Shabbos Bulletin Parshas Nasso/Shavuos 5776

Tefilla Halacha

This Motza’ei Shabbos, which of course is Yom Tov, one has to make the berachah of borei me’orei ha’eish in the yaknahaz havdala.

The ideal way to make this beracha on a regular Motza’ei Shabbos is to have a torch—i.e, 2 flames together (havdala candles have this “built in”).

There is a question if one can light a flame (from a pre-existing flame) for havdala on Yom Tov.

Lemaaseh, we can assume that one may.

Can you connect 2 candles to form a torch? (One would not simply light a havdala candle from a pre-exising flame, unless one is prepared to let it sit and burn down, as it is assur to extinguish a flame on Yom Tov.)

Skipping over the lengthy discussions, it seems that there are 3 options lemaaseh. Do one of the three, whichever one you feel most comfortable with:

• Hold the 2 flames together as close as possible without touching each other.
• Combine the 2 flames only, keeping any wax or wicks separate, and trying to make sure no wax drips down.
• Put a match into a pre-existing flame (this can be the Yom Tov candle) and after the beracha, put down the match s-l-o-w-l-y and v-e-r-y g-e-n-t-l-y.

If you can find a “yaknahaz candle” (my son-in-law found them in Me’ah Shearim and in Vizhnitz in Ezras Torah), that’s the best! It is a cute little havdala candle (with 3 braids) which sits on a cute small base and burns down in about 15-30 seconds.

(Although using it does assume that one can light a flame from a pre-existing fire for havdala on Yom Tov.)