KOVOD SHABBOS
Rabbi Hersh

Q & A
 

If your shul davens at say 7.30pm in the summer, should you light candles by this time or are you allowed to light candles later?

Can light later. Ideally at time your shul does, but can do it until just before sunset if necessary.

Can you light candles in the bathroom in a hotel if it is dangerous to light them anywhere else? If so, what about the brocho?

No.

Can one light as many candles as one wants, e.g. for children-in-law or grandchildren?

Yes.

Do the candles have to be on the table?

No.

Please explain the difference between having benefit from Shabbos candles and Chanukah candles

You or a Jew, must have benefit from Shabbos candles, either where you eat or where it’s dark. You are forbidden to have benefit from Chanukah candles.

Can you light at someone else’s house even if you are sleeping in your own home that night?

In a place which is dark, or if eat a kzayis of cake/bread there.

Does it matter if the candles go out once you have lit them?

No.

What is the minhag/halacha for girls over Bas Mitzva to light candles, and if so how many?

Not a halacha but custom. Different customs about this. Most communities don’t light. If a person has no fixed custom I would not recommend that they light and definitely not to make a brocho. Number is irrelevant as long as the fire alarm doesn’t go off.

If girls over Bas Mitzva light a candle, have they also brought in Shabbos?

Yes.

Should the mother always light after everyone else?

Ideally she should actually light first, especially for Sefardim, unless the other people there have a real obligation to light, in which case it makes little difference.

If, when you light candles, you bring Shabbos in for yourself, then are you allowed to tell your children (whether or not over Bas Mitzva) to do a malacha, e.g. if you forgot to turn off the gas?

If they are getting benefit as well then Yes, otherwise better not to, but it isn’t forbidden outright. However from a chinuch perspective it needs to be determined whether this is a good idea.

Is it maris ayin/not good practice generally if you do a malacha between lighting candles and making the brocho (e.g. you suddenly remember to turn off a light)?

It’s OK.

Similarly, can you light candles, put the match in the bin, and then return to make the brocho?

Yes if it’s not your mesorah to accept shabbos with the actual lighting of the candle.

With regard to moving Shabbos candles on a tray: does it make any difference whether the candles are lit or not if you put a siddur or other item on the tray, e.g. if you want to move them on Shabbos morning to change the cloth,

No.

Can learning Torah be classed as ‘Oneg Shabbos’? – if you come back from eating out I thought you could read by the light of the candles in order to fulfil the mitzvah.

You can read by candlelight to fulfil shalom bayis (where it’s dark) not to fulfil Oneg Shabbos.

On Succos, if you can see your Shabbos candles which are on your dining room table from your Succah, is this acceptable?

If the rooms are adjacent yes. Otherwise lechatchila not.

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