High Holidays · Yom Kippur
Are candles lit on Yom Kippur?
Yes. Because Yom Kippur is a Yom Tov (a festival), the candles are kindled before sunset with a blessing, and many families also light a memorial candle for loved ones who have died.
The festival lights
Yom Kippur is welcomed the way we welcome the festivals: with hadlakat nerot (the lighting of candles) before sunset, together with the blessing over the lights and שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ, Shehecheyanu — the blessing that thanks the Holy One, blessed be He, for bringing us to this season. The flame goes up just before the fast and the day begin.
The soul candle
Alongside the festival lights, many families kindle a נֵר נְשָׁמָה, a ner neshamah (soul candle), that burns for about twenty-four hours in memory of parents and loved ones who have passed. On a day so bound up with return and with life, this quiet flame keeps their memory present through the fast and into its close.
What to do
Light the festival candles before sunset — never after, since kindling fire is set aside once the holy day has entered. Use a long-burning memorial candle for the ner neshamah so it lasts the full day. Because the exact moment of sunset shifts with your city and the season, confirm your local time rather than relying on last year's.
Source: Hadlakat nerot of Yom Tov; the custom of the ner neshamah.
So you never light a moment too late, let My Jewish Day (siddur, zmanim, the Hebrew calendar) give you tonight's candle-lighting time for exactly where you live.
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