Welcome to Embrace Shabbat.
The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat (119b) teaches:
כׇּל הַמִּתְפַּלֵּל בְּעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת וְאוֹמֵר ״וַיְכוּלּוּ״, שְׁנֵי מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת הַמְלַוִּין לוֹ לָאָדָם מַנִּיחִין יְדֵיהֶן עַל רֹאשׁוֹ וְאוֹמְרִים לוֹ ״וְסָר עֲוֹנֶךָ וְחַטָּאתְךָ תְּכֻפָּר״
Anyone who prays on Erev Shabbat and recites ״,וַיְכוּלּוּ״ the two angels who accompany the person place their hands on his head and say to him: “Your sins, whether on purpose or accidental will be removed and atoned.”
The Ben Ish Chai (Sefer Ben Ish Chai, Second Year, Parshat Noach) asks why it is necessary to light two candles on Erev Shabbat. On a simple level, these two candles correspond to זכור and שמור and also facilitate shalom bayit in the home. However, there is an additional, deeper reasoning behind these candles.
After lighting candles for shalom bayit on Erev Shabbat, the husband and wife become unified. The numerical value of נר is 250. A man has 248 organs, and a woman, because of her reproductive system, has 252 organs. Combined, the husband and wife have 500 organs, which is the numerical value of two candles (נר). The light of the mitzvah of lighting candles illuminates the couple and flows through their limbs.
The passuk in Tehillim (36:10) says: כִּי עִמְּךָ מְקוֹר חַיִּים בְּאוֹרְךָ נִרְאֶה אוֹר, G-d is the source of life and by Your light, light is seen. The light of Shabbat brings light into a person’s entire body, both physically and spiritually.
The Ben Ish Chai continues with an unbelievable chiddush on the words חנון המרבה לסלוח, He is gracious and increasingly forgiving. This phrase describing Hashem’s great compassion and forgiveness has the numerical value of 500 (חנון is 114, המרבה is 252, and לסלוח is 134). On Erev Shabbat, when a woman lights the two Shabbat candles, she invokes the characteristic of G-d that brings forgiveness.
When Man ate from the Eitz HaDaat, under the influence of Chava, three things were impacted: his body, his higher level soul, and the intermediary between the two. The three mitzvot given to women- lighting candles, family purity, and challah- are involved in rectifying the sin of Chava. Challah, which is made from flour and water, corresponds with the body, which is made out of dirt and water. The mitzvah of family purity, which has to do with blood, corresponds to the connecting force between body and soul. Finally, lighting Shabbat candles atones for the affected soul.
On Leil Shabbat, when a woman lights Shabbat candles and brings about the tikkun for the sin of the Eitz HaDaat, the two angels come and say: ״.וְסָר עֲוֹנֶךָ וְחַטָּאתְךָ תְּכֻפָּר״ After lighting Shabbat candles, she achieves forgiveness for herself and her family. The Ben Ish Chai comments on ותתפלל חנה that חנה stands for חלה, נידה, והדלקת הנר. When a woman does the special mitzvot for women, it is an opportune time to pray because she is engaging in an act that atones for the sin of Chava.
Have a wonderful day and a Shabbat Shalom.