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Havdala

Why two wicks?

The ceremony to mark the end of Jewish holidays and, every Saturday night, the end of Shabbat is called havdala, separation. We separate the holy from the ordinary. (This is why people say 'lehavdil', to mark the difference between a good and a bad thing mentioned in one breath.)
To make havdala we use a cup of wine, fragrant spices as a reminder of the special day, and a candle with at least two separate wicks.

The Talmud says that on Saturday night, God gave Adam the gift of fire. A midrash explains that Adam was afraid of the dark and God sent a pillar of fire to give him light and guard him from evil. During havdala we say a blessing 'borei me'orei ha'eish', '..Who created the lights of the fire'. Halacha

says we must say this beracha over an avuka, a torch, or a strong light consisting of at least two wicks. Two, because the blessing is over lights, plural, not one light. But because the wicks must be so close together that they form one strong flame, we use a braided candle. A traditional havdala candle has many more than two wicks. Some hold that its many strands symbolise the many types of Jews in the word: their separate flames are weak, but woven together in harmony as a people they are strong.
To accommodate its unusual flat shape and to beautify the ceremony we use a special, flat candlestick such as this one.