Light these lights and see the way to You

Two weeks ago, our family attended the family service at Temple Shalom. The rabbi invited every woman present to come up to the Bimah and light the Shabbat candles.

Something moved inside of me as I lit the lights with Annabelle and the other girls and women present. I realized that Jewish women have been lighting lights on the Sabbath for centuries! Here I was lighting the lights and seeking God with my whole heart as I did so.

I keep listening to the song over and over again. You see, lighting lights is a very Jewish thing to do. It's not just a ritual. As I hear the song, I do see a way and path to God.

• Listen to part of Light These Lights

Here's the lyrics:

Oh hear my prayer I sing to You.
Be gracious to the ones I love
And bless them with goodness and mercy and peace.
Oh hear my prayer to You.

Let us light these lights and see the way to You.
And let us say: Amen.
Let us light these lights and see the way to You.
And let us say: Amen.

Debbie Friedman wrote:

"Light These Lights is based on a traditional prayer of petition. It was written by an Ashkenazi woman in Hebrew asking G-d to have compassion over her loved ones. I assumed that this woman recited this prayer as she kindled some candles either for Yom Tov [holy day] or Shabbat [Sabbath]. I wrote Light These Lights the first year I did the Mayan [Passover] Seders in New York. I was moved by the text and by what I thought to be the potential experience of the seders; it reminded me of the warmth and sweetness of my Bubby and the hope that light brings to us moments of challenge."