Talk:Shabbat candles

This does not mention the reason, which is that the house should be lit for the Sabbath. 96.238.211.171 (talk) 18:47, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

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"Sabbath lamp" is a different thing than a " Sabbath candle"
Lighting Sabbath candles still is a common ritual. The "History" section suggests that it is not that old and that lampstands were used in the past. Still, if I got it right from Hanan Eshel & Co., the concept of "Sabbath lamps" discussed in the Mishna, tractate Shabbat 2:4, is simply about how to have light in the house for 24 hours on Sabbath, not about the ritual lighting of candles at the beginning of the day w/o the care of how long they'll burn. See Horbat 'Uza for more on this.

Therefore, the redirect "Sabbath lamp" to " Sabbath candle" seems wrong. I can imagine having both dealt with here, but it would probably be better, in order to avoid further confusion, to have "Sabbath lamp" as a separate subject. I don't know much about it beyond what I've learned while editing Horbat 'Uza, maybe I'm missing something and maybe there's not enough out there for an article, but I doubt it. Who feels able to deal with it? Cheers, Arminden (talk) 20:02, 27 May 2021 (UTC)

hi. Sorry to bother, I'm just trying to make sure that this doesn't end up like a lost message in a bottle. Some of you might be interested. Please do let me know if you'd prefer me not pinging you again on issues like this. Have a great day, Arminden (talk) 20:36, 27 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Thank you for the ping, . The subject is certainly interesting, even though I don't know much about it to begin with. I will just keep following your updates and posts here, unless I'd feel I could have any other meaningful observation to make. Nice work! warshy (¥¥) 20:53, 27 May 2021 (UTC)
 * , Thanks for tagging me. First, the reference to the "Sabbath lamp" and the "Sabbath candle" are one and the same thing. In Mishnaic times, the Sabbath candles were lit - not with candles made of beeswax (nor with parafin wax), but rather with a terra-cotta lamp called in Hebrew "ner" - which word translates into English as "candle." A "candle," therefore, was originally a small, hollow ceramicware piece that contained oil and which had a wick that exited from its main reservoir through a second opening, where it was lit. In a real sense, it is also a lamp (a generic word), albeit, a small one. According to the Talmud, the reason for lighting the Sabbath candle was for "shalom bayt", meaning, instilling a sense of calm and/or tranquil ambience in the home. In later generations, the people switched to lighting wax candles which has the same function of instilling a sense of peace and tranquility in the home.Davidbena (talk) 20:55, 27 May 2021 (UTC)
 * David, am I getting the right impression from your post, that the origin of the minhag was really for lighting in the house during Shabbat? I.e., that is the reason the ner needs to be lit before the start of the Shabbat? Thank you, warshy (¥¥) 21:11, 27 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Yes, that is correct, according to the Talmud. BTW: The old Sabbath candle (ner shabbat) looked something like this here.Davidbena (talk) 21:13, 27 May 2021 (UTC)
 * thanks to you both. David, I have been looking into it for the Horbat 'Uza section, and I am now aware from your detailed explanations and from what Joan Goodnick Westenholz wrote about it that the distinction is less clear in religious terms, but if one thinks in practical terms, and looks into Zev Garber's description of the problem with lighting in a regular house of the time (and I've visited with wide open eyes the reconstructed house at the Ancient Katzrin park and the "biblical village" in Nazareth, which makes things very easy to understand now), it becomes plain to see that the ritual aspect is one thing, and surviving the 24 hours in the house was another one altogether. Helios knows how the Karaites manage without any light. Maybe they've always been experimenting with spending lockdown in bed and are perfectly conditioned for dealing with Covid restrictions. So beyond the ritual lights, which I guess have always been one set per household (or am I wrong?), they simply needed light. Think of dinner, night potty, crying children, even the minimal activities allowed, at hours when not enough sunlight made it in. I don't know if devices like the lampstand inscribed with the word "Shabbat" from H. 'Uza served the former or the latter purpose or both, but it's worth a thought. David, here we might complement each other, since you're thinking in religious terms, and I'm not. Arminden (talk) 21:38, 27 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Arminden, I saw the link to the Wikipedia article which you posted, but I am at a loss as to why the editor wrote there about the lampstand found in that ruin, "...they didn't hold enough fuel as to last through the entire day of rest." It was never an obligation that the Sabbath candle remain burning all throughot the Sabbath day, but only for a short duration of time at night, so as to provide LIGHT in the house, especially when eating. A dark house at night - especially when eating together - is a recipe for strife and contention. The Sabbath candle normally burns out after a few hours, and no one thought anything of it, since, by that time, it was time for bed.Davidbena (talk) 22:17, 27 May 2021 (UTC)

I would vote for a rename to Shabbat candles and lamps. The two topics are intrinsically interlinked, so I think a separate article would be duplicative. But they are not the same thing so would benefit from being spelt out in the title. As David says, the original Shabbat lights were simply oil lamps. That is what is described in Mishnah Shabbat 2:1.

As to the history, Encyclopaedia Judaica says as follows:
 * In the Bible and Mishnah only oil-lamps and torches were used for lighting... In later times candles made of tallow mixed with palm oil or wax, or candles of paraffin, gradually took the place of oil, especially in Europe. Although there is traditional basis for the use of candles in Judaism, undoubtedly their widespread employment in the rites of the Catholic Church encouraged their use among medieval Jewry. Even though people generally used candles, oil was still regarded as the more appropriate fuel for ritual purposes, especially for the Sabbath and Ḥanukkah lights. This was because prior to the invention of paraffin candles, candles were often made from the fat of ritually forbidden animals. Oil was considered a more appropriate fuel for Ḥanukkah lamps... for the ner tamid in front of the synagogue ark... for the light kindled at the death of a person... But paraffin candles gradually replaced the oil lights and still later, with the introduction of electricity, small electric bulbs gradually replaced the ner tamid.

A couple of good sources:
 * Baumgarten, E. (2013). A Tale of a Christian Matron and Sabbath Candles: Religious Difference, Material Culture and Gender in Thirteenth-Century Germany. Jewish Studies Quarterly, 20(1), 83-99
 * Susan Nashman Fraiman, The Sabbath Light: Development of the Vessels and Customs of Kindling the Sabbath Lamp among the Jews of Ashkenaz (dissertation, not available online)
 * Interview with Susan Nashman Fraiman, Let there be light! The evolution of candle-lighting practices in Ashkenaz

Onceinawhile (talk) 23:03, 27 May 2021 (UTC)


 * thanks, but I think my main point here, which is getting clearer to me too during the conversation, is that we have two issues, not one. The ritually recommended, and from a moment in time onward prescribed (by a Babylonian Talmud passage, it seems) kindling of a Sabbath light, is one thing. Getting through the night and the following day in dark houses without outward windows, was another. Don't think from the modern perspective. They had night potties or needed to go outside, had babies, and babies don't stop getting hungry after the adults' Sabbath meal, so the light had to burn through the night, as well. And the windowless houses meant that daylight wasn't always sufficient inside even during the day. How many of you have spent 24 hours even in an old country house (or a tent) on a rainy autumn or winter day? Having a lovely warm light during the Sabbath dinner doesn't cut it. You need a lamp, or better several throughout the house. This is my issue here. All the rest is interesting, no doubt, but not what I'm talking about. But I haven't come across a source that spells it out as clearly, they all hint at it, but then go back to beating around the bush, see Schwartz. Garber is more direct: "natural sunlight probably did not suffice and it was necessary to find other modes of lighting. ... Restrictions ... on the Sabbath required the construction of slow-drip lamps and other types of "Sabbath lamps."" So light during the day too, and definitely throughout the preceding night, not just because they couldn't kindle one after waking up, but because nights are dark w/o electricity, folks, and not everybody enjoys a night rest as long as the entire hours of darkness.


 * As to the more technical issue of tinkering with the title, a) it's English Wiki, so Sabbath, not Shabbat IMO, and b) maybe just "light"? So "Sabbath light". Common in English, and covers it all. But I'm not so much interested in that right now, but in the Sabbath lamps issue that goes beyond ritual purposes. Like a "Sabbath elevator": there's nothing ritual about it, but it's been built to allow ritual laws to be observed. Arminden (talk) 00:43, 28 May 2021 (UTC)


 * Re title: see what I found. On the Israel Museum website no less. "Hanging Sabbath lamp (Judenstern)", 18th century. And German Wiki does have an article on "Sabbath lamp" (here), but it only deals with a specific festive type of lamp used for Sabbath meals. So still nothing on what I am looking for, the more mundane ancient lighting system for Sabbath. I'll write to them on their talk-page, too. Arminden (talk) 08:56, 28 May 2021 (UTC)