Shabbat candle lighting times

How these times are worked out

• Candle lighting is 18 minutes before sunset, the most widespread custom, and 40 minutes before sunset in Jerusalem, following the city's long-standing custom.
• Shabbat ends at tzeit hakochavim, when the sun is 8.5° below the horizon and three small stars are visible. Where the sky never gets that dark in summer, Shabbat ends at solar midnight instead.
• Sunset is calculated at sea level for the coordinates of each city, on its local clock, including daylight-saving changes. The calculation is good to a minute or two, so candle lighting is rounded down and Shabbat end rounded up.

These are the same defaults the SuperSiddur app uses.

Your community's times may differ

Many communities light earlier than 18 minutes (20, 22, 30 or 40 minutes before sunset), and many wait longer before ending Shabbat, for example 72 minutes after sunset following Rabbeinu Tam. In summer some communities accept Shabbat early, after plag hamincha. Where your synagogue publishes a calendar, follow it. Never light Shabbat candles after sunset.

Lighting the candles

At least two candles are lit, and the blessing is:

In many Ashkenazi homes the candles are lit first and the blessing said with the eyes covered; many Sephardi homes say the blessing first. Lighting usually brings Shabbat in for the one who lights.

These pages show Shabbat only. Yom Tov has its own candle lighting: on a second night of Yom Tov, or when Yom Tov begins as Shabbat ends, candles are lit only after nightfall, from an existing flame. The app shows both on its day strip.