QUESTION: My husband and I will be guests at a friend’s home for Shabbos. We were given the attic bedrooms for our family, but we will be eating with our friends in their dining room. Where should we light Shabbos candles?

ANSWER: In theory, when staying with your friends, the best place to light would be the attic. This is because the hostess is already lighting in the dining room, and a second set of candles will hardly make any difference. Some poskim write that it is not proper for two people to light in the same location (see Shulchan Aruch OC 263:8). The attic was given for the use of your family, so it is your mitzvah to see to it that there is light in the attic. However, for safety and other considerations, the common practice is that one lights together with the hostess in the dining room. The Rema (OC 263:8) rules that one may recite the blessing on additional lights, since additional candles enhance the beauty of the meal. For this same reason, it is the custom in many homes for daughters to light candles with a bracha next to the candles of their mother. One must still arrange to have some light in the attic so that one does not stumble when returning to the rooms at night.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.