Candle lighting in a hospital

Question

A woman is staying in a hospital. Where is she supposed to light her Shabbos candles?

Answer

Dear …!

If a woman is staying in a hospital over Shabbos, everything depends on her accommodations. If she is in a birthing room or in the emergency room, she should not make a blessing over candle lighting. The reason for that is that the Shabbos candles are lit in order to enjoy them on Shabbos. If she will likely soon be transferred to different room and won’t have a chance to enjoy the candles, she should not make a blessing.

If she is staying in a particular hospital room, she can either light in that room or in a place that is visible from her room. When she lights candles in a place where she’ll be able to enjoy them, she should make a blessing. Also, if she can light in a place where she’s going to eat, in a way that she’ll actually see them while eating, then she can light there and recite a blessing. However, very often hospitals will only permit their patients to light candles in one designated area at the end of the hall, in a place that is not visible from patients’ rooms. In this case she should light without reciting a blessing.

 

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