How Many Shabbos Candles?

How many candles are required to light for Shabbos?

Strictly speaking, a single candle fulfills the mitzvah of hadlakas neiros, and suffices for an entire household. Still, the widespread custom is to light at least two candles, corresponding to the two expressions used regarding Shabbos, zachor and shamor.¹ Some further find in the two candles an allusion to the husband and wife, an idea that appears in Kabbalah as well.²

A common practice, and the apparent Chabad custom, is to add a candle for each child born.³ Other customs include seven, corresponding to the days of the week, or ten, for the Aseres Hadibros.⁴

Once a woman has settled on a certain number, she may not decrease it, even if, chas v’shalom, a child later passes away, or she becomes widowed or divorced. Upon remarriage, she should continue lighting at least her accustomed number. If there is a strong need to decrease, she must perform hataras nedarim.⁵

When away from home, some light just two candles. She need not make hataras nedarim as it’s assumed that she only accepted the hiddur of additional candles for when she’s at home.⁶ If, however, she has made a practice of lighting her full accustomed number even while away, this becomes binding like a neder, and hataras nedarim is needed to discontinue it.⁷

Minhag Chabad is for even young, unmarried girls to light their own candle. Here, though, the Rebbe was firm that a girl should light specifically one candle, which is enough according to the basic halacha (even when away from home). This avoids evoking the inappropriate association of two candles for husband and wife, preserves the sense that the primary mitzvah of the home belongs to the mother of the home, and doesn’t make a girl feel like she doesn’t have to come home to her parents for yom tov.⁸ An unmarried man, however, lights two candles.

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