Shabbos, Chapter 2, Mishnah 6. In something of a departure from the laws of lighting Shabbos candles, this Mishnah deals with the three mitzvos for which a woman bears special responsibility, and with the punishment that awaits when they are not properly observed.
The words of the Mishnah: "Al shalosh aveiros nashim meisos bish'as leidasan" - because of three sins, women are in danger of death at the time of childbirth.
Why specifically at the time of childbirth? Childbirth is an event that involves danger to a person's life, and whenever a person is in danger he is judged Above and requires a certain measure of merits. When he is guilty of particular transgressions, that is precisely the moment when he is liable, Heaven forbid, to be judged unfavorably and not to emerge from the dangerous situation.
And these are the three transgressions - "al she'einan zehiros" (for not being careful):
"B'niddah" - the laws of niddah.
"U'v'challah" - separating challah from the dough.
"U'v'hadlakas haner" - lighting the Shabbos candles.
The reason given in the Gemara:
The Gemara brings that the Holy One, Blessed is He, says: I placed blood within you, and I commanded you regarding the laws of niddah, which are bound up with blood; I called you reishis (first), and in that very language you were commanded to take the first portion of the dough, as the Torah says, "reishis arisoseichem"; and I placed within you a soul that is called a lamp, and therefore I gave you a command concerning the lamps.
Therefore: if you keep these mitzvos, all is well; and if not, I take from you these very three things: the blood within you that keeps you alive, your status as reishis, and the lamp, which is the soul of a person, compared to a lamp.
The Midrash in Bereishis Rabbah likewise explains that these three mitzvos are an allusion to Chavah, who ate from the tree and gave to her husband to eat, and thereby:
Adam, who is considered the challah of the world - the first thing taken from the earth - was lost, and so the challah was lost.
The lamp of the world was extinguished.
Death was brought into the world and his blood was spilled.
For this reason these mitzvos were given to her.
Rashi adds and explains that since these are matters that a woman generally attends to, she is the one responsible for them, and as such she is held accountable to ensure that these mitzvos are properly kept.
The comment of Rabbi Akiva Eiger:
Rabbi Akiva Eiger notes on this Mishnah, in the name of the 'Shoshanim L'David', that we find in Tikkunei Zohar a concept that the husband should also take part in preparing the candles: he should prepare the candles for his wife, and she is the one who lights them, but the preparation is done by him.
With this the 'Shoshanim L'David' explains the precise wording of the Mishnah: regarding the first two mitzvos the Mishnah says simply "b'niddah" and "u'v'challah", whereas regarding the third mitzvah it does not say "b'ner" but rather "u'v'hadlakas haner" - to teach us that her responsibility is for the act of lighting alone, while the other aspects of the candle are not necessarily her responsibility, but rather her husband's.