Shabbos candles, light ’em and you’ll see,
Peacefulness at home, utmost serenity.

Identity, Jewish;
The light in the world lost; the darkness penetrates,
And by lighting these lights, we rekindle the misplaced,
Those wandering souls who are searching for who they are,
Their purpose on this earth,
Groping from afar.

On the first day G-d said, “Good,”
So from then on women would
Light the Shabbos candle
To shatter the darkness
That the world ’til now withstood,
Adding to the harsh, bitter cold, the good.

We, the women, kindle this light
To right the wrong that Chava had done,
By the sin of the tree of knowledge
And brought the world darkness and fright
By extinguishing G-d’s candle,
Without which the dark world could not handle.

Because we set with love the tone,
We are the foundation of the home;
And when it comes to adding light, we are the ones to increase and deepen,
Since it is us, at home, from where spirituality does begin.

On Shabbos we have an extra light,
An extra soul,
And with this we fill the deep, musty, empty hole
That will be in our hearts ’til the final redemption,
When G-d will not make even one exception.

So until then, let’s unify,
And the Shabbos we will beautify,
By getting one more special soul
To kindle the light on the holy Friday night.
So grab this opportunity to light up the world,
And when we close our eyes to ask for blessings,
Let us all pray that the final redemption comes today!

—  Zelda Shwarzberg, Age 13
Bais Rivkah
New York, USA