Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 264 - Laws [Pertaining to] Wick and Oil [Used for Shabbos Lights]

SECTION 264 The Laws [Pertaining to] the Wick and the Oil [Used for the Shabbos Lights] (1-16)

1It is forbidden to make a wick for the Shabbos lights1 from a substance to which fire will not adhere2 and penetrate, but rather will hover around it in a manner that causes the flame to sputter, e.g., wool, hair, unbeaten flax, dross silk, and the like. Since these [wicks] do not burn well, we fear that one may tilt the lamp so that the oil inside it will come closer to the wick [so that] it will burn well. Thus the person will be [performing the forbidden labor] of causing a flame to burn on Shabbos. [The wicks] may, however, be made from cotton, hemp, and the like, i.e., substances to which fire will adhere and penetrate. It is better [to use] beaten flax than any other substance.

2 If one kindled [lights using] a forbidden substance [as a wick], it is forbidden to use their light for any purpose, not even for a purpose that does not require any concentrated focus whatsoever,3 and [thus] one will not need to draw close to the light to [perform the task. Even so,] since these wicks do not illumine well, we are concerned that the person will tilt the lamp4 even though he uses it from a distance. In this regard, there is no difference between the lights on the [dining room] table or the other lights in the house or in the other rooms.5 [Their wicks] must all [be made] from permitted substances.6

There are authorities who maintain that if there is an acceptable [Shabbos] light made from a substance permitted [to be used for that purpose] in one place [in the house], it does not matter that all the other lights are made from forbidden substances. [Moreover, this leniency applies] even if the acceptable [Shabbos] light is burning alone in one room. Since the person is required to have an acceptable light in one place, this will serve him as a distinguishing factor and a reminder regarding this matter, and he will not tilt [any other light].7 If [the light] is necessary for Shabbos, it is permitted to rely on their words after the fact and it is permitted to use the light [of such wicks]. All authorities agree that if one acceptable light is [burning] together with an unacceptable light in one place, [their light] may be used in any event.8 [The rationale:] Even if only the acceptable light was there, its [light] could be used. Why then should the presence of the unacceptable light lessen its [suitability]?

3 There are authorities who maintain that any activity that can be performed without a light, e.g., drawing wine from a [wine] cellar9 or the like, is permitted to be performed by the light of an unacceptable light, even though the person does not have an acceptable light burning in any location. There is no concern that the person will tilt the light, since he can perform this activity without any light at all. After the fact, one may rely on this ruling [if the activity] is necessary for Shabbos.

4 [The following rules apply] if one wound a substance that is permitted to be used as a wick around a substance that is forbidden to be used as a wick, combining them into one wick:10 If one intended to thicken the wick to increase its light, he is forbidden to kindle it as a Shabbos light. This is a decree lest he kindle [a Shabbos light] using the forbidden substance by itself. If he intended to reinforce the wick so that it would stand upright and not droop, it is permitted to light it, even though the forbidden substance also burns.

If the forbidden substance is one that is not fit to be used as a wick by itself, e.g., a straw, a reed, or the like, it is permitted to wind a permitted substance around it and kindle it, even if he intends to make the wick thicker to increase its light. [The rationale is that in this instance,] there is no concern that the person will kindle [the Shabbos light] with this substance alone, since it is not at all fit to be used as a wick by itself.

5 It is permitted to place a grain of salt or a bean at the mouth of a lamp on Friday so that the lamp will burn attractively on Shabbos,11for the salt or the bean will filter the oil and cause it to be drawn after the wick effectively. There is no prohibition in causing [them] to burn slightly [better] on Shabbos.

6 It is forbidden to kindle a Shabbos light – whether the light on the [dining room] table or any other light in the house or in the other rooms – using fuels that are not drawn after the wick.12 These [fuels] include the following: tar,13 beeswax,14 cottonseed oil, (the fat of) a [ram’s] fat-tail, and (other kosher and) non-kosher animal fats that were not cooked,15 and the inner organs of fish that have not dissolved. Since these substances do not burn well, we are concerned that the person will tilt the light.

All other oils are drawn after the wick and may be used for kindling16 except pitch, because it has a foul smell. [Our Sages] decreed [that it not be used for the Shabbos light] lest one will leave the [room where] it [is burning] and depart,17 and there is an obligation to partake [of one’s meal] near a light on Shabbos.18Another exception is balsam oil; its [pleasant] fragrance spreads. [Hence, our Sages] decreed [that it may not be used] lest one uses some of it [for aromatic purposes], and taking oil from a lamp that is burning is in effect extinguishing it. Also, [the flames from balsam oil] shoot forth. They may catch on to the walls of the house [creating a fire. It is feared that the owner] may panic over [the loss of] his property and extinguish it.19 For this reason, one must be careful not to use wood to close an oven that has a fire burning.20

7 Even if adding a small amount of olive oil21 would cause fuels that are not drawn after the wick to be drawn after the wick, it is nevertheless forbidden to kindle [the Shabbos light] with [such a mixture].22 This is a decree lest one use these [fuels] for kindling [the Shabbos light] without mixing the [olive] oil into them.

8 When animal fat has been cooked until it is molten23 and when the inner organs of fish have dissolved, [these fuels] are drawn after the wick and it is permitted to kindle [a Shabbos light] with them, after one adds a small amount of any other oil that may be used24 for kindling. If, however, other oil is not mixed in, one should not kindle with them. This is a decree, lest one kindle with these substances before they have become molten and have dissolved. In that state, they will not be drawn after the wick and there is concern that one will tilt the lamp. If, by contrast, one kindles [the lamp after] mixing in other oils, even if he will kindle a light with such a mixture when [these substances] have yet to become molten and dissolve, there is no concern that he will tilt the lamp, because through the addition of a small amount of [acceptable] oil, [these substances] will also be drawn after the wick.

9 Oil dregs, even those from olive oil, may not be used for kindling, because they are not drawn after the wick.

10 If one transgressed and kindled [the Shabbos light] with types of fuel that are forbidden to be used for kindling, [the situation is governed by] the same laws that apply when one kindles [the Shabbos light] with wicks that should not be used for kindling, as explained above.25

11 [Our Sages] forbade kindling with types of fuels that are not drawn after [the wick] only when the fuel is not wound around the wicks as are our candles, but rather all [of the fuel] is placed in a container, i.e. the lamp, and a wick is inserted into it. In such a situation, the fuel is not drawn after the wick. If, however, one wound the fuel, e.g., one wound tar or beeswax, even if it was not molten, around the wick, it is drawn after [the wick] and it is permitted to kindle with it.26

Nevertheless, if one made a wick from forbidden substances and then wound around it beeswax or even molten animal fat, it is forbidden to use it for kindling. Even though the fuel will be drawn after the wick, the wick itself will not burn well and there is concern that one may tilt [the light].27

12 Even though all types of oil other than those which our Sages mentioned [as forbidden]28 are fit to be used to kindle the Shabbos lights as an initial preference,29 the optimum manner of fulfilling the mitzvah is to seek [and use] olive oil,30 as is the law regarding the Chanukah lights, as will be explained in sec. 673.31 If olive oil is not available, it is a greater mitzvah to use other oils that produce a pure and clear light than candles made from animal fat or beeswax,32 because there are authorities who forbid [using such candles], since they do not make a distinction between [a lamp which uses] unacceptable fuel that is in a container33 and [a candle] where [that fuel] is wound around the wick.

If a person must study at night using light from a lamp, he should kindle a candle and not a lamp [with liquid fuel and a wick], because permission is granted to study [by the light of] a candle, as will be explained in sec. 275[:1]. It is a greater mitzvah to use a beeswax candle rather than a candle from animal fat, because the light [of the beeswax candle] is clearer.

13 The person kindling [the Shabbos lights] must continue [holding the flame to the wick] until the flame catches onto the majority of the wick that emerges from the lamp.34 Similarly, when kindling a candle, the flame must catch onto the majority of the wick that emerges from the candle.

14 According to the letter of the law, it is not necessary to singe the wick before it is kindled so that it will be [slightly] charred and thus burn well. Nevertheless, women have accepted the custom of kindling the wick, whether of an oil lamp or a candle, and then extinguishing it so that it will be charred before [re]kindling them for the sake of the mitzvah, [so that] the flame should catch on well.It is a desirable custom.

15 Wicks for a lamp should not be made from rags,35 i.e., worn-out coarse linen garments, even if they are charred, because they do not burn well. Thin linen garments may be used for kindling36 (even if they are new), even if they have not been charred.

If a festival falls on a Friday, it is forbidden to kindle [the Shabbos lights using] a cloth exactly three fingerbreadths [by three fingerbreadths],37 not less and not more. [The rationale is that] before one begins to kindle it, it is considered as a k’li, a useful article with regard to the contraction of ritual impurity, because it is considered as a significant cloth.38 Immediately when one begins kindling it, before one kindled the majority of the wick that projects beyond the lamp, its designation as a k’li is nullified, for it is no longer fit to contract ritual impurity, because [its size] is reduced39 [after it is kindled and it is no longer] three fingerbreadths [by three fingerbreadths].40 Thus it is no longer considered as a significant cloth and it becomes a broken k’li on the festival. It is therefore considered as nolad, an article that came into existence on the festival. [Now,] any article considered as nolad is forbidden to be used on a festival.41 Accordingly, after beginning to kindle it, [the person] is performing a forbidden act by seeking to kindle the majority of the wick that protrudes from the lamp, for he is making use of an article categorized as nolad on a festival.42

When does the above apply? When the person inserted [the cloth] into the lamp as is, i.e., he did not fold it as one would do when preparing wicks. If, however, one folded it and prepared a wick43 from it on the day before the festival, it is permitted to kindle it, because its designation as a k’li with regard to the contraction of ritual impurity was already nullified on the day before the festival. Hence, the concept of nolad does not apply.

16 [The Shabbos light] may not be kindled in a used earthenware lamp44 on the [dining room] table, which is where the primary obligation to kindle a Shabbos lamp applies,45 just as such a lamp may not be used for the Chanukah [lights], as will be explained in sec. 673.46 Consult that source.