Question:
When making a simcha , if not all the lights were turned on in the hall and the bal simcha wants more light can a goy be asked to put on more lights
Answer:
Thank you for your question.
Asking the gentile to turn on lights on Shabbos is problematic, because we may not ask a gentile to do melacha for us on Shabbos. Hinting to the gentile to turn on the lights is also problematic, because since he is your employee, we are obligated to stop him from turning the lights on, even if he does it on his own. Therefore hinting to him will definitely not be allowed. If the gentile already turned the lights on, being that there are already other lights on in the room and it is useable without the extra lights, what he turned on is not considered benefiting from the gentile’s action. Therefore in retrospect benefitting from the lights is permitted.
Best wishes
Sources:
M:B 307-76, 276-11.
