Havdalah Using Electric Lights
Although a consensus has emerged permitting the use of electricity for Shabbat candles in case of great need, no such consensus has emerged regarding the use of electric lights for Havdalah.
Some issues regarding electric lights and Havdalah are not subject to dispute, however.
1. Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchatah 61:32 cites Rav Ovadia Yosef (Teshuvot Yabia Omer Orach Chaim 17-18), who notes that an electric light without a heated filament is not acceptable; no dissenting view is presented. The Berachah on Havdalah light is “Borei Me’orei Ha’Eish”, demonstrating that Eish, a fire is needed.
2. Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchatah (ibid.) also cites Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Me’orei Eish 5:1) who rules that a frosted bulb, even if incandescent, is unacceptable for Havdalah. Once again, no dissenting view is cited. This assertion is based on the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 298:15), which states that one may recite Borei Me’orei Ha’Eish only if one directly sees the flame of the fire.
3. Rav Ovadia Yosef (Teshuvot Yabia Omer 1: Orach Chaim 18:12) and Rav Eliezer Waldenburg (Teshuvot Tzitz Eliezer l:20:13) agree that even non-frosted incandescent lights may not be used for Havdalah after Yom Kippur. The light used for Havdalah after Yom Kippur must be lit for the entire fast (Neir SheShavat; Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 624:5). An incandescent light, even if it has been on the entire fast, is not considered to be lit the entire fast, since at every moment the electricity used by the light is being newly generated.
4. Rav Eliezer Waldenburg (ibid.) notes that even those authorities who permit the use of unfrosted incandescent lights for Havdalah concede that they are not the preferable form of fire for Havdalah. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 298:2) states that it is preferable to use an Avukah (a candle of more than one wick) for Havdalah. An incandescent bulb consists of one filament, and therefore, according to all opinions, does not constitute the optimal way of reciting Havdalah.
No consensus has emerged regarding even the use of a non-frosted incandescent bulb for Havdalah lights. Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchatah (61:32) leaves this dispute unresolved, simply noting that “some authorities prohibit and some authorities permit.”
Rav Ovadia Yosef (Teshuvot Yabia Omer 1 Orach Chaim 17-18 and Teshuvot Yechave Daat 2:39) does not permit the use of even non-frosted incandescent bulbs for Havdalah. He cites the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 298:15), based on a statement in the Jerusalem Talmud (Berachot 8:6), which states that it is prohibited to recite the Havdalah blessing over a fire that one sees through an Aspaklaria (a mirror or glass) or in any situation in which one sees only diffused light but not a fire. Based on this ruling, there are authorities who rule that a Havdalah light may not be covered even by see-through glass since it constitutes a Hefseik (blockage) from the light (see the Mishnah Berurah 298:37). Rav Ovadia Yosef rules that one should not use an incandescent bulb for Havdalah, since, according to these authorities, the blessing recited over the incandescent light would be in vain, because it is covered by a glass case.
Rav Waldenburg, by contrast, notes the authorities who permit using a light covered by glass, provided the glass is transparent. Second, Rav Waldenburg argues that even according to those who rule to the contrary and prohibit making a Berachah on a fire covered in glass, the outer case of an incandescent bulb does not constitute a blockage since it is an integral component of the bulb and cannot be removed. Yevamot 78a-b clearly indicates that any impediment which is an intrinsic part of an item (or person) is not considered a Hefseik.
Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Me’orei Eish 5:1) also rejects the use of electric lights for Havdalah. He notes that the Gemara (Pesachim 54a) relates that on the Motzaei Shabbat following Creation, Hashem provided Adam HaRishon with the knowledge to make fire by rubbing two stones together. Chazal enacted Havdalah to commemorate Adam's discovery. Rav Shlomo Zalman argues that the fire used for Havdalah must be Halachically identical to the fire that Adam HaRishon discovered. Accordingly, Rav Auerbach states that even a non-frosted incandescent light may not be used for Havdalah because of both its physical and Halachic dissimilarity to the fire discovered by Adam.
While both incandescent lights and a fire are biblically prohibited, Halachah considers an incandescent light to be violative of a Toladah (derivative biblical prohibition) and not of the Av Melachah (primary biblical prohibition), since no combustion takes place. Rav Shlomo Zalman argues that this is why Rambam (Hilchot Shabbat 12:1) classifies heating a metal until it glows as only a derivative biblical prohibition.
Rav Auerbach states that the critical difference between the Av Melachah and the Toladah is whether combustion of fuel is present. Only in circumstances where fuel combustion is present is there an Av Melachah; in all other circumstances there is only a derivative Tolada.
It is possible to disagree with Rav Auerbach by noting that nowhere in the Gemara or Rishonim is there ever stated a requirement that the fire used for Havdalah must be violative of the Av Melachah and not the Toladah. In fact, this assertion seems contrary to Rambam's rule (Hilchot Shabbat 7:7) that there is only one distinction between a secondary and primary biblical violation: that difference relates to the requirement to offer a Korban Chatat by those who violate Shabbat by mistake. It is reported that Rav David Cohen, of Brooklyn, New York, defends Rav Shlomo Zalman by noting that that statement can be limited to issues relating to prohibited work on Shabbat, and not to its positive commandments.
A number of prominent authorities permit the use of non-frosted electric lights for Havdalah if one has no other option. These include The Rogachover Gaon (as cited in Teshuvot Har Tzvi 2:114), Rav Avraham Shteinberg (Teshuvot Machazeh Avraham 41), Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (as reported to this author by Rav Aharon Lichtenstein), and Rav Waldenburg (ad. loc.). Most famously, Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik and others report that Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinsky recited Borei Me’orei Ha’Eish on electricity to clarify that we are prohibited to use electricity on Shabbat.
Nonetheless, Rav Mordechai Willig (personal communication) strongly advises against using even a non-frosted incandescent bulb for Motzaei Shabbat Havdalah, even in the most extenuating circumstances. He observes that today, most incandescent bulbs are frosted: if we permit using non-frosted bulbs for Havdalah, people will be confused and use incandescent bulbs even in improper circumstances.
While it was excellent public policy in the early twentieth century for Rav Chaim Ozer to recite Havdalah on electric lights, in the early twenty first century, the best policy is to avoid using electricity for Havdalah in all circumstances. Experience supports Rav Willig’s approach. I have witnessed numerous times people mistakenly use either fluorescent bulbs or frosted incandescent bulbs for Havdalah. Since no consensus approves using even non-frosted incandescent bulbs, it is best to avoid using all electric lights for Havdalah under all circumstances.