Text
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לְהַדְלִיק נֵר שֶׁל שַׁבָּת.
Transliteration
Baruch ata Adonaj, Elohejnu melech ha-olam, ašer kidšanu be-micvotav ve-civanu le-hadlik ner šel šabat.
Translation
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to kindle the Shabbat light.
The Hebrew liturgical text is in the public domain; the translation is original.
Notes and differences between rites
Ashkenazi custom: the candles are lit first, the eyes are covered, the blessing is recited, and only then does one look at the light – because by reciting the blessing a woman accepts Shabbat, after which she could no longer kindle.1
In many Sephardi families, following the Shulchan Arukh, the blessing is recited before lighting. The wording differs in some traditions (e.g. “ner shel Shabbat kodesh” in the Chabad siddur).
On festivals the ending changes to “le-hadlik ner shel yom tov”; if the festival falls on Shabbat, “ner shel Shabbat ve-shel yom tov”. Vocalization follows common siddurim.2
