Forgot To Light Shabbat Candles

Hello Is it true that if for some reason the נרות של שבת are not lit than you need to add an extra נר for future lighting? And how about if נרות של שבת were lit but one less נר than usual - For example , if 11 were lit instead of 12 . Would than you need to add an extra נר for future lighting?

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

You are correct that there is a famous rule that a woman who forgot to light the Shabbat candles receives a penalty of having to light an extra candle for the rest of her life. This is only true if she forgot to light due to negligence, but if it was due to unforeseen circumstances, she is not penalizedץ Same too if a woman was a guest at someone else's house and forgot to light the candles she as well does not need to light a candle every Shabbos.

The rabbis instituted the penalty in order to emphasize the importance of Shabbat candles and to remind her to be careful in the future.

However, if even a single candle was lit in honor of Shabbat, the penalty doesn’t apply. So too, a woman who lit less candles than she usually lights is not subject to the penalty. Indeed, there is a custom that women always light only two candles when away from home regardless of how many candles they usually light.

There is no penalty for a woman who forgot to light the Yom Tov candles. This is partly because it is very unusual for a woman to miss lighting Yom Tov candles because they can even be lit after dark (unlike the Shabbat candles that must be lit before sunset). The rabbis did not institute such penalties for unusual or unlikely situations. So too, even a woman who is subject to the penalty and lights an additional candle each week need not light the “penalty candle” on Yom Tov.

The penalty does not apply if a woman turned on the electric lights in the house in honor of Shabbat even though she forgot to light the actual Shabbat candles.

When a husband sees that his wife is running late, he should light the Shabbat candles for her (ideally with her knowledge and permission). In this way, there will be no penalty.

Rema, OC 263:1, Mishnah Berura 263:7, Pri Megadim (Eshel Avraham) 263:2;