I will be spending shabos in a hotel and eating the meals in the ball room how and where is the best way to light shabbos neiros?
Thank you.
Answer:
This is something of a problem, because the place that hotels often designate for lighting candles has little connection with the place one eats or the place one sleeps.
Lighting candles in the room, on the other hand, is not an option, because the hotel does not allow this (it is a fire hazard), and because smoke detectors are likely to go off.
The electric lights in the room are also hard to rely on, because they are usually (nowadays) not incandescent light bulbs, and therefore might not fall under the category of a “ner Shabbos” — though there are authorities who are lenient concerning this.
My advice is to pack your bags with an electric (battery operated) torch, that works with a “regular” light bulb (one that heats up). At candle lighting time, make the berachah over lighting the electric torch in or near your room — or on lighting one of the lights in your room, provided it works with a “regular” light bulb (halogens are also OK).
It is best to light two lights, which are like two Shabbos candles.
If this doesn’t work out, you should light in the place the hotel designates for lighting candles, but make sure that after the meal (or during, depending on its length) you spend a little time next to the candles that were lit (and perhaps eat something there).
The last time I was at a hotel, I (meaning my wife) did both: First, I turned on two lights that shone into my room. Then, without making an interruption, I went to the place where everybody lit candles, and lit there. Following the meal, we spent a little time by the candles, before returning to the room.
