Q&A: Sabbath Candles
Sabbath Candles
Question
A question from the website. In our day, in the age of electricity, is there still any point to lighting Sabbath candles? Answer: The custom is to light them. So yes, there is a point. Especially since electric light is not unique to the Sabbath, whereas the candles give it a special character.
Can one say, in light of what happened this Sabbath, that we see the Sages’ ordinance is relevant in its original sense, and not only because of atmosphere, since candles do not go out during a power outage.
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Answer
I don’t know what happened on that particular Sabbath. But a power outage on some Sabbath does not make the candles necessary. It’s just a rare and uninteresting case. The candles, too, can go out, burn the house down, etc.
Discussion on Answer
Are the employees of the electric company not human beings? The discussion has been exhausted (even before it began).
Usually it is in a person’s power to make sure the candles do not go out, unlike electricity, which does not depend on him.