ShabbatUK! Let there be (candle) light

Jewish News readers are being urged to join this weekend’s Great Friday Night Light, as record numbers in synagogues and communities around the country prepare to host communal lightings to welcome ShabbatUK.

Under the Chief Rabbi’s initiative, thousands of people will gather together to light candles approximately 20 minutes before sunset tomorrow, many using the specially-crafted Friday night candle-holder, enclosed in this week’s Jewish News.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said: “The original function of the Shabbat candles was to fill the home with light, so that families could enjoy the Shabbat meal without sitting in darkness.” Today, he said, “the light of the Shabbat candles stands as a mark of Jewish continuity through time”.

Community members across the UK are being asked to “make every candle count in the campaign to give ShabbatUK the most spectacular welcome in the history of British Jewry”.

Richard Ferrer, editor of Jewish News – media sponsors of the event – said:  “Given how central this custom is to the identity of Jews, there’s no better way to promote an inclusive Shabbat than to celebrate with this initiative.”