Lighting a Candle for a Tzaddik: Ner Neshama Sources and Customs

A small flame burning through the day of a hilula says something words cannot. Lighting a ner neshama (a candle for the soul) in honor of a tzaddik is one of the simplest and most beloved Jewish customs. Here is where it comes from, what to have in mind, and how to light safely.

The Soul Is a Candle of Hashem

Shlomo HaMelech wrote, "The soul of man is the candle of Hashem" (Mishlei 20:27). A flame is the clearest picture of a neshama we have. It is light that comes from a physical wick and oil, yet always reaches upward, as if trying to leave its source and rise.

So when Jews want to remember a soul, they light a flame. The candle does not hold the neshama, and it is not a ritual with power of its own. It is a sign that speaks to us and, our tradition teaches, gives pleasure to the soul it honors.

How the Ner Neshama Custom Grew

For many centuries Jews have lit a candle on the yahrzeit of a parent, before Yom Kippur, and on the days Yizkor is said. The flame burns for a full day, from the evening the yahrzeit begins until nightfall the next day.

Chassidic teaching explains that on the yahrzeit the soul is granted a closer connection to the world it left. The light lit below, together with Torah and tzedakah, honors it and helps it rise. The custom of lighting for a tzaddik grew from this same root.

Long before electric light, people also donated oil or candles to the shul in memory of a soul, so the room where Torah was learned and tefillos were said would be bright. Giving light to others in the soul's merit is part of the same idea.

Lighting in the Zechus of a Tzaddik

On the hilula of a tzaddik, many light a candle at home or in shul in his honor. They do this out of love and gratitude for the light he brought into the world, and to bind themselves to that light.

The image is especially fitting for some tzaddikim. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai is called Botzina Kaddisha, the holy lamp, because he revealed the hidden light of the Torah, and on Lag BaOmer flames are lit across the Jewish world in his honor. At many kevarim, from Meron to Rachel Imeinu's kever, visitors light candles near the tzaddik's resting place.

A candle lit for a tzaddik is best joined to his Torah. While it burns, learn a page of his seforim, tell a story about his life, or say a few chapters of Tehillim. The flame then lights up a moment of real connection, and that is the heart of the custom.

Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess: Tzedakah, Light and a Tefillah

Rabbi Meir was one of the great Tannaim, a talmid of Rabbi Akiva, and his words fill the Mishnah. The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 18a) relates that he rescued his sister-in-law from Roman captivity by bribing a guard. When the guard worried about being punished, Rabbi Meir taught him to say, "God of Meir, answer me," and the guard was later saved by those words. From then on he became known as Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess, the master of the miracle. His kever is on the hillside above Teveria, near the hot springs.

A long-standing tradition connects his name with tzedakah for the poor of Eretz Yisroel. Many Jewish homes keep a Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess pushke (charity box), and in a time of trouble people drop in a coin in his merit and say three times, "Elaka d'Meir aneini," God of Meir, answer me. Some pledge oil or candles to be lit in his merit, in shul or at his kever.

This tradition is especially known when something is lost. People give tzedakah for the elevation of Rabbi Meir's neshama and say a short tefillah asking Hashem to help them find it. As with any segulah (spiritual remedy), it is a tefillah to Hashem and an act of kindness, not a charm. The tzedakah traditionally goes to the poor of Eretz Yisroel.

Many homes keep the pushke in the kitchen, near where the Shabbos candles are lit, and drop in a few coins each Friday before lighting. In this way the flames of Shabbos and the tzedakah given in Rabbi Meir's merit go together week after week.

What to Have in Mind

Before lighting, many say a short sentence in their own words: "I am lighting this candle in honor of the tzaddik," with his name and his father's name, "and for the elevation of his neshama." Some add, "May his merit stand for me and for all of Klal Yisroel."

Remember that we daven only to Hashem. We ask Hashem to answer us in the tzaddik's zechus, the way a child asks a father to grant a request for the sake of a beloved friend. A good way to complete the moment is to give tzedakah and accept one small good resolution, inspired by the tzaddik's life.

Lighting together makes the custom come alive for a family. Let a child strike the match or set the candle in place, and tell everyone in a few sentences who the tzaddik was and why his day matters. A short story at the table, told while the flame burns nearby, is often what children remember years later.

Which Candle and When

Any candle that burns for about twenty-four hours is suitable. Many prefer an oil lamp or a candle of wax with a cotton wick, as the flame recalls the lights of the Beis HaMikdash. Light it before sundown on the evening the yahrzeit or hilula begins, and let it burn out on its own rather than putting it out.

One candle is lit for each neshama being remembered. When a family yahrzeit and a tzaddik's hilula fall on the same day, many light a separate candle for each, so that every soul has its own light. In a home with several grown children, each may light his or her own candle for a parent.

When the hilula begins on Shabbos, light the candle before the Shabbos candles, ahead of the zman. On Yom Tov, lighting is permitted only from an existing flame, and there are other details to know. On Lag BaOmer and other busy days, plan ahead. When in doubt, ask your rav.

Light Safely

A candle that burns for a full day needs a safe place. Set it on a metal tray, a stone counter or inside a clean sink, away from curtains, papers and children. Glass holders can crack from heat, so never place them on wood or plastic.

If you will be away, or you are in a hospital or hotel where open flames are not allowed, an electric ner neshama is a common and accepted alternative. Light that is lit with care is light that brings only blessing.