Fire enhances life in a great many ways, while simultaneously being one of the most dangerous substances on earth. Jews use fire in an assortment of ways throughout the year, from lighting candles to burning to cooking and more. Read on for 14 things Jews do with the most spiritual existence within physicality.1
1. Shabbat and Holidays: Lighting Candles
Candles play a starring role in Shabbat and the festivals:
- We usher in the day of rest by lighting candles before sunset on Friday evening. A mitzvah primarily entrusted to Jewish women and girls, lighting candles enhances family harmony2 and fills the home with spiritual light that lasts throughout the week.3
Read: How to Light Shabbat Candles
- When Shabbat concludes, we light a candle again as part of the Havdalah ceremony, commemorating the conclusion of the first Shabbat in history, when Adam created fire for the very first time.4
- Candle lighting marks the onset of the holidays as well: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot.
- And of course, we light candles each night of Chanukah, adding a candle each night to remind us that we must always add in light, goodness, and holiness.5
2. Lag BaOmer: Lighting Bonfires
It’s customary to light bonfires on the eve of Lag BaOmer (18 Iyar), the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. This is especially common in Meron, Israel (the resting place of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar, who passed away on Lag BaOmer). Thousands of people flock to Meron each Lag BaOmer, where they light giant bonfires and sing and dance throughout the night.
One reason for this custom: On the day of a righteous person’s passing, all the holy work he has done in his lifetime is revealed in this world. So on Lag BaOmer, the true light of Rabbi Shimon’s accomplishments in revealing the hidden aspects of the Torah shines forth like a blazing fire.6
3. Pre-Passover: Finding and Destroying Chametz
On Passover, we may not consume, benefit from, or own any chametz—food made of grain and water that has been allowed to ferment and rise. To help us get rid of our chametz, fire plays a double role. First, on the night before Passover, we search for any leftover chametz with a candle. Then, the next morning, we burn whatever we found in a safely controlled fire.
Read: Burning Chametz
4. Lighting Candles to Remember Loved Ones
Scripture compares the soul to a candle,7 and indeed, in Jewish tradition, lighting candles is often a way to remember our loved ones. Common customs include keeping a candle lit for the duration of shivah (the seven days of mourning) and every year on the yahrzeit (anniversary of passing). To help fulfill these customs, the Judaica market includes “yahrzeit candles”—candles made to last 24 hours or longer.
In some communities, it is customary (when easily obtainable) to use candles made of beeswax. That’s because the Hebrew word for beeswax is shaavah (שעוה), a rearranged acronym for “הקיצו ורננו שוכני עפר”—“Awaken and sing, you who dwell in the dust.”8 This verse alludes to the time of the resurrection, when we will be reunited with those who have passed on.
5. Secret Wedding Advertisements
In the Talmudic era, there were times when the government forbade Jewish marriages. Of course, Jews continued marrying and raising families, keeping the celebrations a secret. But how could they spread the word without tipping off the authorities? The Jews of the town of Barur Chayil came up with a solution: Whenever a wedding was held, extra candles would be lit at the courtyard entrance, signaling to Jewish passersby that a celebration was underway.9 Some sources indicate that this was done to advertise brit milahs as well.10
6. Escorting a Bride and Groom
It’s an ancient Jewish custom for the bride and groom to be escorted to the chuppah (wedding canopy) by their parents or other close friends or relatives. In many communities, the escorts carry lit candles.
7. Escorting Torah Scrolls
When escorting a newly written Torah scroll to its new home in the synagogue, it is customary to carry torches as part of the procession.
8. Koshering Kitchens
To make a kitchen kosher, any utensil previously used for non-kosher food must be koshered. For pots, cutlery, and other utensils that may have absorbed non-kosher via hot water, immersion in boiling water does the trick. But utensils that absorb non-kosher through dry heat, such as frying pans and baking dishes, need to be koshered directly with fire, such as with a blowtorch. (Note: Be sure to get guidance on doing this safely before trying it yourself!)
9. Eternal Flame in the Synagogue
Many synagogues have a ner tamid, an “eternal flame” hanging from the ceiling above the Holy Ark. Reminiscent of the Temple, where a constant fire burned on the Altar, the ner tamid symbolizes the Divine Presence that rests in this holy place.11 In modern times, most synagogues use electrical lighting for the ner tamid, which is perfectly acceptable for this purpose.
10. Publicizing the New Moon
In Biblical and Talmudic times, the beginning of each Hebrew month depended on two witnesses testifying before the High Court in Jerusalem that they’d observed the new moon. How would the news travel throughout the land? Through fire! Long poles topped with flammable items were lit on the Mount of Olives, starting a chain of fires lit on subsequent mountaintops until the news reached as far as Babylonia. This practice was discontinued when the Samaritans lit fires on the wrong day on their own hills to deceive the Jews.12
Read: The Jewish New Moon
11. Playing It Safe
The Torah instructs us to stay safe, and this includes fire! Being responsible with fire fulfills the biblical injunction to be extremely careful with our lives.13 The Torah also holds a person responsible for any damage caused by a fire they kindled, even if it was lit on their private property and then spread due to negligence.14
Read: Guard Your Life
Even G‑d holds Himself responsible for damages caused by fire! The Talmud tells us that G‑d says, “I must offer compensation for causing the Holy Temple to be consumed by fire. I will do so by rebuilding it with fire.”15
12. Iraqi Jews: Burning Haman Mannequins
In Iraq, several days before Purim, teenage boys would construct a mannequin depicting Haman, the villain of the Purim story. On Purim, they would build a bonfire and throw the effigy inside, as the onlookers stood around the fire, cheering and singing.16
13. Shabbat: Covering Flames
While cooking on Shabbat is forbidden, you may put a pot on the flame before Shabbat and leave it there to cook through Shabbat. As a reminder that you may not adjust the flame, it’s covered with a tin sheet known in Yiddish as a blech. The blech also allows food to be returned to the stovetop on Shabbat, following certain guidelines.
Read: Why is the Stove Covered with a Metal Sheet on Shabbat?
14. Using It to Portray Spiritual Ideas
Fire is often used to portray abstract, spiritual ideas. For example:
- As mentioned above, Scripture compares the soul to a candle. Just like a flame constantly rises, trying to return to its source if not for the wick holding it down, the soul never stops yearning to rise and cleave to G‑d.17
- Fire combines many unique characteristics. It consumes far more than its own size. It can grow instantly from a small spark into a raging blaze. The sharpest sword can’t divide it, and if you remove some of it, what remains is still just as large as before. It can perish a moment after being created, or it can live on forever, if given enough fuel.
If you lived on another planet and someone described such an entity to you, you’d have a hard time believing it existed at all. This goes to show the limits of human perception, and how the existence of metaphysical concepts is not that far-fetched after all.18
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