[Avodah] Lighting Neros on Yom Tov

[Micha Berger]

On Sat, October 28, 2006 9:17 pm, kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:
: In Shmiras Shabbos K'Hilchasa, perek 62 note 31, Rav Shlomo Zalman
: Auerbach is quoted as questioning whether an avukah may be lit on for
: havdalah when Yom Tov falls on Motzaei Shabbos. He explains that this
: action is being done only for Hidur Mitzvah, not for Hanaah. He
: leaves it as a Tzarich Iyun.

: That same footnote points to Shaar Hatziyun 435:9, which tells of a
: case where a person did not do Bedikas Chometz, and did not do a
: Bitul Chometz either, and it is now Yom Tov. ... he asks whether a ner
: may be lit specifically for this purpose if it is during the daytime.
: .... He leaves this question as a Tzarich Iyun.

: So we have two cases about lighting a fire on Yom Tov specifically
: for a mitzvah, not for actual use...

Actually, specifically for hiddur mitzvah. RSZA explicitly calls the first
case a hiddur mitzvah, and bediqas chameitz doesn't /require.

OTOH, yom tov lights are a taqanah, an actual din derabannan, not "only"
hiddur. Now that would only work for the first light. After that, we are left
with comparing minhag yisrael to hiddur, for which I would think minhag
Yisrael kedin spells that it's a greater need, and therefore makes sense that
we lemaaseh call it "letzorekh".

...
: Is this melacha mutar? To me, this case seems similar to the other
: two cases, a Tzarich Iyun.
: It is undeniable that the whole world *does* light under these
: conditions, and has been doing so for decades. But what is the heter?

AISI, RSZA's tzarich iyun is a question of shiur. At what level of halachic
desiratum need something reach for it to be considered letzorekh yom tov.Also,
I an not sure RSZA is questioning the normal pesaq as much as wondering about
the basis -- halakhah velo lema'aseh. Just how does one specify a shiur of
need?

But I wonder what RSZA would have said about the norm of using candles on
Simchas Torah -- a hiddur minhag. Aside from shuls that use two candles to
light the way, or to keep the aaron from being empty, before people worried
about the fire hazard, many decorated the tops of flags, etc...

Tir'u baTov!
-mi

-- 
Micha Berger             Spirituality is like a bird: if you tighten
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