Question
We operate the only Orthodox Shul and Chabad House in a small town. During the summer months, we often daven an early Mincha and Kabbalas Shabbos so that we can have a Friday night minyan and accommodate guests. Most of the Shomer Shabbos men in town attend our minyan, while the overwhelming majority of the town’s Jewish population is not observant. Must the women of the community light Shabbos candles before our early Kabbalas Shabbos? What about people who are not attending the minyan?
Answer
If the Chabad House hosts the only Orthodox minyan in town and the majority of the Shomer Shabbos male residents accept Shabbos through that minyan, then the entire observant community is considered to have accepted Shabbos at that time. Accordingly, all Shomer Shabbos women must light candles before Kabbalas Shabbos begins, even if sunset is much later.
However, if the minyan attendees do not constitute the majority of the Shomer Shabbos male community, then those who did not participate in the minyan are not bound by its early acceptance of Shabbos and may continue to perform Melacha until their own acceptance of Shabbos.
Explanation
The Acceptance of Shabbos by a Community
Generally, one person’s acceptance of Shabbos does not obligate another individual. However, there is one notable exception. When the majority of a community accepts Shabbos through its communal prayer, that acceptance extends beyond those physically present in the synagogue. In such a case, even members of the community who did not attend the minyan are considered to have entered Shabbos together with the community and may no longer perform Melacha. Admur rules that this applies when the majority of the local congregation has accepted Shabbos and the community is centered around that congregation.
How Is “Majority” Measured?
A crucial point is that the majority is not measured based on everyone who happens to live in town. Rather, when discussing this law we consider the Shomer Shabbos male members of the community. Women, children, and non-observant Jews are not counted towards determining whether the majority of the community accepted Shabbos. Thus, even if most Jews in town are not observant, if the local Chabad House minyan contains the majority of the town’s Shomer Shabbos male residents, then the community has effectively accepted Shabbos.
What About Non-Observant Jews? Why Non-Observant Residents Are Not Included in the Community’s Acceptance
Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbauch clarifies the following crucial point in the above law: The rule that the majority of a community can accept Shabbos on behalf of the entire community applies only to those who are themselves Shomrei Shabbos. As the Halichos Shlomo explains, Jews who are not Shomer Shabbos and who do not ordinarily participate with the observant community in prayer are not included in determining the community’s majority for this purpose. Thus, when deciding whether the Chabad House minyan represents the majority of the town, the calculation includes only the local Shomer Shabbos men, and not the town’s non-observant Jewish population. For the same reason, the non-observant residents are not personally bound by the early acceptance of Shabbos and may still light candles or perform Melacha until sunset. Consequently, the Chabad House’s early acceptance does not cause their later activities to become an additional desecration of Shabbos. Of course, they remain obligated in the mitzvah of Shabbos itself, but the congregation’s voluntary early acceptance does not take effect upon them.
Are Women Counted Towards the Majority That Accepts Shabbos?
Another important clarification is that the determination of whether a community has accepted Shabbos is based on the Shomer Shabbos male members of the community, and not on women. Women are not counted towards the majority either for leniency or for stringency. Thus, if a majority of the men have not yet accepted Shabbos, the fact that most women in the city already lit candles does not create a communal acceptance of Shabbos. Conversely, if the majority of the men accepted Shabbos, the community can become bound even if many women have not yet lit candles.
Indeed, we do not find anywhere in the world that once the majority of women in a city light Shabbos candles, all remaining residents, including the men, become forbidden to perform Melacha. This demonstrates that the concept of communal acceptance of Shabbos was never dependent on the women’s acceptance. As the Alter Rebbe writes regarding matters of communal significance, even one hundred women are halachically equivalent to two men and therefore do not create the communal status necessary for these laws. Accordingly, only the Shomer Shabbos male population is taken into account when determining whether the city or community has accepted Shabbos through its local congregation.
What Does This Mean for Candle Lighting?
This has direct ramifications for candle lighting. Once the community’s acceptance of Shabbos takes effect, community members may no longer perform Melacha. Accordingly, women must light their candles before the start of that early Kabbalas Shabbos and Maariv. They may not simply wait until the regular candle-lighting time if the community has already accepted Shabbos. This applies not only to the families attending the minyan but also to other observant members of the community who are bound by the communal acceptance of Shabbos.
The Wife of the Rabbi or Shaliach
A common question arises regarding the Rebbetzin. If the early minyan constitutes the acceptance of Shabbos for the community, then the Rabbi’s wife must likewise light before Kabbalas Shabbos begins and may not postpone lighting until the regular candle-lighting time.
Guests Staying for Shabbos
Likewise, guests staying in the community for Shabbos should light before the community’s early Kabbalas Shabbos when they are subject to that communal acceptance.
This applies even to guests from out of town who are spending Shabbos with the community. Thus, the Rav or Shliach should inform all observant guests and visitors staying in the community that they must likewise light Shabbos candles and complete all Melacha prior to the community’s early Kabbalas Shabbos. This applies even if they do not plan to attend the minyan and intend to daven alone later in their hotel room, host’s home, or other lodging. Since the local community has already accepted Shabbos through its sole congregation, they too become subject to that acceptance while residing there for Shabbos.
Clarifying Rav Moshe Feinstein’s Ruling
Rav Moshe Feinstein rules that when an individual husband accepts Shabbos early merely for convenience or leisure, his personal acceptance does not automatically obligate his wife at home to accept Shabbos at the same time. She may therefore continue performing Melacha and light candles later, before the ordinary candle-lighting deadline.
It is important however to clarify that Rav Moshe Feinstein’s ruling is often misunderstood. Rav Moshe does not argue with the fundamental principle that when the majority of a community accepts Shabbos through the local congregation, the rest of the community becomes bound by that acceptance. On the contrary, Rav Moshe explicitly acknowledges this rule. His ruling concerns the personal acceptance of Shabbos by an individual husband, not the separate law governing a community’s collective acceptance of Shabbos. Where the only Orthodox congregation in town accepts Shabbos early, and the majority of the local Shomer Shabbos men participate in that acceptance, the entire observant community becomes bound by it. Rav Moshe explicitly indicates that this remains true even if the congregation chose to daven early for convenience or leisure. His leniency applies where other minyanim continue to operate in the community, in which case the early minyan does not represent the collective acceptance of the entire community. Accordingly, when the only Chabad House in town represents the majority of its Shomer Shabbos male residents, the women must light candles before its early Kabbalas Shabbos begins.
When Does the Community Officially Accept Shabbos?
It is important to note that the community does not become bound by Shabbos immediately upon beginning Kabbalas Shabbos. Rather, the communal acceptance of Shabbos takes effect upon reaching “Bo’i Kallah” at the conclusion of Lecha Dodi, which is the point at which the congregation formally welcomes the Shabbos Queen. Accordingly, from the letter of the law, women may still light Shabbos candles and community members may still perform Melacha until that point. Nevertheless, since the congregation’s acceptance of Shabbos is imminent, it is proper for the Rav to instruct everyone to light candles and complete their preparations sufficiently before the conclusion of Lecha Dodi.
Practical Ruling
- If the Chabad House hosts the only Orthodox minyan in town and the majority of the local Shomer Shabbos male community accepts Shabbos there, the entire observant community is considered to have accepted Shabbos.
- Women must light candles before the early Kabbalas Shabbos begins.
- The Rabbi’s wife and the families of those attending the minyan are included in this rule.
- Guests spending Shabbos in the community should likewise light before the communal acceptance of Shabbos.
- If the minyan represents only a minority of the Shomer Shabbos male community, then those not participating in the minyan are not obligated to accept Shabbos at that time.
- Non-observant Jews are not counted in determining the community majority and are not affected by the communal acceptance until sunset.
Sources
Admur 263:17 “If the majority of the congregation has accepted Shabbat, the minority is compelled to follow them and becomes prohibited from doing melachah (weekday labor), even if they were not present in the synagogue at the time of Kabbalat Shabbat, and even if they explicitly say that they do not wish to accept Shabbat yet.”’; 263:18 “If it happens that one person has not yet prepared his Shabbat meal when the congregation is ready to say Barchu, they should wait for him (as an act of piety). But if it is already close to sunset, they should not wait.” 263:19 “However, if the majority of the congregation was not in the synagogue, they do not follow the minority who accepted Shabbat. And in a city with many synagogues, the congregation praying in one synagogue does not cause those praying in other synagogues to be drawn after them, even if they are the minority compared to the others. (And an individual who was not in the synagogue where Shabbat was accepted—even if he regularly prays there—if the majority of the city has not yet accepted Shabbat, it is possible to permit him to do melachah.)”
- The general rule that an individual is bound by the community’s early acceptance of Shabbos: Admur 263:17-20; Ketzos Hashulchan 76:1-4; Piskei Teshuvos 263:38-42.
- The requirement that both the majority of the community and the majority of the members of the local congregation accept Shabbos early: Admur 263:17-19; Ketzos Hashulchan 76:1-4.
- The ruling that members who did not attend the early minyan are nevertheless bound by the community’s acceptance: Admur 263:17-19; Ketzos Hashulchan 76:1-4.
- The ruling that women and children at home must finish Melacha and light candles before the community accepts Shabbos: Admur 263:17-19; Ketzos Hashulchan 76:1-4.
- The ruling that if the early minyan contains only a minority of the Shomer Shabbos male residents, the rest of the community is not bound by its acceptance: Admur 263:17-19; Ketzos Hashulchan 76:1-4; Piskei Teshuvos 263:38-42.
- Non-observant residents are not included when calculating the majority of the community: Halichos Shlomo, Tefillas Shabbos, p. 175; Piskei Teshuvos 263:38-42, footnotes 343-345.
- Non-observant residents are not personally bound by the observant community’s voluntary early acceptance of Shabbos: Halichos Shlomo, Tefillas Shabbos, p. 175; Piskei Teshuvos 263:38-42, footnotes 343-345.
- Women are not counted as part of the communal majority for accepting Shabbos: Kuntrus Acharon 263:7, based on Brachos 45b; Piskei Teshuvos 263:38-42, footnotes 343-345.
- The statement that one hundred women have the communal standing of only two men for this purpose: Kuntrus Acharon 263:7, based on Brachos 45b.
- Rav Moshe’s ruling that a husband’s personal acceptance for convenience does not automatically bind his wife: Igros Moshe O.C. 3:38.
- The community’s acceptance remains effective even when the congregation davens early for convenience: Igros Moshe O.C. 3:38.
- The point at which the congregation formally accepts Shabbos, at Barchu or “Bo’i Kallah” toward the conclusion of Lecha Dodi: Accepting by Barchu: Admur 256:1; 261:3; 261:7; 263:6-7, 18, 23-24; 306:28; 393:2 Custom of Accepting by end of Lecha Dodi and by Mizmor Shir: Admur 261:7; Michaber 261:4; M”B 261:31; 263:58; Aruch Hashulchan 261:16; 263:21; Halichos Shlomo, Tefillas Shabbos, p. 175; Piskeiy Teshuvos 261:4, 8; 263:41