brethren kidnapped and undergoing unspeakable horrors at the hands of evil manifested. If you haven’t yet looked into their eyes and been connected to them, please visit www.kidnappedfromisrael.com.

Maimonides (ibid) goes on to say, “There is no higher value than peace, for the entirety of the Torah was given only to promote peace in the world.” May the Almighty protect those fighting for peace in the Holy Land and may we see the ultimate salvation of the Jewish people from her enemies, and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem speedily in our days. Amen.

Chayei Sarah, Genesis 23:1 - 25:18

Sarah dies at the age of 127. Abraham purchases a burial place for her in Hebron in the cave of Ma’arat HaMachpela. Abraham sends his servant, Eliezer, back to the “old country,” his birthplace Charan, to find a wife for Isaac (Yitzchak). Eliezer makes what appear to be very strange conditions for the matrimonial candidate to fulfill in order to qualify for Isaac. Rebecca (Rivka) unknowingly meets the conditions. Eliezer succeeds in getting familial approval, though they were not too keen about Rebecca leaving her native land.

Abraham marries Keturah and fathers six more sons. He sends them east (with the secrets of mysticism) before he dies at 175. Isaac and Ishmael bury Abraham near Sarah in Ma’arat HaMachpela. The portion ends with the listing of Ishmael’s 12 sons and Ishmael dying at age 137.