With Shavuos starting on Motzei Shabbos, is there any question about how many candles the women should light for Shavuos. הבערה is allowed only because of מתוך. If a woman usually lights more than 2 candles on a regular Friday evening, should she still light those extra candles when it is already Yom Tov (as is the case this year on Shavuos) or on the 2nd day of Yom Tov? Put a different way, if lighting extra candles is only a Minhag, is there a problem with הבערה requiring her to light only 2 candles on those evenings?
Answer:
This is a good question.
Some are particular to light only two candles when it is already Yom Tov, because the candles are not required for extra light, and only for a “custom.”
Those who are particular for this should seemingly do so even when lighting on a regular Yom Tov, because the custom is to make the berachah (and to accept Yom Tov according to several poskim) before lighting (this assumes that the electric lighting is on at the time of lighting).
However, the general custom is not to be particular, and to light the same number of candles as normal, because all candles are considered part of the mitzvah (Shemiras Shabbos 13:4).
Note that this year there was an extra issue of how to light the havdalah candle, which is not lit for its light, but only for the havdalah.
It is very hard to understand why candles are considered a צורך when the entire house is brilliantly lit by electric lights. The Shemiras Shabbos himself dicusses this issue further in the new edition in סימן כח קצט.
I understand the point, but on the other hand it is no difficult to understand this. Although the house is brilliantly lit, it is likewise brilliantly lit every day of the week, so that the extra candles for Yom Tov are a special kavod for the day, and can be considered a tzorech.
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