Rabbi's Chayva's Chat

If one cannot stay up late enough until the Shabbat candles extinguish by themselves, is it ok to blow them out for safety?
Traditionally, one does not blow out Shabbat candles because extinguishing a flame is considered a category of malacha (the types of activities prohibited on Shabbat, often translated as “work” or “labor”). Even though most members of our community do not live fully halachic lives, we often preserve the tradition of not blowing out the candles because it’s a tradition we inherited, and that matters too. However, it does sometimes raise the question of safety.

If you are going to go to bed and the Shabbat candles are still burning, my first recommendation is to put them in the sink or some other contained metal area where they can tip over without lighting anything else around them. If that isn’t possible, or you don’t feel safe doing so, you can blow them out. The purpose of the Shabbat candles is to bring light and joy to Shabbat; it would run counter to their purpose if we treated them in a way that made Shabbat stressful.

Why do we wear costumes on Purim?
There are many reasons given for why we dress in costumes on Purim. One tradition says that it elevates the joy of the holiday. Another tradition says that we disguise ourselves because both God and the holiday miracle are disguised in the Purim story; neither is explicitly stated, but both are there if you look for them. Some say that it is an acknowledgement of how Diaspora Jews (including Queen Esther) have often had to hide their Jewish identity - so, too, on Purim do we mask our identities in costumes. Scholars have theorized that medieval Italian Jews picked up the practice from their Catholic neighbors celebrating Mardi Gras in the same season.

In the Judaism: The Big Picture class, you spoke about Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity starting around the same time. If they started around the same time, why did Christianity become the largest religion?
Yes, though Biblical Judaism significantly preceded Christianity, Jewish practice confronted monumental challenges and changes when the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans. The Rabbinic Judaism that emerged was so different in practice that it was almost a new religion, contemporary to another nascent religion: Early Christianity.

As of2010, 31.4% of the world identified as Christian and 0.2% of the world identified as Jewish (according to Pew Research). Why such a big gap? I’m not a historian but here are the reasons as far as I know them: Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 381 CE, which facilitated its spread over a vast territory and lay the groundwork for the Catholic Church. This also set the precedent for Christianity as a state religion in Europe, which later spread to other parts of the world through European colonization. Finally, Proselytization is a religious value in Christianity, as stated by Jesus in the New Testament (for one example, see Matthew 28:18-20). Judaism has markedly little tradition of proselytization, and in contrast, an extensive history of enduring persecution and forced conversion to other religions.

What will you be for Purim?
You’ll just have to come to the shpiel to find out!