At the beginning of shivahSeven-day mourning period following the funeral of a first-degree relative, during which time family members remain at home and receive visits of comfort. Other customs include abstinence from bathing and sex, covering mirrors, sitting lower than other visitors, and the lighting of a special memorial candle which burns for seven days., a candle that burns the whole week is lit.
We usually light candles to rejoice, to mark the beginning of a holiday or to usher in ShabbatShabbat is the Sabbath day, the Day of Rest, and is observed from Friday night through Saturday night. Is set aside from the rest of the week both in honor of the fact that God rested on the seventh day after creating the world. On Shabbat, many Jews observe prohibitions from various activities designated as work. Shabbat is traditionally observed with festive meals, wine, challah, prayers, the reading and studying of Torah, conjugal relations, family time, and time with friends.. Now, we stand before a candle that marks both loss and connection, presence and absence. We light this candle to represent the presence of _________, with us even as we return from the cemetery to mourn her/his heath. His/her spirit lives on with us in our memories and in the way our memories influence how we choose to live. For some of us, this presence may be as palpable as the heat and changing colors of this flame. Yet like this flame it cannot be held or embraced.
Source of life’s mystery, source of life’s fragility and its hard-edged boundaries, have compassion on us as we mourn our loss. May this flame remind us that loved ones’ presence in our lives does not end with death. May we find comfort as we draw together in this candle’s light. And may _________’s memory be blessing for all of us.
NerCandle Adonai nishmat adamAdam is the first human being created by God. Symbolizes: Creation, humankind.
The human soul is the lamp of God.
The candle is lit.
We have lit this candle at a time of great darkness, praying that over the period of this shivah observance the love and caring that surround us will bring us back towards the light.
