Ba-Meh Madlikin

("With what may one kindle [or not kindle the Sabbath lamp] ...?"). Opening words of the second chapter of the Mishnaic tractate Shabbat, recited in the Friday night service. It indicates the types of oil and wick that may lawfully be used for Sabbath lights; when they may be extinguished in an emergency; and the domestic preparations that should be made before the Sabbath commences. As an appendix to this chapter, the rabbis selected a short homiletical passage from the Talmud (Ber. 64a), outlining their concept of the Torah's role in fostering world peace. Some authorities, including Rashi, placed Ba-meh Madlikin at the end of the Sabbath eve prayers; others held that it should be recited before the service, thus enabling Jews to take care of any last-minute arrangements which they had overlooked in the home. Living in the medieval Christian world, however, Rashi also had a practical consideration in mind: Jews arriving in the synagogue late from work would be able to complete their prayers while Ba-meh Madlikin was being recited and could then return home with the other worshipers. The former practice is still maintained by some Ashkenazi congregations in the Diaspora, but a compromise between the two different rulings has been adopted by Sephardim, Eastern Jews, and most Ashkenazim (particularly in Israel), who insert this reading in their prayers after the entrance of the Sabbath (Kabbalat Shabbat) and before the Evening Service. It is generally omitted when Sabbath eve coincides with the beginning or termination of a festival ot with the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot. Jews adhering to the Ḥasidic rite substitute a passage from the Zohar for Ba-meh Madlikin. Some textual changes have been made in the Conservative prayer book.

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