The Power of Women’s Prayers with Rav Shlomo Katz

13. The Auspicious Moment of Lighting Shabbos Candles

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. ---------- 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 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

12. The Yetzer Hara’s Efforts

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. ---------- 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

11. When I Call Out "Abba, Abba"

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. ---------- 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

10. The Pnimiyut of “She’asani Kirtzono”

Rav Shlomo Katz and the women of Shirat David go deep into one of the most misunderstood lines in a woman’s siddur: the bracha “She’asani Kirtzono” – “Who has made me according to His will.” From Yud Tes Kislev to the Baal Shem Tov’s chiddush of pnimiyut haTorah, Rav Shlomo explores the difference between “doing mitzvos” and actually giving Hashem nachas ruach. Why is it possible to keep all the rules and still miss what Hashem really wants? And why is it that women, so often exempt from certain obligations, are the ones most plugged into Hashem’s deeper will? Along the way, we speak about: * The gap between “I did my obligation” and “I brought Hashem joy” * When halachically “permitted” doesn’t mean it’s really Hashem’s will * How women naturally go above and beyond the letter of the law * Why so many people were never taught about “nachas” – only about “checklists” * A new, empowering way to understand “She’asani Kirtzono” as an identity, not an apology ---------- 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

9. When You Let Go, You Let In Destiny

In this week’s shiur in The Power of Women’s Prayers, Rav Shlomo Katz and the women of Shirat David go deep into one of the quiet superpowers of a Jewish woman: vatranut – the ability to let go, to give in, to choose the bigger picture over being “right.” Drawing from the Biala Rebbe and the life of Rachel Imeinu, Rav Shlomo explores what really happened the night Rachel gave the signs to Leah, what it means to give up not just comfort but your entire imagined future, and how that mysterious choice planted a spiritual DNA in every Jewish woman until today. Why do women keep saying “yes” when they could so easily say “I’ve done enough”? Why do they bring more children into the world than the bare halachic minimum? Why do they keep cooking, caring, holding families together long after anyone would say they’re “yotzei”? In this shiur we learn how those daily acts of letting things slide, forgiving, giving way, and going beyond the letter of the law become the very reason our tefillos break through the locked gates of heaven and why Chazal say: “In the merit of righteous women we were redeemed – and will be redeemed again.” A shiur of chizuk, validation, and gentle challenge for every woman who’s ever wondered if anyone really sees what she gives up. ---------- 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