620. Using the Light of an Oil Light

Shabbos 5:14

One may not check his clothes for lice on Shabbos by the light of an oil lamp, nor may one read by the light of such a lamp. This is so even if the lamp was two stories tall (and therefore impossible for one to adjust). Even in a ten-story building, a person on the bottom floor may not read or check his clothes for lice using the light of a lamp on the top floor because of the enactment intended to prevent one from coming to adjust the lamp. If two people are reading one subject, they may do so by the light of a lamp because each will remind the other not to adjust it. This is not the case when they are studying two different subjects because then each one is occupied with his own studies.

Shabbos 5:15

Children may read by the light of an oil lamp in the presence of their teacher because he will supervise them. The teacher, however, may not read by the lamp because he has no one supervising him. Nevertheless, he may use the light of a lamp to find the place where he wants his students to read. He then places the scroll in the students’ hands and has them read for him.