Shabbat Laws #3Translated/adapted from "A Summary of the Shabbat
Laws" (published by Machon Ohaley Shem)
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Laws 78-84: Prohibited Carrying |
Laws 85-103: The Shabbat Evening Prayers |
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Laws 54-77 Lighting Candles |
Law # 54 The Sages established that on Shabbos, every room should have a lit candle, for the sake of family harmony, so that no one would accidentally stumble. In our days, electric lights, which shine into different rooms, count as candles for these purposes. (These candles or lights are lit before Shabbos begins). However, the main mitzvah of lighting candles is to have them at the table where we eat our Shabbos night meal. These are the candles that Jewish women light and bless over on Friday evening before sunset. Besides preserving family harmony (so that no one would be unhappy eating in the dark), these candles are a primary factor in the pleasure of Shabbos. This is such an important mitzvah, that if a Jew cannot afford candles, he or she must beg for them. One who keeps the mitzvah is rewarded with abundant blessings. |
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Law # 55 At the Shabbos table, two candles are lit. These remind us of the two commands for Shabbos, “observe” and “remember”. Many women add a candle for each child born in the family. Also, if a lady accidentally missed lighting, she should always add a candle to remind herself to be careful in lighting Shabbos. |
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Law # 56 While both men and women are required to have Shabbos candles lit in their homes, the wife takes precedence in performing the mitzvah (even if her husband wishes to fulfill the command), because she is usually the one at home preparing for Shabbos and therefore will be more careful to fulfill the mitzvah. Lighting should be with joy since a woman bring blessings to her family through this mitzvah, in particular blessings for holy children and long life to her husband. However, the husband may help in preparing the Shabbos candles, especially in lighting the wicks, so that afterwards they are easy for the wife to re-kindle. When a woman gave birth, it is customary for her husband to light the candles the first following Shabbos. |
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Law # 57 One should be careful not to light Shabbos candles too early in the afternoon (before ‘plag hamincha’—approximately 1 ¼ hours before sunset—the exact time can be determined by a local Rabbinic authority), because it would not be clear that the lighting is for the sake of Shabbos, and also the accompanying blessing may thus be said in vain. On the other hand, it is forbidden to light after sunset because it is already Shabbos. In most locales, the customary time to light is 18 minutes before sunset. |
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Law # 58 The candle should be lit so that the wick burns well. Then the woman should cover her eyes and recite the blessing “Baruch Ata Ado-nai Elo-heinu Melech Ha’olam asher kidishanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanu l’hadlik ner shel Shabbat” (some close with “Shabbat Kodesh”)—“Blessed are You, G-d our L-rd, King of the world, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to light the (holy) Shabbat candle.” What is unique about this mitzvah is that the blessing is recited after the action was performed, unlike most mitzvahs where the blessing precedes the deed (for example we bless on food before benefiting from it). This is because, if a woman would bless, she would already have accepted Shabbat, and then lighting a flame would be forbidden. The reason for covering her eyes is so that the woman will not enjoy the candles’ light until after reciting the blessing. In this way, once she has blessed and removes her hands from her eyes, then the blessing can precede her enjoyment as with other mitzvahs. |
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Law # 59 One should bless upon the candles that are on or near the Shabbos table where the meals are eaten, so that we enjoy their light while eating our festive meals. It is preferable to light and bless on the candles when they are already in their location on or near the table, as opposed to lighting somewhere else and then transferring the candles. |
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Law # 60 Women accept upon themselves the Shabbat once they have lit the Shabbos candles on or near the table. Therefore it is preferable that a woman prays the Lawday afternoon prayer before lighting. However, the other family members may continue doing activities prohibited on Shabbos until sunset, when they too accept Shabbos. Also, the wife may directly ask other family members to do Shabbat prohibited activities until sunset, even if she will benefit from these. If a man is lighting Shabbos candles, he (or someone else) should accept upon themselves the Shabbat. Because a woman accepts Shabbos when she lights, it is recommended that she extinguish the match she used by placing it on a non-flammable surface and allow it to self-extinguish, as opposed to blowing or waving it out, which is forbidden on Shabbos. |
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Law # 61 Previous to her lighting Shabos candles, and in case of emergency, a woman may make a condition that she will not accept Shabbos upon herself immediately upon lighting, but will do so shortly afterwards. However, if she personally cannot accept Shabbos even shortly after lighting, her husband should do so in her stead, but it is nevertheless preferable he himself should light, bless and accept Shabbos upon himself. In a case where she lit, but neither the husband nor wife was able to accept Shabbos, they should extinguish the candles; the blessing said was in vain. The wife or husband relight and bless later, before Shabbos, when at least one of them is prepared to accept Shabbos. |
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Law # 62 If a woman lit but accidentally forgot to bless, she may do so later as long as the candles are still burning. In such a case, she should cover her eyes to not see the candle light and then bless, and only then allow herself to enjoy their light. The reason she may still bless is that the main part of the mitzvah is to benefit and use the candlelight, and not merely to light the candles. However a woman should not intentionally delay the blessing,which includes the words “and we are commanded to light”, referring to the action of lighting the candles. If a woman forgot to light until after sunset, but it is still not halachically considered night time, she may have a gentile light one candle for her, near or on the Shabbos meal table, and then she may bless on it before enjoying its light. |
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Law # 63 Young men who do not live at home should light a Shabbos candle in their rooms. This is true even if they eat their Shabbos meal elsewhere, and only sleep in their room, because one reason for the Shabbos candle is to prevent people from bumping themselves or falling in the dark. |
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Law # 64 Whether married or not, a man who is hosted on Shabbos in a special guest room at someone else’s home should light a Shabbos candle in that room. In the case where a guest merely sleeps in his hosts’s house and not in a designated room, but eats his own food, there is no need to light as long as someone in his own home lights Shabbos candles. If at the guest’s own home no one lights, he should take part in his host’s lighting by paying for some part of the candles, wicks, etc., or by having the host give him part of the candles as a gift. However, if the guest is also eating with his host, he is considered one of the family and is included in their lighting, and therefore does not need to light at all. Since lighting Shabbos candles is a particularly beloved mitzvah to Jewish women, it has become the custom that even as a guest, a woman lights her candles next to the hostess’s candles on or near the Shabbos table. |
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Law # 65 If several families are eating together at one table, and none of them is the host, they may all light and bless on their candles at the one table, because the more light, the more happiness and harmony there is in enjoying the candles’ light. However, not more than one family should light on a single candelabra. Another option is that a family may light in their designated room even thought they do not eat there; or they can light in a friend’s room if the friend will eat there, and as long as the friend did not yet light there. |
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Law # 66 Shabbos candles should burn long enough to enjoy their light until night and during the meal. If the candles did not burn until night began, or if no one benefited from their light, the blessing upon the candles was in vain. However, if someone ate their Shabbos meal early while still daylight, and sat next to the candles, the blessing is not in vain. Nor is the blessing said in vain if the candles burned until close to dark, and part of the room (besides the eating area) would be dim without their light, and their light was used for completing some action (besides simply enjoying the light). |
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Law # 67 If someone lit and blessed on their Shabbos candles in a place which is not used on Shabbos (even if afterwards the candles were moved to a more trafficked location), the blessing was in vain, because at the time of the lighting, it was not obvious that this was being done in honor of Shabbos. However, if someone lit in a place which needs light on Shabbos, and very shortly thereafter moved the candles to somewhere which does not, the blessing was not in vain. |
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Law # 68 A blind woman may bless upon the Shabbos candles because she, too, benefits from their light, since other people guide her using the light. However, if her husband can see, it is preferable that he recite the blessing. If, though, more that one family is eating at one table and lit their candles there, she should not make the blessing. This is because the blessing is recited (even by several women) due to added joy in seeing the extra candlelight, which a blind woman can not experience. |
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Law # 69 It is customary to have two candles lit in the synagogue on Shabbos. However, no blessing is recited on these because they are lit for the purpose of honoring Shabbos and not for the use of their light. |
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Law # 70 As we light candles for Shabbos, so too are we required to light candles for the holidays. On these we bless “Blessed are You, G-d, L-rd of the world, Who has sanctified us in His commandments and commanded us to kindle the holiday candle.” To prevent confusion, the blessing is recited after the kindling, as is done on Shabbos, even though the reverse is halachically permitted on holidays. On the holiday, it is forbidden to heat and melt a wax candle, or scrape its bottom to be flat, in order to adhere it to the candleholder. |
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Law # 71 The Lubavitcher Rebbe was foremost in promoting the lighting of a single Shabbos and holiday candle by unmarried women and girls, even those living at home and whose mothers light. He urged that a girl begin lighting even when she is too young to understand the significance of the candle—even before age 3. Upon the occasion of her first lighting she should also recite the blessing “shehechiyanu” unless she has already reached the age of Bas Mitzvah (12). An unmarried woman or girl should light at or near the Shabbos table. She should light before her mother, so that she not lose her chance to bless through being exempted by her mother’s kindling, and also that her mother may be still permitted to assist her to light. It is also desirable for all women and girls to give some coins to charity before lighting Shabbos candles. An unmarried girl should have her own charity box. One must be careful not to move the charity box after she has lit Shabbos candles. |
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Law # 72 |
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Law # 73 |
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Law #74 One may not open a door or window which is near a candle that may be blown out by the wind. This rule applies even if it is not a windy day because the wind could pick up just at the second that the door or window was opened. Although it is usually permissible to do something that will unintentionally cause a forbidden action, in this case it is not so. This is compared to someone 'who decapitates an animal but did not intend to kill it' -meaning that if someone allows wind to enter the room, the candle cannot help but be extinguished. If the door is already open, it is permissible to close the door so the candle will not blow out, and this is not considered increasing the flame. If the wind caused by opening and closing the door could cause the candle to go out, one should be careful to gently open and close the door (assuming that moving the door at all will not definitely extinguish the candle). |
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Law #75 One may not open a door that is near a fireplace because the wind which enters will increase the flame. If there is only a gentle breeze, one may still not open the door. This is based on the fact that the wind can suddenly pick up and increase the flames. If there is no possibility of any wind entering from the opening the door, one may do so. (All of the above applies for Shabbat, but on holidays, one may open a door even if it will increase the flames). If the door next to the fireplace is open, one may close it. The reason for this is that one's intent is not that the fire should be extinguished (which would be a prohibited act), but rather to prevent the flame from increasing. |
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Law #76 If one mistakenly left a wax candle on a tray since before Shabbat, and now one needs to use the tray, it is permissible to shake the tray so that the candle will fall onto the ground, as long as one's intent is not that the candle be extinguished. Even if the candle does go out from the fall, this is alright because it was not a guaranteed result. If one does not really need the tray, it is better to hint to a gentile to shake the candle off the tray. It is forbidden to shake off a candle made of oil because any movement will cause the oil to heat or extinguish the candle. One may ask a gentile to shake off an oil light. If one needs the space where the tray is, one may gently remove it even if the candle on it is made of oil. |
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Law #77 One may place an earthenware vessel over the candle so that it won't
burn the ceiling, but leave a gap, so air can enter in and the candle
won't be extinguished. It is forbidden to snuff a candle on Shabbat, except
in the case if an invalid specifically for whom lack of sleep could be
dangerous, or if one has any suspicion of being attacked by murderous
bandits if they would see the light (saving life takes precedence over
keeping Shabbat). |
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Laws 78-84 Prohibited Carrying |
Law # 78 |
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Law # 79 |
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Law # 80 If one was carrying before Shabbos began, and started to run before Shabbos began, one may continue to run non-stop with this object to one's destination without violating the halacha of carrying. According to some opnions, one can even start running after Shabbos began. Before stopping to run, throw the object inside the building in an unusual manner. (Will wonders never cease?!) |
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Law # 81 |
Law # 82 |
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Law # 83 |
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Law # 84 |
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Laws 85-103 The Shabbat Evening Prayers |
Law #85 |
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Law #86 |
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Law # 87 |
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Law #88 |
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Law #89 |
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Law #90 |
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Law #91 |
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Law #92 |
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Law #93 |
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Law #94 |
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Law# 95 |
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Law# 96 |
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Law # 97 |
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Law # 98 |
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Law # 99 |
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Law #100 |
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Law #101 |
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Law #102 |
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Law #103 |
Back to Shabbat Laws menu |
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Laws 150-195 |
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Laws 220-240 |
Laws 241- 309 |
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