There are moments in Judaism that don’t just feel holy. They’re wired into the world as an עֵת רָצוֹן (et ratzon — an auspicious “window” when gates are more open).

Rav Shlomo Katz and the women of Shirat David take one of the most familiar moments in a Jewish home — הַדְלָקַת נֵרוֹת (lighting Shabbos candles), and reframe it as a spiritual turning point. Not just “a mitzvah to do,” but a moment that pushes away the week, clears the inner noise, and pours light into the home and into the hearts of everyone inside it.'

We explore a stunning teaching on וַתַּעַל שַׁוְעָתָם… מִן הָעֲבוֹדָה (“their cry rose up… from the avodah” — meaning: sometimes the tefillah rises דווקא from the mitzvah you’re doing), the hidden power of tefillah said with simplicity, and why the candle-lighting moment is uniquely given to women — because she is the ikar haBayit (עִיקָר הַבַּיִת — the heart/core of the home).

If you’ve ever felt the Friday pressure, the chaos, the rush… this is a reminder: that exact moment can become the biggest opening of your week.
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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Concept of Eis Ratzon
01:27 Pasuk from Parshas Shemos and Biala Rebbe Insight
03:49 Auspicious Times: Bris Milah and Hafrashas Challah
05:27 Channah’s Three Mitzvos and Focus on Candle Lighting
08:02 Personal Story: Lighting Shabbat Candles in Rav Soloveitchik’s Apartment
10:38 Why Candle Lighting Is a Weekly Opportunity for Everyone
12:42 Text Begins: Hadlakat Nerot as a Special Eis Ratzon
15:03 Zohar: Candle Lighting as a Segulah for Holy Children
17:18 Why This Mitzvah Is Given Specifically to Women
19:45 Boi Kallah: The Queen Enters and Darkness Leaves
23:14 Shabbos Candles Illuminate Hearts, Not Just Homes
26:06 Sidduro Shel Shabbos: Chitzonim and Weekday Worries Leave
30:16 Practical Tension: Candles vs Getting to Shul
33:02 Choosing to Believe the Shift Is Happening
35:38 Starting With Gratitude Before Requests
38:01 The Power Given to a Mother at Candle Lighting
41:12 Rabbeinu Bachya: “The Good Woman Is a Reason for Torah”
44:03 Use the Moment: Daven for Shlichus + Nisyonos of This Dor
47:05 Stories of Simple Women Whose Candle Tefillos Built Gedolim
49:21 Continuing the Lesson on Es Ratzon

What if the Yetzer Hara isn’t “randomly” making tefillah hard, but specifically targeting the most powerful kind of tefillah?

Rav Shlomo Katz and the women of Shirat David learn a striking teaching from the Biala Rebbe: women’s tefillos — especially in shul — don’t just matter… they elevate the entire tzibbur. And that’s exactly why the Yetzer Hara works overtime with excuses, self-talk, and “it doesn’t matter if I’m there” thinking.

We explore the idea of Et Ratzon (especially the power of tefillah in a beit knesset), why tefillat hatzibbur is received differently than tefillat yachid, and the hidden spiritual reality of what happens when women show up and daven from the Ezrat Nashim — even if it’s late, even if it’s messy, even if it’s only a few moments.

A practical, empowering reframing: if the resistance is intense, it’s probably because the impact is real.
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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com

Join Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_t

Some of the deepest pain a Jewish mother feels is quiet: “I don’t daven like I used to.”

Not because she doesn’t care, but because life is full. Kids. Home. Work. Mental load. A headspace that never fully settles.

In this short, powerful shiur from the Biala Rebbe’s Mevaser Tov, Rav Shlomo Katz and the women of Shirat David reframe what “real davening” actually is: not only pages, not only a minyan, not only a siddur, but speaking to Hashem in the language of the heart.

Even one simple cry — “Abba… Abba…” — can shake the heavens.

We explore:

• Why the Yetzer Hara convinces women their “simple prayers” don’t count
• How Yehuda’s Vayigash elav teaches “Hashem-conscious” conversation
• The Modzitzer teaching: the ideal tefillah for our generation is like a child who can only say “Abba”
• The wild Midrash where one old woman’s simple request “outworks” an entire public fast

If you’ve ever felt guilt about not davening “properly,” this episode is a breath of truth, and a return to what tefillah always was.

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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com

Join Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_t