Lighting Candles from Oil
- Since it is permitted to benefit from Shabbos candles, it
is permitted to use oil that has kedushas Shvi’is to light Shabbos candles. - Opinions are divided on the matter of lighting the Ner
Tomid and the Ner Neshamah in the synagogue. Some say that it is forbidden
since it is not done for the sake of any material benefit, while others say
that we benefit from the light they give off, and that is benefit enough to
allow using oil that has kedushas Shvi’is. - It is forbidden to use oil that has kedushas Shvi’is for
the fire on Lag B’omer since it does not provide any material benefit. - Is it permitted to light Chanukah candles form oil that has
kedushas Shvi’is? Opinions are divided. Some hold that it is forbidden
because, since we are forbidden from benefiting from the Chanukah candles, it
is as though we are destroying the oil when we burn it. Others hold that using
the oil to light the candles represents, itself, a making use of the oil that
is permitted. - According to those who forbid using oil that has kedushas
Shvi’is for the Chanukah candles, it seems clear that it would also be
forbidden to use the oil to light the additional candles we light every night
in order to fulfil the mitzvah in the best, most mehudar, way, since it
is forbidden to benefit from these lights as well. They would also forbid
using oil that has kedushas Shvi’is for lighting the Chanukah candles in the
synagogue, since it is also forbidden to benefit from their light. And
similarly, it would be forbidden to use oil that has kedushas Shvi’is for
the Chanukah candles that are lit by minors for the sake of educating them to
the mitzvah, since it is forbidden to benefit from them as well because they
have been dedicated to the mitzvah of educating a child to mitzvos.