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Thought for the Day: Lighting Shabbos Candles Early -- Different Approaches to Remediation

Long story short: I ended up at the "Rabbi's" table for a chasuna I attended recently. Waiting for the pictures to be finished and the dancing to start has never been more pleasurable. I don't want to be accused of just another name dropper, so I shall only mention that I was seated between two notable talmidei chachamim: R' Fuest, shlita, Dayan, Agudath Yisrael, Chicago; and R' Zucker, shlita, Rosh Kollel, Chicago Community Kollel. I mention them (besides to impress you), because of the fascinating discussion I had the opportunity to observe. (I shall not be writing "shlita" in what follows, but I thought it each time I wrote a name.)

R' Zucker had gotten a question from a woman one erev Shabbos. She had somehow been very efficient that erev Shabbos and finished her preparations a bit early. She was thrilled to be able light candles like a mentsh without the usual rush and "on condition that I can still do the stuff I have to finish." The problem was, she had been a bit too early; before פלג המנחה. Whoops. As we all know, candles are supposed to be lit only after פלג המנחה. R' Zucker received a frantic call from her... what now? The Rosh Kollel posed the question to the table.

I, fortunately, had the good sense to keep my mouth shut. R' Fuest answered immediately, "She lights again. Lighting before פלג המנחה is nothing." I asked a clarification question: With a bracha? Answer: Yes, the the lighting before פלג המנחה was nothing. R' Zucker noted that there is an opinion that one can light פלג המנחה. R' Fuerst answered, "Yes, the פרי מגדים says that -- after the fact -- one has fulfilled the mitzvah by lighting any time after mid day, but the halacha is not in accord with his opinion." R' Zucker concluded that he had told the woman to have her husband light.

Let's analyze. Both poskim had all the same facts:
  1. One is not allowed to light Shabbos candles before פלג המנחה.
  2. There is a פרי מגדים that allows lighting from mid-day.
  3. The halacha is not in accord with that opinion of the פרי מגדים.
  4. Shabbos candles still need to be lit with a bracha
The first thing to appreciate is (again) how important it is to have a rav -- a single rav -- to whom you can address your halachic questions. Both solutions were correct (obviously), the dayan and the rosh kollel simply weighed the various plusses and minuses and came to different conclusions. You get this same feeling when learning a Mishna Brura and Shulchan Aruch on a particular topic, but what thrill it was to see that paradigm played out live and in person.
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