That's to explain two points that happened over the holiday. One is very pashut, the other one a little bit less. During the first half of the holiday, we had two days of Yom Tov (holiday), followed by Shabbat. The Hadlakat Nerot (candle lighting) for each day is different. On Wednesday afternoon, Hadlakat Nerot—candle lighting—was the regular Hadlakat Nerot that we know how to do 18 minutes before sunset or earlier. If a woman forgot to light before, since it is Yom Tov, she could light the Nerot even once it was night; it was no problem.
The next day, everybody knows that since you cannot do anything on Yom Tov Rishon (day one of Yom Tov) for Yom Tov Sheni (day two of Yom Tov), you cannot do anything on Thursday for Thursday night and Friday. So the women light Nerot at night. We’ll discuss the exact time, but at night—which means they don’t light Nerot as we just mentioned before, at 7.19 here. She is going to light the Nerot later, once it is already Yom Tov Sheni. She cannot use Yom Tov Rishon to light for Yom Tov.
When it comes to Friday afternoon, there was a lot of confusion. Some people don’t even realize it’s Shabbat. They say, “Oh, same system. I’m going to light at night.” Chacham ba'layla, it’s Shabbat. On Shabbat, you cannot light. On Yom Tov, you could light at night and not do it before. You’re not allowed to do it before. You could do it at night because it’s Yom Tov. You’re allowed to handle fire. But on Shabbat, or Friday night, how could you light at night? Chas VeShalom (God forbid). You have to go back to the time of Hadlakat Nerot. Eruv Tavshilin (eruv for cooking) covers that. Maybe even without Eruv Tavshilin, it’s fine.
The point is that you’re going to have three times: Hadlakat Nerot, then Tzeit HaKochavim (appearance of the stars), then Hadlakat Nerot again, although it’s Yom Tov, when you prepare for Shabbat. This happened. I saw several women making the mistake. Chas VeShalom. Now it’s Shabbat. You cannot light. It’s so pashut. But people sometimes don’t think, and they do just what they did the day before. Several women were about to light, and I said, “No, no, no. You cannot light.”
What do you do now as a preparation for that? Hacham Ovadia brings many shitot (opinions), which we discussed in the past. One is to light an extra ner, because they couldn’t light. That’s it. Finished. Maybe to light an extra ner. Maybe to put more oil. Maybe to give money to a poor person who cannot afford. Et cetera, et cetera. And then there’s the fact that there was light: there is light on Friday night, light to be able to eat, which means electricity. Today, that covers everything. In the past, the Nerot were the light of the house. There were no Nerot; there was no light, no Oneg Shabbat (Shabbat enjoyment). Today, Oneg Shabbat doesn’t come from the Nerot. Oneg Shabbat comes from electricity. Therefore, it’s fine. I came to these women and said, “Don’t worry. You’re good.” The ma'aseh (in practice) is that there is light where you’re eating, and therefore it’s no problem.
I’d like to come back to the middle one, because I didn’t give the exact time. I didn’t see one calendar that says it right. For this middle day, the sequence is Hadlakat Nerot, then Tzeit HaKochavim, then Hadlakat Nerot again. People make the mistake and think that between day one of Yom Tov and day two of Yom Tov, you have to wait until night, because you cannot do anything on Yom Tov Rishon for Yom Tov Sheni. What do you do? What do you do? What time is night? People look at it like Motzaei Shabbat (after Shabbat). They look at the Motzaei Shabbat time. I see in all the calendars, you cannot light, you cannot do Kiddush (sanctification) before such and such time. The time given is Motzaei Shabbat. That is incorrect. You don’t have to wait until Motzaei Shabbat to start doing things for Yom Tov Rishon.
Why? Because the Motzaei Shabbat time is added because of Tosefet Shabbat. We always have a mitzvah (commandment) to have more time of Shabbat. But here, it’s between Yom Tov Rishon and Yom Tov Sheni. Between Yom Tov Rishon and Yom Tov Sheni, it’s just about the time of Tzeit HaKochavim; loosely, let’s say, 20 minutes after sunset, you’re already in Tzeit HaKochavim. Shabbat is at least 36 minutes. The earliest time you have is 36 minutes after Tzeit HaKochavim, after Shkiat HaChammah (sunset). Why? Because there’s Tosefet Shabbat. Because Shulchan Aruch says three small stars, et cetera. But when it comes to the time between Yom Tov Rishon and Yom Tov Sheni, you don’t have to wait 36 minutes after sunset. You can wait 20 minutes after sunset and already start doing things. Why? Because it’s not a problem of Melacha (prohibited labor). You’re allowed to handle the fire. It’s just a problem of Hachana, of preparing from one day to the next. For Hachana, you don’t have to wait the time of Motzaei Shabbat, which has Chumra (stringency) with it. So 20 minutes after sunset on day two, you’re already inside Yom Tov Sheni, and you could already handle any Hachana. It’s not more Hachana. You’re already in Yom Tov Sheni. Therefore, that’s the time when a person could light and start doing Kiddush and any preparation. Bichavod (respectfully).