Page 96 - EDOS Dinner Journal 2019_website

96 | FESTSCHRIFT

Actually, as in the case of the fetus converting with the mother, practical differences
depend on the reason for the Havdalah candle.

For example, should a candle be lit at the Havdalah ceremony marking the end of

the Jewish holidays, such as Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot or Shemini
Atzeret (Simchas Torah)?

It depends. If you say that the candle commemorates the invention of fire, this occurs
only on Saturday night. Therefore, there should be no candle in Havdalah at the con-
clusion of the Jewish holidays, if they fall on weekdays.

But if you say that the candle points up the radical difference between Jewish holidays,
when it is prohibited to kindle a fire, and the rest of the week, when fire is permitted,
then a candle at the post-holiday Havdalah would be appropriate.

In fact, no candle is lit at the post-holiday Havdalah, indicating that the main reason
for the candle is to mark the invention of fire on Saturday night. Again, the reasoning
behind a mitzvah is important to its nature and observance.

There is a wrinkle. Mostly, Yom Kippur occurs on weekdays, yet the blessing over a
lit candle is recited at the Havdalah ceremony after Yom Kippur. Why is Yom Kippur
different from other Jewish holidays, when there is no candle at their Havdalah?

Here is where the second reason for Havdalah comes in: A Havdalah candle points
up the radical difference between Shabbos, when the lighting of fire is prohibited, and
between the rest of the week, when fire is permitted. On Yom Kippur, the lighting of a
fire is prohibited, a fact marked by the use of a candle at Havdalah after Yom Kippur.

Wait a minute. Did we not just say that a fire may not be lit on any Jewish holiday? And
if so, why the difference between the Havdalah of the holidays — no candle — and the
Havdalah of Yom Kippur — cum candle?

Yom Kippur, like Shabbos, is more stringent than the holidays, on which a fire, though
forbidden to be lit, may nonetheless be used. On Jewish holidays, cooking over a pre-
existent fire (lit before the holiday began) is allowed. Plus, one may light a fire on the

holiday itself from a preexistent fire.