Laws Regarding Electric and Fire on Yom Tov

Although some authorities permit turning on electric lights on Yom Tov, Halacha follows the majority view among the authorities, which forbids turning on lights on Yom Tov. It is similarly forbidden on Yom Tov to turn off lights or to use a telephone or any electrical appliance. Some people mistakenly deduce that since cooking is permitted on Yom Tov, it is likewise permissible to activate electrical appliances such as blenders. This is incorrect; Halacha forbids the use of electrical appliances on Yom Tov, just as on Shabbat. By the same token, it is forbidden to press the buttons of an elevator on Shabbat.

One may, however, ask a gentile to turn on the lights on Yom Tov. The reason for this Halacha is that turning on lights on Yom Tov is forbidden only by force of Rabbinic enactment – as opposed to Torah law – and asking a gentile to perform an action forbidden on Yom Tov is itself forbidden only by force of Rabbinic enactment. A fundamental Halachic principle establishes that we may be lenient in a case of "Shevut De'shevut Be'makom Mitzva" – where two Rabbinic prohibitions are entailed, and the desired action is necessary for the purpose of a Mitzva. Therefore, for the purpose of enjoying one's Yom Tov meal, for example, it would be permissible to ask a gentile to turn on a light.

If one's house is uncomfortably warm, may he ask a gentile to turn on the air conditioning?

Chacham Ovadia Yosef ruled that when a person's house is exceedingly warm, one may ask a gentile to activate the air conditioning even on Shabbat, not to mention on Yom Tov. Similarly, one may ask a gentile to turn on a fan on Shabbat or Yom Tov. If a fan had already been turned on, it is permissible on Yom Tov for a Jew to turn the fan in the direction towards which he wants it to blow.

Halacha allows lighting a candle from a preexisting flame on Yom Tov; one may not, however, kindle a new flame on Yom Tov. It is therefore customary before Yom Tov to light a candle that will remain lit throughout Yom Tov, so that whenever a person needs fire he can light from that candle. Extinguishing a flame is forbidden on Yom Tov, and thus one who lights a candle or match must put it down on a fireproof surface and allow it to extinguish by itself, rather than extinguish it directly. Therefore, those who smoke on Yom Tov may do so only if they light the cigarette from a preexisting flame, and if they allow the cigarette to extinguish by itself, rather than extinguish it directly.

(Based on Chazon Ovadia – Laws of Yom Tov, p. 53)

Summary: It is forbidden on Yom Tov to turn on or off lights or any electrical appliance, even for the purpose of cooking (despite the fact that cooking is permissible on Yom Tov), but one may ask a gentile to do so on his behalf. If one's home is exceedingly warm on Yom Tov or even Shabbat, he may ask a gentile to activate the air conditioning or electric fan. One may not kindle a new flame or extinguish a flame on Yom Tov, but it is permissible to light a candle from a preexisting flame on Yom Tov.