[Avodah] LED "tealights" for Shabbos candles

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 09:38:40AM -0400, M Cohen wrote:
: Bidieved you can use them for Shabbos candles
: L'chatchila flame is preferred

I would think that it makes a difference also what the "them" is.

Incandescent light bulbs provide the light of a hot metal filament. The
heat is (hopefully very slowly) melting the filament. There are shitos
that call turning on a light-bulb havarah, others call it bishul (and yet
others distinguish it from a textbook gacheles shel mateteches). So to
say that's aish is somewhat easier.

In a fluorescent lamp, including the kind the US and EU are phasing
in to replace incandescents, there is also a hot glowing filament, but
that's not the light you're using. (You're using the light produced by a
fluorescent material that is glowing because it is being bombarded with
electrons from tat filament.) I would find that harder to say "me'orei
ha'eish" over, but still, at least the question of aish comes up.

An LED is a semiconductor where atoms in it emit light when their energy
level drops due to electrons jumping across a transmission in how the
semiconductor is "doped". There is no heating. Nothing remotely similar
to the concept of aish as per havarah, mechabeh or bishul. I have even
a harder time picturing the appropriateness of "me'orei ha'eish" on them.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The purely righteous do not complain about evil,
micha at aishdas.org        but add justice, don't complain about heresy,
http://www.aishdas.org   but add faith, don't complain about ignorance,
Fax: (270) 514-1507      but add wisdom.     - R AY Kook, Arpilei Tohar