Viewfinder: Lighting the Candles before Passover

While most people associate candle lighting with Shabbat, the Jewish sabbath, it's equally as important before other Jewish holidays, including Passover, which began Monday night.

Here, Chaya Kirchenbaum, the rebbetzin, or wife of the rabbi, of Congregation Kol Israel of Prospect Heights, lights candles with her daughters, Liba, 7, and Chana,  9 months. 

Jewish women often light candles for themselves and for each member of the family as a blessing and prayer for the family.  

They are lighting the candles at Chabad Prospect Heights and Fort Greene before the Passover meal, the seder, begins. Soon after, members of the community arrived for the ritual telling of the story of the liberation of the Jewish slaves from Egypt and for the traditional seder meal.

Candle lighting is an important ritual for Jewish women and is considered a "mitzvah" or good deed. To Chaya Kirchenbaum, candles symbolize light and goodness in the world.

“A little light can dispel a lot of darkness,” she said.  

For the Lubavitch sect, when a boy turns 3, there is a celebration associated with cutting his hair for the first time. But the former leader of the Lubavitch sect, Rebbe Schneerson, who died in 1994, felt that girls should also have a special event at age 3. Now girls are encouraged to start lighting candles for Jewish events such a Sabbath and holidays such as Passover when they turn 3. 

Here, the daughter Liba is seen lighting her own candle while Mom, Chaya, lights candles for the whole family.

Run by the Lubavitch sect, a Chabad is a Jewish center charged with teaching secular Jews and interested non-Jews about the Jewish tradition. The group is headquartered in Crown Heights (at Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue) but there are more than 3,000 Chabad centers in 65 countries, according to the Chabad-Lubavitch website.