3 Prayers Before Lighting Shabbat Candles by the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

With the help of Hashem, Blessed be He, Year 5776, on Rosh Hashanah

First Prayer Before Lighting Shabbat Candles

Master of the World, of great power and mighty strength, whose abundance of kindness is unsearchable and the intensity of His kindness cannot be measured. You who wish to bestow good upon me, upon my husband, upon all my families, upon the entire House of Israel, and upon the whole world in the merit of lighting these candles. And at this moment, as I stand now before You with the Shabbat candles whose light is drawn from the Hidden Light of the Seven Days of Creation, please, Merciful and Gracious One whose mercy and kindness have no end, save me ...... daughter of ...... Your maidservant. May I merit to draw down, through the lighting of Shabbat candles, the light of the Seven Days, which is the light of our holy Rebbe [Rebbe Nachman], that it may spread throughout the entire world. And may all the inhabitants of the world see this wondrous light, and may this Hidden Light, which is the light of our holy Rebbe [Rebbe Nachman], shine within all souls.

And may all the souls in the world shine and glow in the merit of lighting these candles, and may they recognize the power of Your Kingship in the merit of these candles which draw down the Hidden Light from worlds about which it is said, "No eye has seen it, God, besides You." And may I merit from now and forever to be on the level of Sarah and Rebecca, about whom it is said that their lamp never extinguished. So too, may the light that I merit to draw down now through these Shabbat candles go and grow, go and increase, until all those who come into the world return right now, in the blink of an eye, in complete teshuvah (repentance) and recognize the power of Your Kingship.

And may I merit that at the hour of lighting these candles, I be surrounded by 600,000 angels created from all the mitzvot I have performed from my inception until now. And so too, may they surround every person from Israel, until we merit—I, my husband, all the members of my household, all our families, and all Your people, the House of Israel—to return in complete teshuvah before You, in the merit of lighting these candles. And may we all merit to see the Hidden Light eye to eye at every moment. And may we all merit, along with all Your people, the House of Israel, in the merit of lighting these candles, the illumination of the 370 Lights (Shin-Ayin Nehorin), through whose merit the complete Geulah (Redemption) will come speedily in our days, Amen.

Second Prayer Before Lighting Shabbat Candles

Master of the World, Omnipotent One from whom no plan is withheld, grant me merit in the merit of lighting the holy Shabbat candles, that our souls—mine and my dear husband's—may shine with precious light, as it is written (Isaiah 54), "And I will make your windows of agate and your gates of carbuncles, and all your borders of precious stones."

And may I and my husband merit, in the merit of lighting the holy Shabbat candles, holy and pure children, nobles of spirit, wind, and soul. May their souls and bodies shine like the soul and body of Moses our Teacher, peace be upon him, who placed a veil over his face [due to his radiance]. And may the light of the holy Shabbat candles draw down the light of our holy Rebbe [Rebbe Nachman] upon my husband, upon me, and upon all the offspring—the sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters—until the end of all generations. And for all of them, may their light go and shine more and more from moment to moment, as it is written, "But the path of the righteous is as the shining light, that shines more and more until the perfect day."

Third Prayer Before Lighting Shabbat Candles

[caption id="attachment_8757" align="alignnone" width="272"] Prayer before lighting Shabbat candles by the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland 1[/caption] [caption id="attachment_8758" align="alignnone" width="272"] Prayer before lighting Shabbat candles by the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland 2[/caption]