Israel – The Chief Rabbis of Israel, and 25 others, have issued a warning to the religiously observant Jewish public not to light candles in the sukkah. The warning follows a series of meetings between the rabbis, firefighters, and dozens of other rabbis.
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It is based on the halachic (Jewish legal) ruling of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who has stated that people should light candles in their homes instead of the sukkah “if there is any fear of a fire.”
Kol hakovod to all these rabbonim for exercising common sense in lieu of a mindless commitment to a questionable haalachic requirement that the candles must be lit in succah. The latter opinion was never deemed absolute but somthing brought down in certain seforim by several achronim and contemporary poskim. Clearly the issue of pikuach nefesh trumps such a questionable interpretation of halacha.
makes sense
could save lives
It is about time safety was taken into account
Kol hakovod. However, in my industry (demolition) OSHA requires 1 hour first watches any time we use grinders, quicky saws, tourches, etc… basically anything that can be a fire hazard.
In the sukkah we should just do the same. Have someone responsible sit in the sukkah for at least an hour or till the flame goes out. We have to spend our time in it anyway… we should really make it count!
Many Yidden will ignore this.