- Shabbat and Holidays
- Candle Lighting
Candle lighting with a flashlight
Question
Regarding the question Kindling The Chanuka Lights . There is a well known story that once when Rav Moshe Feinstein Zatzal was caught in a hotel and unable to light Shabbos candles, he ’lit’ a flashlight and made a blessing over it. He used a flashlight which has a battery, constituting fuel in the "candle" as opposed to electricity which has no fuel source in the bulb"
My question is:
The electricity that you get from any outlet comes from some generator that also consumes fuel (coal/gas/oil), so why should this be different than the flashlight?
Answer
Good point. I think it is because in the battery the fuel and light are part of the same unit, similar to a candle, while with electricity the fuel is far away from the light, sometimes many miles away, and this is dissimilar to a candle.

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Rabbi Chaim Tabasky
Rabbi Chaim Tabasky teaches a shiur in gemarah at the Beit Midrash program of the Machon Hagavoah l'Torah at Bar Ilan University. He is also a certified examiner of STa"M (Sifrei Torah, Tefillin and Mezuzot) and a narrative therapist.

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