Q:
There’s a Gemara (Shabbos 23b) that says that if someone is careful with lighting candles so he’ll have children that are talmidei chachamim. What does that mean? What’s the connection?
A:
It’s talking there about the neiros Shabbos. It’s telling us that if you’re careful with lighting the Shabbos candles, so you’ll be rewarded by having have children who are talmidei chachomim.
The candles that you light at the start of the Shabbos, you know, are in honor of Shabbos. And Shabbos is the yesod hayesodos; it’s the foundation of all foundations. Briyas ha’olam yeish mei’ayin, the creation by Hashem of this world out of nothing, is the most important principle. בדבר השם שמים נעשו וברוח פיו כל צבאם – By means of the command of Hashem, that’s how everything came into existence. That’s what Shabbos comes to tell us.
Now, when you light the neiros, you’re starting out in the celebration of that great principle. That’s how the great day of celebrating Hashem’s creation begins. And therefore, what you’re doing is you’re lighting up the minds of the family – it brings an ohr, a light, into the minds of your family. This idea that Hakodosh Boruch Hu is the yesod of all the havayah, that the whole creation is nothing but His will, that is the most important of all the things that must illuminate our minds.
And so if you do that, if you light the candles because you want to illuminate the minds of your children, so you’re going to have children that light up the world with their character. Hashem says, “That’s the light! If you spread light, I’ll give you light.” That’s why it’s so important.
TAPE # E-211
