A new campaign to encourage women and girls to light Shabbos candles in memory of Lori Kaye OBM, who was murdered in an attack on the Chabad Center of Poway, CA, on Pesach, has been launched.
The campaign was the brainchild of Shmuli Simpson, an 8th-grade student at Lubavitch Yeshiva in Crown Heights, who was determined to do something positive after hearing of the tragedy which took the life of the wife and mother who was a pillar of her community, at the age of 60.
“I realized that the terrorist’s mission was to plunge our world into darkness,” Simpson told COLlive. “So I thought, what better way to respond than with light?”
Simpson and a few friends headed out to the streets last Friday, and distributed 60 sets of Shabbos candles, in her memory.
Simpson said the thought then hit him – why stop there?
And so the “Light for Lori” campaign was born.
The goal: to get 60,000 women and girls (1,000 for every year in Lori’s life) to light the Shabbat Candles by Lori’s Shloshim (30 days after her passing) on May 25th.
To make it even easier, the Lubavitch Youth Organization has sponsored hundreds of candle gift boxes to be given out to Jewish women and girls.
Dozens of girls hit the streets last Friday as well, sharing the mitzvah of lighting Shabbos candles with fellow Jewish women and girls in honor of Lori Kaye.
“The recipients were so touched and honored to be a part of adding light into the world in loving memory of Lori,” said Rabbi Shlomo Friedman, Director of Lubavitch Youth. “It’s incredible to see dozens of inspired girls pick up Neshek kits every single Friday,” he says.
If you need candle gift boxes, email: lit@lubavitchyouth.org
To join Light 4 Lori, all you have to do is follow 3 easy steps:
1) Snap a picture right before lighting the Shabbat Candles this week
2) Email it to light4lori@gmail.com
3) View your impact on www.light4lori.org and share with the hashtag #light4lori